Sports

Summerhays backs his talk, backstops Aces to 4-1 win

Late Friday night, after his shaky performance in a loss to the Evansville IceMen, Alaska Aces rookie goaltender Steven Summerhays stepped into the Sullivan Arena office of head coach Rob Murray and vowed to be better.

"He expressed to me his disappointment in his play,'' Murray said. "I told him, 'I have confidence in you, I've always had confidence in you, but you've got to show us.' And he definitely did that.''

Sparked by Summerhays' 26 saves, two goals from defenseman Gleason Fournier and penalty-killing excellence on two extended Evansville power plays, the Aces delivered a 4-1 ECHL victory Saturday night that snapped a two-game losing streak.

"It felt great,'' Summerhays said. "I really needed that one.''

With No. 1 goaltender Troy Redmann shelved by a back injury, Summerhays has taken the mantle for the moment. The former Notre Dame star from Anchorage missed all of last season following offseason shoulder surgery and until Redmann's back acted up Friday, had played sparingly.

And after surrendering four goals on 14 shots through two periods in Alaska's 4-2 loss Friday, when he went the distance, Summerhays knew he needed to employ one of a goaltender's most pivotal tools – a short memory.

"If you have a bad game, show up the next night and be better,'' Summerhays said.

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His teammates furnished ample support, killing a high-sticking double-minor taken by winger Joe Perry in the first period, when Alaska led 1-0, and Garet Hunt's five-minute major for boarding in the second period, when it was still 1-0.

On the five-minute penalty kill, Murray rotated the defensive pairings of Fournier and captain William Wrenn, and veteran Patrick Wellar and newcomer Davis Vandane. Forward pairings of Stephen Perfetto and Justin Breton, and Ben Lake and Perry, helped hold the IceMen in check.

Fournier blocked two shots on that penalty kill, Perfetto and Wrenn each blocked one, and the Aces at least seven times cleared the puck from their zone. Only late on that Evansville (5-10-2) power play did Summerhays face pressure, and he dropped to his knees and turned back three consecutive shots in a chaotic goalmouth scramble at the end of the sequence.

"That was a huge part of the game, the guys sacrificing,'' Summerhays said. "That was the difference in the game.''

The Aces turned the compliment back to Summerhays.

"For him to come in with Redmann nicked up, and to play so well, is great,'' said defenseman Garrett Haar.

For offense, the Aces (6-11-2) turned to their defense, and also cranked off a season-high 46 shots on goal.

Fournier four minutes into the game spent considerable time in territory – below the face-off dots – that is usually the domain of forwards. He backhanded a Breton rebound past Cody Reichard (42 saves) to give the Aces a 1-0 lead.

That margin held until early in the third period, when newcomer Collin Valcourt and Haar scored 91 seconds apart inside the opening five minutes to give the Aces a 3-0 cushion.

Valcourt's initial shot from the right circle hit teammate Hunt (two assists) in the chest – tough way to earn a helper – and the puck ricocheted back to Valcourt. He threaded a wrister past Reichard's blocker just seven seconds after an Alaska power play expired.

With the Aces again on a power play soon after, Haar waited for Valcourt, who was skating laterally across the top of the crease, to screen Reichard. Haar then unleashed a wrister from the high slot for his first goal of the season and a 3-0 lead.

"Get the monkey off my back,'' Haar said. "That felt nice, because that's supposed to be part of my game.''

Evansville's Tyson Fawcett finally cracked Summerhays with a spinning, power-play backhander midway through the period, but Fournier soon answered with a wrister from the left point.

Shuffling the deck

Fournier's two-goal game was the eighth two-goal game by an Ace this season. Tommaso Traversa owns a pair of two-goal games, and Breton, Tyler Maxwell, Perry, Hunt and Perfetto each own a two-goal game.

Breton leads the Aces in scoring with 8-6—14 totals in 18 games after going 10-10—20 in 50 games as a rookie last season.

Breton's two helpers marked his third multiple-point game this season. Haar, Fournier and Hunt each contributed their second multiple-point game.

Fournier's four goals lead Aces defensemen. Wrenn's 1-10—11 totals in 18 games leads the club's blueliners in scoring. Fournier sits second among defensemen with 4-5—9 totals in 15 games.

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With Redmann shelved, the Aces used local Drew O'Connell as an emergency backup.

Evansville and Alaska wrap their three-game series with a 3:05 p.m. game Sunday.

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

Evansville 0 0 1 -- 1

Aces 1 0 3 -- 4

First Period – 1, Aces, Fournier 3 (Breton, Wrenn), 4:21. Penalties – Perry, Aces, double-minor (high-stickinig), 12:55.

Second Period -- None. Penalties – Sims, Evansville (holding), 3:53; Hunt, Aces, major (boarding), 10:51; Lake, Aces (roughing), 18:45; Humphries, Evansville (roughing), 18:45.

Third Period – 2, Aces, Valcourt 1 (Hunt, Haar), 4:10; 3, Aces, Haar 1 (Hunt, Perfetto), 5:41 (pp); 4, Evansville, Fawcett 7 (Rutkowski, Penny), 9:33 (pp); 5, Aces, Fournier 4 (Breton, Traversa), 13:27. Penalties – Penny, Evansville (tripping), 2:03; Zay, Evansville (unsportsmanlike conduct), 4:31; Perry, Aces (tripping), 7:34; Guptill, Evansville (goaltender interference), 15:27.

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Shots on goal – Evansville 7-13-7—27. Aces 17-15-14—46.

Power-play Opportunities – Evansville 1 of 4. Aces 1 of 4.

Goalies – Evansville, Reichard, 2-1-0 (46 shots-42 saves). Aces, Summerhays, 2-5-0 (27-26).

A – 3,700. T – 2:29.

Referee – Peter Tarnaris. Linesmen – Steve Glines, Josh Ellis.

Doyle Woody

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

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