Lukas Hafner finally received ample goal support Friday night — from defensemen, no less — and the Alaska Aces glided into the holiday break with a 5-1 win over the Rapid City Rush to wrap a rewarding road trip.
Hafner, the rookie goaltender summoned back to the club from the Southern Professional Hockey League, stopped 33 shots at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in South Dakota to earn his first win for the Aces this season. The five goals his teammates furnished equaled the support he received in his first two starts, both shootout losses.
Hafner, who got the start when No. 1 masked man Kevin Carr turned up sick at the morning skate, improved to 1-0-2 with a 1.90-goals against average and .941 save percentage.
Aces defensemen had accounted for just nine goals in the team's first 26 games but racked three Friday — Steven Tarasuk, Nolan Descoteaux and Dax Lauwers of Anchorage furnished the strikes, and Lauwers' goal was his first as a pro. Friday marked just the second time this season Alaska's defense has generated two or more goals in a game.
Alaska built a 3-0 lead with three second-period goals and led 4-0 in the third period. And even when former Aces forward Ryan Walters cracked Hafner by going coast-to-coast and roofing a backhander with about seven minutes to go, Peter Sivak responded 36 seconds later with his league-leading 22nd goal.
The Aces (16-6-5) also killed all three Rush power plays to close a 3-1-1 road trip in which they killed all 22 power plays they faced.
"I would hazard to say that was our most complete game of the year," Aces coach Rob Murray said by cellphone. "I don't think Haf had to make too many (difficult) saves, but he made the ones he needed to. We executed on our chances, and the third period was just shutdown hockey."
Murray employed 11 forwards and five defensemen instead of the usual complement of 10 and six, because defenseman Ryan Trenz was sick and defenseman Marc-Andre Levesque missed his second game with a back injury. Still, three blueliners scored, defenseman Matt Geurts added an assist and the only defenseman who did not record a point, Mackenze Stewart, was plus-1.
"All five of them were just outstanding, and they all contributed to the win," Murray said.
After a goal-free first period, the Aces seized a 2-0 lead inside the first two minutes of the second period when Justin Breton and Tarasuk pierced Adin Hill, who stopped 30 shots in a 4-0 shutout of the Aces on Wednesday. Those goals, just 29 seconds apart, are the fastest consecutive goals by Alaska this season. The Aces used Breton's goal to snap their goal drought at 104:04, and once they owned a 2-0 lead, Rapid City (9-14-5) never threatened.
Heading into the break, the Aces just once have lost consecutive games in regulation. They sit second in the seven-team Mountain Division with 37 points, three behind the Colorado Eagles, who have played two more games, and open a three-game home series against the Eagles at Sullivan Arena on Dec. 30.
Shuffling the deck
Descoteaux added an assist for his fourth multiple-point game of the season.
Sivak, who leads the Aces in scoring and ranks second in the league with 22-19–41 totals in 27 games, also had an assist to give him 15 multiple-point games this season.
Sivak's center, Stephen Perfetto, was held off the score sheet, marking the first time this season he has gone three straight games without a point.
Center Ben Lake and winger Garet Hunt each delivered two assists. That's Hunt's first multiple-point game of the season and Lake's third two-assist game.
Breton has scored five goals in the last seven games.
Penalty-killing crews ruled on the Aces' five-game roadie. They killed all 22 opposing power plays and opponents killed all 14 Aces power plays.
Aces 0 3 2 5
Rapid City 0 0 1 1
First Period — None. Penalties — Grant, Rapid City (tripping), 13:17.
Second Period — 1, Aces, Breton 6 (Hunt, Lake), 1:23; 2, Aces, Tarasuk 4 (Descoteaux, Sivak), 1:52; 3, Aces, Descoteaux 3 (Hunt, Lake), 18:05. Penalties — Perlini, Rapid City (tripping), 2:36; Descoteaux, Aces (tripping), 6:26; Geurts, Aces (holding), 15:07.
Third Period –4, Aces, Lauwers 1 (Ruegsegger, Geurts), 9:04; 5, Rapid City, Walters 10, 13:08; 6, Aces, Sivak 22 (Moynihan), 13:44 . Penalties — Walters, Rapid City (slashing), 5:44; Lauwers, Aces (slashing), 9:46.
Shots on goal – Aces 13-12-9—34. Rapid City 10-13-11—34.
Power-play Opportunities – Aces 0 of 3. Rapid City 0 of 3.
Goalies – Aces, Hafner, 1-0-2 (34 shots-33 saves). Rapid City, Hill, 1-3-0 (34-29).
A – Not reported (5,119). T – 2:25.
Referee — Lucas Martin. Linesmen — Shayne Bender, Cade Bloomenrader.