The Alaska Aces battled back three times Wednesday night, but circumstances did not allow them a fourth shot at rink redemption.
That's why it's called sudden-death overtime.
Jefferson Dahl's breakaway goal 13 seconds into extra time furnished the Idaho Steelheads a 4-3 ECHL victory over the visiting Aces at CenturyLink Arena in Boise.
Passes from Tommy Fallen and Rob Linsmayer delivered Dahl in alone on Aces goaltender Jacob DeSerres (16 saves). DeSerres got his blocker on Dahl's wrist shot, but the puck tumbled into the air and fell across the goal line for Dahl's team-leading 20th goal.
That strike extended the recent results of both hockey teams. Idaho (31-20-7) stretched its point streak to six games (4-0-2). Alaska (20-29-7) pushed its winless streak to five games (0-4-1).
Alaska's overtime loss, coupled with Colorado's victory over visiting Fort Wayne on Wednesday, reduced the Aces' tragic number to 19. Any combination of Aces' points surrendered and Eagles' points captured totaling 19 will eliminate the Aces from playoff contention.
And 19 in this instance is a very small number, considering the Aces have 16 regular-season games remaining and Colorado has 17 games remaining.
The Aces outshot the Steelheads 29-20. Yet shot superiority throughout the season hasn't reaped Alaska many rewards. The Aces have outshot opponents in 34 of 56 games, but are 15-16-3 when they have the upper hand.
In regulation, the Aces generated a series of comebacks.
Idaho's Jake Fallon scored 68 seconds into the game when Aces center Ryan Tesink gifted him the puck. Justin Breton banged in a Stephen Perfetto rebound seven minutes into the second period to forge a 1-1 tie.
Joe Basaraba scored on a rebound for Idaho 44 seconds after Breton's goal, but Garet Hunt answered for the Aces 98 seconds later to make it 2-2.
Rob Linsmayer's shot from the right circle leaked through DeSerres eight minutes into the third period, but Breton's shot from atop the left circle four minutes later leaked through Philippe Desrosiers (26 saves) for a 3-3 tie.
Breton's two-goal game was his second of the season, the other one coming in the season opener. He leads the club with 19 goals.
The Aces are on the last stop of their season-long, nine-game road trip. The series with the Steelheads continues Friday and wraps Saturday.
Shuffling the deck
Captain William Wrenn returned to the lineup after missing five games with an upper-body injury.
No. 1 goaltender Troy Redmann sat out his third straight game with an upper-body injury but is expected to play Friday.
Defenseman Brandon Martell made his Aces debut — Alaska acquired him from Wichita earlier in the week — and assisted on Breton's first goal. Martell was plus-1 with three shots on goal.
The Aces have used 14 different defensemen this season and 37 different players — the latter figure does not count emergency back-up goaltenders.
Alaska is 1-4 in OT this season and 2-3 in shootouts — so, a combined 3-7 in extra time.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockeyblog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
Aces 0 2 1 0 — 3
Idaho 1 1 1 1 — 4
First Period — 1, Idaho, Fallon 5, 1:08. Penalties — Hunt, Aces (slashing), 9:09.
Second Period — 2, Aces, Breton 18 (Perfetto, Martell), 6:58; 3, Idaho, Basaraba 6 (Bouvet-Morrissette, Boutin), 7:42; 4, Aces, Hunt 8 (Tesink), 9:23. Penalties — Bell, Idaho, minor-major (removing helmet, fighting), 10:29; Valcourt, Aces, minor-major (removing helmet, fighting), 10:29; Baldwin, Idaho (boarding), 12:21; Boutin, Idaho (roughing), 14:11; Lake, Aces, double-minor (slashing, roughing), 14:11.
Third Period — 5, Idaho, Linsmayer 14 (Dahl), 7:56; 6, Aces, Breton 19 (Levesque, Sivak), 12:05. Penalties — Bell, Idaho, major (fighting), 4:45; Valcourt, Aces, major (fighting), 4:45.
Overtime — 7, Idaho, Dahl 20 (Linsmayer, Fallen), :13. Penalties — None.
Shots on goal — Aces 9-12-8-0—29. Idaho 9-4-6-1—20.
Power-play Opportunities — Aces 0 of 1. Idaho 0 of 2.
Goalies — Aces, DeSerres, 3-9-3 (20 shots-16 saves). Idaho, Desrosiers, 9-6-4 (29-26).
A — 3,123 (5,006). T — 2:23.
Referee — Andy Howard. Linesmen — Andrew Wetzel, Scott DeBaugh.