Sports

So long, Aces' 3-game win streak, 4-game unbeaten string

Earning four points of a possible six in a three-game series against a division leader, as the Alaska Aces did despite Saturday night's 4-2 loss to the Colorado Eagles, delivered a decent outcome.

Five points, though, would have been fabulous, and six sublime.

That's because while the Aces have 31 hockey games remaining in the ECHL's 72-game regular season, they currently reside outside the playoff picture in the seven-team Pacific Division, where the top four finishers qualify for the Kelly Cup playoffs. Alaska sits sixth, seven points behind fourth-place Utah, though it does have three games in hand on the Grizzlies.

Sure, the postseason doesn't drop until April, but the Aces' mission is complicated further because they must leapfrog two teams -- Utah and fifth-place Bakersfield -- to make the playoffs.

And that means opportunities to make up ground must be seized. The Aces failed to do so Saturday, when Utah, lost 5-2 at last-place Stockton, which visits Sullivan Arena for a three-game series starting Friday.

The Grizzlies aren't making it easy on the Aces to play catch-up -- Utah is 7-2-2 in its last 11 games.

In any event, the Aces, who again slipped under .500 (18-19-4) while losing their three-game winning streak and four-game point streak, know what they are up against.

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"It's always in the back of our mind, because we know we're on the ledge right now, on the verge, and we're going to have to play better than .500 to make the playoffs,'' said Aces defenseman Corbin Baldwin.

And the Aces will have to do so largely on the road, where they are just 5-11-1. Of the Aces' remaining 31 games, just 12 are on home ice at Sullivan Arena, where they are 13-8-3, and 19 are on that rough road.

A strong start by the Aces on Saturday quickly went away.

Bryan Cameron roofed a Colten Hayes rebound behind Daniel Spence five minutes into the game, but Colorado responded in short order with goals from defensemen Brett Kulak and Collin Bowman, whose 14th strike leads league defensemen.

Both first-period goals, generated within roughly five minutes of Cameron's goal, came on similar plays. Colorado captain Trent Daavettila patrolled left wing and delivered cross-ice passes to blueliners coming down the weak side -- he hit Kulak for a power-play strike and Bowman for an even-strength go-ahead goal. Taylor Vause assisted on both goals too.

Those four guys have slayed the Aces. Kulak owns 4-6—10 totals in six games against Alaska and Bowman owns 4-2—6 totals in that span. Daavettila is 3-11-14 in the six meetings and Vause, who has played the Aces four times, has furnished 2-7—9 totals.

"They've got some speed,'' Baldwin said of the Eagles, "and on the big ice, there's extra room, so they're tough to contain.''

Vause and Daavettila have proved particularly deadly. Vause's 15-game point streak ties for the longest on the 28-team circuit this season and Daavettila's 13-game string is the third-longest.

Former UAA winger Jordan Kwas copped the eventual game-winning goal less than three minutes into the second period. Stationed on the doorstep of Johan Gustafsson (26 saves), he redirected Chris Knowlton's pass from the goal line on left wing for a 3-1 Eagles lead.

"I was just planted in front and it was a perfect pass, off my stick, off the pipe and in,'' Kwas said.

The Aces trimmed their deficit to 3-2 on Ryan Walters' 45-foot wrister over the left shoulder of Daniel Spence (22 saves) four minutes later. But Vitalijs Pavolvs restored Colorado's two-goal cushion 88 seconds into the third period. Left unchecked when Gustafsson could not locate a loose puck in his crease, the 6-foot-5 Latvian winger poked the puck home for a 4-2 lead.

Colorado moved into the division lead, one point ahead of the Idaho Steelheads and Ontario Reign.

Alaska didn't mount many serious threats in the final 20 minutes.

And that means that when Stockton comes to town, five or six points of a possible six is the measure the playoffs-chasing Aces likely must meet.

Shuffling the deck

Aces winger Brendan Connolly's seven-game point streak came to a close.

When Kulak scored on a first-period power play, it marked Colorado's fourth consecutive power-play success dating back to its three power-play goals in a third-period comeback Friday that ended with Alaska winning 5-4 in a shootout. And when Bowman scored later in the first period, it meant Kulak and Bowman had accounted for five of Colorado's last six goals to that point -- three by Kulak and two by Bowman.

Rookie center Ryan Tesink returned to the lineup after missing 13 games. Still, the Aces were without injured centers Chris Francis and Tim Coffman, who rank fourth and fifth, respectively, among Alaska scorers. Also still out injured are defenseman Corey Syvret and winger Justin Johnson.

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Erstwhile Aces defenseman Brad Richard, playing for Iowa of the American Hockey League, was injured in a Wild game Saturday, but the extent of his injury wasn't clear.

Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockey-blog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr

Doyle Woody

Doyle Woody covered hockey and other sports for the Anchorage Daily News for 34 years.

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