The Alaska Aces' 2-1 road defeat to the Idaho Steelheads might not be the worst loss they endured Friday night.
Tim Coffman, the ECHL club's first-line center and co-leading goal scorer, suffered a lower-body injury late in the first period and did not return to the hockey game at CenturyLink Arena in Boise. Coach Rob Murray said by cellphone the preliminary report he received was that Coffman suffered a groin injury that could be long-term.
Also, Murray said defenseman Garrett Haar went to a Boise hospital before the game and was diagnosed with severe flu. And winger Tommaso Traversa took an elbow from former Aces defenseman Corbin Baldwin in the third period and will be evaluated.
The Aces (17-23-5) already were without Collin Valcourt and Garet Hunt, their first-line and second-line left wingers, respectively. Both were serving league-imposed suspensions -- Valcourt the first of a two-game ban and Hunt the second of a three-game ban.
Fortunately for the Aces, they earlier this week were assigned center Ryan Tesink from the St. Louis Blues and acquired forward Matt Harlow in a trade. Otherwise, they would be short on forwards.
A long-term loss of Coffman would be particularly damaging for a team that does not possess abundant scorers. With 15-18—33 totals in 45 games, Coffman is tied with winger Justin Breton for the team lead in goals and with captain William Wrenn, the team's best defenseman, for second in points. He is pivotal to the first power-play unit too.
Coming off a 6-1 win at Idaho on Wednesday that represented the Aces' most lopsided win of the season, and the Steelheads' most lopsided loss, Alaska on Friday ran into a goaltender in top form. The Aces shelled Jack Campbell for six goals on 28 shots Wednesday, but Campbell returned to the top of his game Friday, stopping 31 shots.
Campbell, a Dallas Stars first-round draft pick, has played four games against the Aces in the last two weeks. Throwing out Wednesday's stinker, he has allowed the Aces two combined goals in his three other appearances against them and stopped 102 of 104 shots for a .981 save percentage. With the stinker included, Campbell's save percentage against the Aces is still a terrific .939.
Jake Fallon provided Campbell all the support he needed, scoring both Steelheads goals. Fallon got a piece of Andre Bouvet-Morrissette's shot midway through the first period and two minutes into the third period blocked a shot to furnish his own breakaway, beating Troy Redmann (21 saves) with a backhander.
The Aces finally broke through with less than three minutes remaining when Anthony Deluca snapped a shot past Campbell's glove on the power play.
Alaska pulled Redmann for an extra attacker inside the last 80 seconds and had a couple of good chances but could not crack Campbell again.
The teams close their three-game series Saturday night.
Shuffling the deck
Wrenn's assist on Deluca's goal gives him 4-29—33 totals in 44 games, which places him second in scoring among ECHL defensemen. He leads league blueliners in assists. He played some forward after Coffman left the game.
Winger Peter Sivak had his three-game point streak (2-5—7) snapped but fired a game-high six shots on goal.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockeyblog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
Aces 0 0 1 1
Idaho 1 0 1 2
First Period – 1, Idaho, Fallon 2 (Bouvet-Morrissette, Basaraba), 11:30. Penalties – Jones, Aces (helmet violation), 2:36; Tesink, Aces (boarding), 11:41; Perfetto, Aces (interference), 14:24.
Second Period -- None. Penalties – Carroll, Idaho (hooking), 1:03; Bouvet-Morrissette, Idaho (slashing), 9:21; Fallon, Idaho (delay of game-puck over glass), 16:04.
Third Period – 2, Idaho, Fallon 3, 1:59; 3, Aces, Deluca 5 (Johnston, Wrenn), 17:27 (pp). Penalties – Baldwin, Idaho (elbowing), 13:04; Boutin, Idaho (holding), 16:52.
Shots on goal – Aces 9-11-12—32. Idaho 10-6-7—23.
Power-play Opportunities – Aces 1 of 5. Idaho 0 of 3.
Goalies – Aces, Redmann, 13-16-4 (23 shots-21 saves). Idaho, Campell, 10-4-0 (32-31).
A – 4,892 (5,006). T – 2:30.
Referee – Jeremy Tufts. Linesmen – Ryan Nevins, Scott DeBaugh.