About the only encouraging moment for the Alaska Aces on Saturday night came when the final horn sounded an end to their agony.
Fort Wayne Komets 8, Aces 2.
It was every bit as ugly as the score indicates. Alaska's defeat was its most lopsided of the season and Fort Wayne's eight goals were the most the Aces have surrendered this season.
After seven consecutive hockey games, and 11 of the previous 12, essentially decided by one goal, the Aces were humbled before an announced crowd of 5,058 at Sullivan Arena.
Following a 3-2 overtime win over the Komets (34-19-7) on Wednesday and a 5-4 shootout victory Friday, the Aces (22-32-7) were positioned to sweep the maximum six points from a three-game home series for the first time in 10 such series this season.
No dice. The Aces have two three-game home series remaining. The only season they failed to sweep a three-game home series in their previous 12 ECHL campaigns was 2003-04, their first on the circuit.
The Aces' 2-hour, 32-minute visit to hockey hell included abundant shortcomings. They turned over the puck frequently and took careless penalties. Goaltender Jacob DeSerres (26 saves) struggled throughout, with no relief in sight because Troy Redmann is out with an upper-body injury and league rules only permit using an emergency back-up goalie (Jeff Barney) if the starter is injured — and hurt feelings don't count.
Even the Aces' most reliable players struggled. Captain William Wrenn got caught in no-man's land on the game-opening breakaway goal from former UAA center Paul Crowder 89 seconds in. And the puck jumped Wrenn's stick to set up Mason Baptista's hat trick-finishing, power-play breakaway goal in the second period.
"Salt in the wound,'' Wrenn said.
Also, Aces winger Peter Sivak, a model of efficiency and attention to detail, delivered a cross-ice breakout pass to Baptista on Baptista's second goal in the opening 5:15 to make it 3-0 Komets.
Still, it was a team effort by the Aces, who surrendered three power-play goals while affording the Komets eight chances with the man advantage.
"We've been playing really well lately, but this game it was just too many undisciplined penalties, too many stupid ones, and that took the wind out of our sails,'' said Aces winger Justin Breton. "From there on, we couldn't get anything going.''
The Komets, meanwhile, played with the tenacity of a team on a five-game winless streak, not the five-game point streak (3-0-2) they actually own.
"I think we played with a little fire in the belly,'' Crowder said. "They kind of took it to us the last couple games, I thought. We played a little pissed off tonight.''
Crowder, who began his season in France before returning to Fort Wayne, where he played last season, furnished one goal and three assists. Shawn Szydlowski delivered five helpers, and defenseman Jordan Southorn added a goal and two assists. Trevor Cheek scored two third-period goals to give him 16 goals in 23 games with the Komets. And goalie Pat Nagle enjoyed a light night (21 saves).
After scoring on its first two shots Friday, Fort Wayne scored on three of its first four shots Saturday. Christian Finch scored his second goal in three games with the Aces 15 seconds after Baptista's second goal to cut the Komets' lead to 3-1, but that's as close as Alaska inched.
Southern's power-play goal later in the first period pushed Fort Wayne's lead to 4-1, and Jamie Schaafsma and Baptista scored second-period goals to turn the game into a rout.
Aces rookie center Ben Lake scored a third-period goal to snap his 35-game goal drought.
There was little consolation for the Aces, though, and they remain 10 points out of the last playoff spot in the Western Conference with 11 games left.
"It just makes it worse because our season has been so stressful,'' Wrenn said. "We had a chance to sweep for our fans and we just didn't have anything.''
Shuffling the deck
Winger Garet Hunt's 13 penalty minutes Saturday pushed his season total to a league-leading 229, a 12-minute cushion on Colorado forward Darryl Bootland (217). Fort Wayne defenseman Cody Sol sits third (190).
Defenseman Nick Cecere, fresh from Niagara University, made his pro debut for the Aces.
The opening 12:39 of the game featured five goals, three fights and myriad scrums.
Baptista's first pro hat trick was also his first multiple-goal game as a pro. He entered with seven goals in 55 combined games for the Wichita Thunder and Fort Wayne.
The Aces fumbled a chance to win three straight games for the second time this season. Their only three-game winning streak came on the road in mid-January.
The Aces this week make a three-game road trip to two locations they have never visited. They play Wichita in Kansas on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and the Allen Americans in Texas on Friday night.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockeyblog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
FW 4 2 2 — 8
Aces 1 0 1 — 2
First Period — 1, FW, Crowder 2 (Schaafsma, Szydlowski), 1:29; 2, FW, Baptista 8 (Szydlowski, L. Thomas), 2:34; 3, FW, Baptista 9, 5:15; 4, Aces, Finch 2, 5:30; 5, FW, Southorn 8 (Crowder, Syzdlowski), 12:39. Penalties — Lake, Aces, major (fighting), :37; McCadden, FW, major (fighting), :37; Deluca, Aces, major (fighting), 4:51; Szydlowski, FW, major (fighting), 4:51; Hunt, Aces, double-minor, served by Traversa (elbowing, roughing), 6:32; Beaupre, FW (roughing), 6:32; Weber, FW (cross-checking), 9:39; Wrenn, Aces (roughing), 11:49; Asselin, Aces, major (fighting), 11:49; L. Thomas, FW, major (fighting), 11:49.
Second Period — 6, FW, Schaafsma 18 (Southorn, Crowder), 8:25; 7, FW, Baptista 10, 11:49 (pp). Penalties — DeSerres, Aces, served by Asselin (tripping), :43; Lake, Aces (unsportsmanlike conduct), 4:06; Hunt, Aces, minor-major (instigator, fighting), 9:19; Belisle, FW, major-game misconduct (boarding), 9:19; Sol, FW (roughing), 9:19; Sivak, Aces (boarding), 10:25; Sol, FW (roughing), 18:48.
Third Period — 8, FW, Cheek 15 (Szydlowski, Southorn), 5:00; 9, Cheek 16 (Crowder, Szydlowski), 9:15 (pp); 10, Aces, Lake 6 (Tesink, Poulin), 16:48. Penalties — Hunt, Aces (hooking), 8:27; K. Thomas, FW (slashing), 17:33; Lake, Aces (tripping), 17:40.
Shots on goal — FW 14-13-7—34. Aces 8-6-9—23.
Power-play Opportunities — FW 3 of 8. Aces 0 of 3.
Goalies — FW, Nagle, 24-9-6 (23 shots-21 saves). Aces, DeSerres, 5-11-3 (34-26).
A — 5,058. T — 2:32.
Referee — Kenny Anderson. Linesmen ?— Josh Ellis, Chad Colliander.