Burdened with four consecutive losses capped by a third-period soul-crusher last Saturday, the Alaska Aces are headed into a six-game road trip that will match their second-busiest journey this ECHL hockey season.
Alaska (4-6-1) opens the trip Wednesday night against the Quad City Mallards (4-4-3) in Illinois before two games against the Indy Fuel, one against the Evansville Ice and a trip-ending match against Quad City.
The Aces seemed to find equilibrium earlier this month when they rolled off three straight wins – two at home against Idaho and one on the road at Rapid City – but have backslid since then. They lost the finale of a two-game series at Rapid City in South Dakota and lost three straight home games to the Utah Grizzlies.
The last loss proved particularly painful for the Aces. They led Utah 2-0 through two periods and lost 3-2 when the Grizzlies racked the game-winning goal with just 63 seconds left in regulation.
Alaska has scored just six goals in its four-game losing streak.
Only three times in the Aces' 13 seasons in the ECHL have the Aces lost more than four straight games.
This road trip is the first of two six-game trips the Aces will make this season, when their busiest trip is a nine-game journey that takes them to Rapid City, Colorado and Idaho.
Quad City features four skaters who played for the Aces last season in winger Olivier Archambault, the club's leading scorer with 4-6—10 totals in eight games; winger Raphael Bussieres (4-4—8 in 10 games); center Zach Pochiro (3-4—7 in seven games); and winger Ryan Tesink (0-2—2 in 11 games).
The Mallards also feature former UAA defenseman Austin Coldwell (0-3—3 in eight games).
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockeyblog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
Alaska Aces
4-6-1
at
Quad City Mallards
4-4-3
Wednesday, 3:35 p.m. AST
Radio: Live, KFQD AM-750 and FM-103.7