Sports

Aces blow multiple road leads, fall 5-4 in shootout to Condors

Trying to secure a playoff position, the Alaska Aces down the line might profoundly regret the precious point they allowed to slip through their gloves Monday night in their come-from-ahead 5-4 shootout loss at Bakersfield.

The Aces squandered a two-goal lead more than halfway through the third period, regained the advantage with less than three minutes left in regulation and then surrendered the extra-attacker, power-play equalizer with just 37.4 seconds left.

The Condors won the shootout, 4-3, when Chase Schaber delivered in the bottom of the seventh round. Bakersfield never led in regulation, and never led in the shootout until Schaber's clincher.

A point on the road is usually a satisfactory outcome. Not Monday. Not given the Aces' precarious position in the ECHL standings. And certainly not given that they held three leads, including a 4-3 advantage with less than three minutes to go in regulation before Corbin Baldwin's slashing penalty afforded the Condors the opportunity for their third of four comebacks at Rabobank Arena.

Both the fifth-place Aces and sixth-place Condors are chasing the fourth-place Utah Grizzlies for the final playoff spot in the seven-team Pacific Division. Utah's 4-2 home loss to last-place Stockton was already in the books when the Aces used Curt Gogol's power-play strike less than four minutes into the third period to generate a 3-1 lead.

The Aces (26-23-6) own 58 points in 55 games and still moved within four points of Utah's 62 points in 56 games. Bakersfield, with 53 points in 55 games, still trails the Grizzlies by nine points.

Complicating Alaska's situation is a schedule that includes 11 road games among its remaining 17 regular-season games. The Aces close a five-game road trip – they are 2-1-1 so far – with a match at third-place Ontario on Tuesday night.

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Aces goaltender Troy Redmann stopped 36 shots in regulation and overtime, including Andrew Radjenovic's second-period penalty shot, when the game was tied 1-1. He gave up shootout goals to Ryan Watson, Jordan Kremyr, Radjenovic and Schaber.

Bakersfield's Maxime Lagace made 24 saves and stopped four of seven shootout bids – Tim Coffman, Ryan Walters and Gogol beat him in the skills contest, but Lagace's stop on Bryan Cameron in the top of the seventh round set the stage for Schaber's winner.

Cameron scored two goals to give him nine goals in the last 14 games. Gogol's goal was his 13th in 20 games with the Aces, and he added an assist. Chris Francis delivered his 19th goal and an assist, and Coffman furnished two assists.

Ryan Watson scored two third-period goals for Bakersfield, striking twice in a span of less than three minutes to forge a 3-3 tie. He also had an assist. Kremyr, the former Ace who is Bakersfield's captain, generated one goal and two helpers.

Cameron's 2-on-1 bullet from the left circle with 2:55 to go earned the Aces a 4-3 lead. But with Baldwin off for slashing and Lagace on the bench in favor of a sixth attacker, Bakersfield defenseman C.J. Ludwig blew a shot from the point through traffic and past Redmann for a 4-4 tie in the final minute of regulation.

Shuffling the deck

Gogol's power-play goal snapped a string of 17 consecutive failed power plays for the Aces in a five-game span.

Francis' goal was his 19th this season in 52 games, which leaves him two shy of his ECHL best. He scored 21 goals in 69 games for the Las Vegas Wranglers in 2012-13.

Kremyr's goal was his 12th in 53 games. His career high is the 14 he scored for the Aces in 52 games in 2011-12.

Though the Aces are just 9-13-3 on the road, their last two trips have been their most productive. They are 4-2-2 in their last eight road games.

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

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Alaska 1 1 2 0 - 4

Bakersfield 1 0 3 0 - 5

1st Period-1, Alaska, Francis 19 (Gogol, Renwick), 0:54. 2, Bakersfield, Kremyr 12 (Judson, Watson), 17:30. Penalties-Craig Bak (cross-checking), 2:16; Higby Ak (interference), 3:59.

2nd Period-3, Alaska, Cameron 9 (Walters, Cole), 17:53. Penalties-Marciano Bak (hooking), 0:46; Watson Bak (hooking), 5:29; Cole Ak (interference), 6:22; Hayes Ak (tripping), 7:03; Francis Ak (interference), 10:22; Aliu Bak (tripping), 19:28.

3rd Period-4, Alaska, Gogol 13 (Francis, Coffman), 3:32 (PP). 5, Bakersfield, Watson 5 (Judson, Kremyr), 11:06. 6, Bakersfield, Watson 6 (Kremyr), 13:51. 7, Alaska, Cameron 10 (Coffman, Cole), 17:05. 8, Bakersfield, Ludwig 3 (Schaber, Sylvestre), 19:22 (PP). Penalties-Marciano Bak (tripping), 3:22; Nash Bak (holding), 8:05; Baldwin Ak (slashing ), 17:51.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

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Shootout - Alaska 3 (Francis NG, Coffman G, Walters G, Higby NG, Tesink NG, Gogol G, Cameron NG), Bakersfield 4 (Aliu NG, Watson G, Kremyr G, Judson NG, Pageau NG, Radjenovic G, Schaber G).

Shots on Goal-Alaska 8-8-8-4-0-28. Bakersfield 11-13-14-2-1-41.

Power Play Opportunities-Alaska 1 / 6; Bakersfield 1 / 5.

Goalies-Alaska, Redmann 8-1-0-2 (40 shots-36 saves). Bakersfield, Lagace 8-7-2-2 (28 shots-24 saves).

A-3,071

Referees-Peter MacDougall (26).

Linesmen-Brett Martin (75), Steven Berry (77).

Doyle Woody

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

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