Sports

Alaska's comeback falls short in 5-4 overtime loss to Idaho

The Alaska Aces dug their way out of an early hole Saturday night but still ended up with mud on their faces at the end of a 5-4 ECHL overtime hockey loss to Idaho at Sullivan Arena.

Idaho's Wade MacLeod capped a four-point night by beating Aaron Crandall with 1:24 left in overtime for the game-winner, spoiling a spirited comeback that had the home side claw back from a 4-1 deficit.

"We could have folded the tent when we were down 4-1 but the guys stuck with it," said Alaska coach Rob Murray.

The loss extended Alaska's winless streak to seven games, including two straight defeats at home and five straight overall to the Pacific Division leaders. The Aces fell to 15-19-1, while Idaho improved to 26-11-1.

Chris Francis and Brendan Connolly each had two goals and an assist for Alaska, which also got two assists from Ryan Walters.

MacLeod's goal, his second of the night, was the Steelheads' third power play goal of the game, a season high. MacLeod also had four points in Idaho's 8-5 triumph Friday.

The Aces entered the game needing a much better performance from Crandall than they got in Friday's goal-nado, which saw Crandall become the first Alaska keeper to allow eight goals in a game since 2010. They didn't get it in the early going.

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Idaho scored on its very first shot, a 2-on-1 opportunity that had MacLeod convert a feed from Brett Robinson 57 seconds into the game. The Steelheads also scored on their second shot, this time getting a goal from Robinson at the 16:11 mark. The soft goal was partially the result of sloppy defense in front of Crandall that caused a visibly frustrated Murray to use his only timeout before many fans had even found their seats.

"We've just got to be ready right from the start," said Francis, who netted his 11th and 12th goals of the season.

Crandall has been making a bid to become the regular starter since Niklas Lundstrom was called up to the AHL earlier this month, but he was on the hot seat after Friday's loss. Although Crandall made 36 saves in the series-opener, Murray said afterward that he needed much more out of the former University of Minnesota-Duluth backstop. Further underlining the team's goaltending crisis, the Aces have been active on the transaction front. They signed Eric Levine out of the Southern Professional Hockey League after Lundstrom was called up, and on Saturday the club announced it had also picked up Troy Redmann off waivers from the Colorado Eagles.

In Crandall's defense, Alaska's defense was offensive in the first period, which ended with Idaho on top 3-1. The team's blueliners allowed 13 shots, many of them uncontested blasts that resembled Bubba Watson tee shots.

Murray echoed Francis' assessment of the team's sluggish start.

"We've got to be better in the first period," he said of his squad, which also trailed by two goals after the first period Friday.

Idaho started a different goalie from Friday, stalwart Olivier Roy, the former Ace who is one of the top netminders in the ECHL. Roy was his usual steady self, stopping 36 shots to earn his 21st win.

Alaska broke through Roy in the first period by capitalizing on the game's first penalty, a hooking call against Gaelan Patterson midway through the frame. Connolly made it 2-1 with a wicked lefty slap shot from the right wing circle that beat Roy high on the stick side off assists by Francis and Bryan Cameron.

Connolly had a say in Idaho's third goal when he committed back-to-back penalties in the waning stages of the period, with the second Idaho power play resulting in a redirection goal by David de Kastrozza.

Crandall was solid after his early shakiness, finishing with 24 saves.

"It was a tough start for him, but he battled down the stretch and gave us a chance," Murray said.

Alaska was the more aggressive team in the second and third periods, forging a 40-29 advantage in shots on goal.

The Aces had plenty of chances in the second period courtesy of Idaho infractions. Alaska started the period with a 54-second man advantage and got two more power plays within the first 10 minutes. But Idaho's penalty-kill was sharp, and when the special-teamers weren't handcuffing Alaska skaters, blocking shots or clearing the puck, Roy was there to clean up the garbage.

Roy provided the biggest goaltending highlight of the second period when he stoned Francis, who broke in alongside Raphael Bussieres and fired a nasty one-timer off Bussieres' pass that Roy flashed from left to right to get a pad on.

A minute after Roy's big save the Steelheads extended their advantage to 4-1 on another power-play goal, this one coming when Jefferson Dahl knocked in a rebound from the doorstep after MacLeod's initial slap shot was turned aside by Crandall.

