Even given the Alaska Aces' recent run of considerable success, there was no sugarcoating how difficult it was for them to stomach the end of that prosperity.
Blowing a three-goal lead anywhere, but especially on home ice at Sullivan Arena, as the Aces did Sunday afternoon in falling 5-4 to the ECHL-leading and explosive Toledo Walleye, proved bitter stuff.
"It's gutting,'' said Aces goaltender Kevin Carr, who stopped 29 shots. "There's no way around it. You're up three goals on a good team like that, you have to shut them down.
"I put it on myself too. I've got to be better.''
The Walleye (18-4-0) completed their comeback on defenseman Scott Czarnowczan's goal with 1 minute, 57 seconds remaining.
And so, after the Aces (13-5-4) snuffed Toledo's nine-game winning streak with an 8-6 win Saturday, the Walleye halted Alaska's 10-game point streak (7-0-3).
What particularly galled Aces coach Rob Murray was that Czarnowczan's game-winning strike came seconds after the Aces botched a controlled breakout from behind their net. Murray said the Aces positioned themselves incorrectly and passed to the wrong side of the ice – to the left wing, instead of the right.
Defenseman Dax Lauwers' attempted breakout pass to Danny Moynihan in neutral ice went astray, Aiden Hirschfeld gobbled the puck, blew into the Aces' zone on right wing and fed Czarnowczan. The blueliner's shot from the slot squeezed between Carr's left arm and his body.
"It that situation, we strayed away from the details of the game, and it cost us,'' Murray said.
That mistake proved piercing against the league's highest-scoring team and one adept at playing from behind. The Walleye, who trailed 4-3 after two periods Sunday, are 5-4-0 in such scenarios, tying the Colorado Eagles for the most wins in the league when behind after 40 minutes.
"If you look at our record from behind, we're pretty good,'' said Toledo bench boss Dan Watson. "We're confident as a team we can come back, with our amount of skill and our will to win.''
Toledo's average of 4.55 goals per game leads the league by more than half a goal and its power-play efficiency of 25.8 percent also tops the 28-team circuit.
"We know that we're never out of a game, that our time will come,'' Czarnowczan said.
[Win, the Aces did, on Star Wars Night]
[Toledo beat Alaska in a 10-round shootout Friday to end a terrific game]
After the teams were tied 1-1 through one period – Tylor Spink opened the scoring for Toledo with a short-handed goal and Aces captain Garet Hunt answered at even strength – the Aces seized a 4-1 lead with a three-goal flurry in an early second-period span of 2:56. First-line center Stephen Perfetto sandwiched two goals around Peter Sivak's league-leading 20th strike, and Sivak assisted on both Perfetto goals.
Back charged the Walleye. Evan Rankin banged home a rebound midway through the period for his Walleye record 178th career point. Defenseman Jacob MacDonald less than three minutes later buried a power-play one-timer from the center point, and the Aces' three-goal cushion was suddenly a tenuous one-goal lead.
Carter Sandlak's goal off a faceoff five minutes into the third period forged a 4-4 tie and set the stage for Czarnowczan's dagger. Walleye goalie Jake Paterson (18 saves) flashed his right pad to deny Ryan Trenz's shot from the slot at the buzzer, when the Aces were on the power play and at a 6-on-4 advantage with Carr on the bench in favor of an extra attacker.
Toledo won 4-3 in a shootout in Friday's series opener – they trailed 3-2 after two periods on that occasion – and pocketed four of a possible six points in the series.
The Aces gained three points in the series. After taking Monday off, they're scheduled to fly out of town long before sunrise Tuesday for a five-game road trip to Tulsa, Missouri and Rapid City.
Shuffling the deck
After scoring 20 goals in 51 games for the Aces last season – and that's good production – Sivak has bagged 20 goals in 22 games and leads the league in scoring with 20-16—36 totals in 22 games.
Sivak delivered 5-4—9 totals in the series, has generated 13 multiple-point games and furnished three or more points five times.
Perfetto, who went 5-3—8 in the series, is second in league scoring with 12-18—30 totals in 16 games. He's had 10 multiple-point games and Sunday supplied his fourth two-goal game.
Among ECHL regulars, Perfetto ranks first in points per game at 1.88 and Sivak second at 1.64.
The Aces and Walleye have each played 22 games and neither has lost consecutive games in regulation.
Watson, the Walleye coach, was a defensive partner of former Aces blueliner Matt Shasby when both played for the now-defunct Long Beach Ice Dogs of the ECHL in the 2004-05 season.
Toledo's Rankin has scored a goal in four straight games. MacDonald, with a goal and assist, pushed his point streak to four games. He has 2-5—7 totals in that stretch. The Walleye continue their road trip with three games at Utah before returning to Ohio.
Toledo 1 2 2 5
Aces 1 3 0 4
First Period – 1, Toledo, Tylor Spink 10, 14:41 (sh); 2, Aces, Hunt 2 (Ruegsegger, Lake, 17:43. Penalties – Lake, Aces (roughing), 6:13; Czarnowczan, Toledo (roughing), 6:13; Levesque, Aces (holding), 8:06; Trenz, Aces (high-sticking), 9:05; Globke, Toledo (tripping), 13:01.
Second Period – 3, Aces, Perfetto 11 (Descoteaux, Sivak), 1:57; 4, Aces, Sivak 20 (Tarasuk, Trenz), 3:08 (pp); 5, Aces, Perfetto 12 (Sivak), 4:53; 6, Toledo, Rankin 11 (MacDonald, Schmitz), 10:33; 7, Toledo, MacDonald 6 (Czarnowczan, Berschbach), 13:15 (pp). Penalties – Czarnowczan, Toledo (tripping), 2:35; Jenks, Toledo (cross-checking), 5:06; Sivak, Aces (slashing), 5:27; Czarnowczan, Toledo (slashing), 5:27; Zajac, Toledo (slashing), 7:54; Ruegsegger, Aces (slashing), 12:55; Lauwers, Aces (roughing), 16:12; Denis, Toledo (delay of game-puck over glass), 18:52.
Third Period – 8, Toledo, Sandlak 2, 5:30; 9, Toledo, Czarnowczan 3 (Hirschfeld), 18:03. Penalties – Perfetto, Aces (tripping), 3:08; Lake, Aces (roughing), 12:00; Czarnowczan, Toledo (roughing), 12:00; Toledo bench minor, served by Tyson Spink (too many men), 19:24.
Shots on goal – Toledo 11-11-12—34. Aces 11-8-3—22.
Power-play Opportunities – Toledo 1 of 5. Aces 1 of 6.
Goalies – Toledo, Paterson, 10-3-0 (22 shots-18 saves). Aces, Carr, 6-4-3 (34-29).
A – 2,718 (6,399). T – 2:36.
Referee – Andrea Barone. Linesmen – Josh Ellis, Steve Glines.