Sports

Alaska Aces end horrible month with 5-3 ECHL hockey loss to Evansville IceMen

As the dark days of winter grow longer, so too do the struggles of the Alaska Aces.

A couple of bright spots weren't nearly enough to overcome the doom and gloom of a dark November in a Sunday afternoon hockey game at Sullivan Arena

The day after a rare win, the Aces gave up three second-period goals in a span of 77 seconds to lose 5-3 to the Evansville IceMen in front of a crowd of 2,679.

Gleason Fournier scored two goals for the second straight game, and the Aces generated more than 40 shots for the third consecutive game, but those were about the only patches of light for the home team.

The loss ended a dreadful month for the Aces, who went 2-10 in November to slip to 6-12-2 overall. Their .350 winning percentage is the third-worst in the ECHL.

The IceMen (6-10-0) took the series 2-1 despite being bombarded by shots all weekend long.

The Aces fired 130 shots to Evansville's 74 during the three-day stretch. In Sunday's third period, they outshot the IceMen 21-5. But Alaska's ability to create shots was trumped by Evansville's ability to stop them.

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Keegan Asmundson fended off 41 of Alaska's 44 shots Sunday, marking the third straight game an IceMen goalie spent a busy couple of hours at Sullivan. Evansville's Cody Reichard stopped 42 shots on Saturday and 38 on Friday.

Alaska goalie Steve Summerhays recorded 21 saves Sunday.

Alex Guptill, who didn't score a goal in his first eight games with Evansville, broke out of his slump with a hat track. Two of his goals came 25 seconds apart in the second period and were part of a three-goal barrage in a 1-minute, 17-second span that lifted the IceMen to a 4-1 lead.

Guptill's first goal came six minutes into the game, and the Aces answered 72 seconds later with a goal by Fournier.

It was 1-1 after one period. Less than three minutes into the second period, it was 4-1.

With the Aces hobbled by a flurry of penalties at the end of the first period against defenseman Patrick Wellar, Evansville started the second penalty on a prolonged power play.

Just 22 seconds remained in the first period when Wellar was called for a roughing minor. When he disputed the call, he was hit with another two-minute minor and a 10-minute misconduct.

The IceMen opened the second period by making the most of their man advantage. Guptill scored two power-play goals in a 25-second span and Justin MacDonald added an even-strength goal less than a minute later.

The Aces got back into the game with two goals in the third period to make it a one-goal game for the final five minutes.

Fournier scored a power-play goal four minutes into the period for his second goal of the game, matching his two-goal effort in a 4-1 victory Saturday. He increased his season total to six goals and became the second Alaska player this season with two two-goal games, joining Tommaso Traveso.

The Aces cut the gap to 4-3 when Collin Valcourt, acquired last week, scored his second goal as an Ace nearly 15 minutes into the period.

It remained a one-goal game for the rest of the way. The IceMen iced the victory with Tyson Fawcett's empty-net goal with one tick left on the clock.

The Aces return to Sullivan Arena on Wednesday, when the Colorado Eagles come to town for a three-game series.

Evansville 1 3 1 -- 5

Alaska 1 0 2 -- 3

First Period -- 1, Evansville, Guptill 1 (Strandberg, Himelson), 6:09. 2, Alaska, Fournier 5 (Perfetto), 7:21. Penalties – Penny, Evansville (double - roughing), 9:05; Valcourt, Alaska (roughing), 9:05; Trebish, Evansville(cross-checking), 14:23; Wellar, Alaska (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct - disputing decision, misconduct - unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:38.

Second Period -- 3, Evansville, Guptill 2 (Sims), 1:36 (PP). 4, Evansville, Guptill 3 (MacDonald, Himelson), 2:01 (PP). 5, Evansville, MacDonald 4 (Sims), 2:53. Penalties – none.

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Third Period -- 6, Alaska, Fournier 6 (Wrenn, Maxwell), 4:01 (PP). 7, Alaska, Valcourt 2 (Coffman, Wellar), 14:29. 8, Evansville, Fawcett 8 19:59 (EN). Penalties – Humphries, Evansville (cross-checking), 3:01; Trebish, Evansville (cross-checking), 10:37.

Shots on Goal -- Evansville 6-15-5-26, Alaska 14-9-21-44.

Power Play Opportunities -- Evansville 2 of 2; Alaska 1 of 4.

Goalies -- Evansville, Asmundson 1-3-0-0 (44 shots-41 saves). Alaska, Summerhays 2-5-0-0 (25 shots-21 saves).

A -- 2,679

Referees -- Peter Tarnaris.

Linesmen -- Josh Ellis, Travis Jackson.

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