Alaska cut the lead to 4-2 going into the third when Francis found some space alone in front of Roy, used a nifty deke to freeze the Idaho goalie and flicked the puck high and into the twine with 4:17 left in the second period.

What had been a languid third period came to life at the 11:43 mark when Ryan Walters' shot was deflected by Roy directly to Francis, who went five-hole with the rebound to cut the lead to 4-3 and sending the crowd of 4,826 into a frenzy.

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Alaska completed its comeback 2:46 left in the game after both Colton Beck and Alex Belzile were sent off for Idaho, Beck for holding the stick and Belzile for chirping at the refs. The 5-on-3 was just what Alaska needed. Connolly whipped in a low-angle shot to knot things up and send the game into the extra period.

Murray said he was happier with his team's effort Saturday than he was with a sloppy loss the night before.

"I thought the guys really worked hard tonight," he said.

The teams will play again at 3 p.m. Sunday, and Francis said Alaska's spirits remain high despite the recent setbacks.

"We're gonna turn it around," he said.

Shuffling the deck

The Aces said Saturday that the team's final goal in its 8-5 loss Friday would be credited to Curt Gogol, giving him a pair of goals in his Aces debut. The goal was originally credited to Corbin Baldwin, who instead got an assist.

Idaho rookie Jason Bast has been tearing up the ECHL of late. Bast is tops among ECHL rookies with 24 goals and entered Saturday's contest with the most points by all players (15) since Dec. 31, 2014.

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Redmann, 28, has played in two games this season, going 2-0 with a .966 save percentage. The Aces said he was en route to Anchorage on Saturday and could play as early as Sunday.

On Saturday the Aces also signed former UAA defenseman Scott Warner of Anchorage, placed forward Tim Coffman on the 21-day injured reserve and placed defenseman Colten Hayes on reserve. Warner entered Saturday's contest with one career game of ECHL experience, suiting up for Stockton in the 2013 playoffs.Warner assisted on Francis' second goal and finished with a plus one rating.

Contact reporter Matt Tunseth at 257-4335 or mtunseth@alaskadispatch.com

Idaho 5, Alaska 4 (OT)

Idaho 3 1 0 1 -- 5

Alaska 1 1 2 0 -- 4

1st Period -- 1, Idaho, MacLeod 16 (Robinson, Dahl), 0:57. 2, Idaho, Robinson 11 (MacLeod, Dahl), 3:49. 3, Alaska, Connolly 11 (Francis, Cameron), 10:07 (PP). 4, Idaho, de Kastrozza 12 (Case), 16:51 (PP). Penalties -- Patterson Idh (hooking), 9:35; Connolly Ak (slashing ), 14:22; Connolly Ak (interference), 16:26; Robinson Idh (hooking), 18:54.

2nd Period -- 5, Idaho, Dahl 4 (Bast, MacLeod), 14:55 (PP). 6, Alaska, Francis 11 (Connolly, Walters), 15:43. Penalties -- Bast Idh (high-sticking), 4:22; Robinson Idh (tripping), 7:40; Harrington Ak (hooking), 13:43; Gorham Ak (hooking), 18:19.

3rd Period -- 7, Alaska, Francis 12 (Walters, Warner), 8:16. 8, Alaska, Connolly 12 (Cole, Wolfe), 18:24 (PP). Penalties -- MacLeod Idh (tripping), 14:55; Beck Idh (holding), 17:14; Belzile Idh (unsportsmanlike conduct - disputing decision), 17:14.

OT Period -- 9, Idaho, MacLeod 17 (Beck), 3:11 (PP). Penalties -- Cole Ak (tripping), 2:24.

Shots on Goal -- Idaho 12-9-5-3-29. Alaska 12-13-15-0-40. Power Play Opportunities -- Idaho 3/5; Alaska 2/7. Goalies-Idaho, Roy 21-7-0-3 (40 shots-36 saves). Alaska, Crandall 1-3-2-0 (29 shots-24 saves). A-4,826. Referees -- Peter MacDougall (26). Linesmen-Josh Ellis (62), Travis Jackson (65).

Correction: The original print version of this story incorrectly said Colorado plays in the AHL. The Colorado Eagles are an ECHL team.

Matt Tunseth

Matt Tunseth is a former reporter for the Anchorage Daily News and former editor of the Alaska Star.

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