New Year's celebrations started early Saturday night at Sullivan Arena.
Not only did the Alaska Aces end the year strong, they ended the game strong in their 4-1 ECHL hockey win over the Colorado Eagles at Sullivan Arena.
Hanging onto a 2-1 lead heading into the third period, Alaska center Stephen Perfetto tacked on two third-period goals to provide the dagger to the Eagles' hopes of a comeback.
The score was a complete reversal from the Aces' 4-1 loss to Colorado on Friday.
"One of the things I was really pleased with was going into the third period with a 2-1 lead, we didn't sit back," Aces coach Rob Murray said. "We maintained our pressure and our tempo and kept playing.
"The best way to protect a 2-1 lead is to get up 3-1."
Perfetto, a 5-foot-9 winger, corralled the puck on a Peter Sivak rebound midway through the third period and sent it out to his defensemen. Marc-Andre Leveque passed to Mackenzie Stewart on the left wing and Stewart sent it back at the net to Perfetto, who tipped it in before Colorado goalie Clarke Saunders could react.
Perfetto scored again with one minute to go when he took the puck on a Colorado turnover in the Aces' zone and shot it home from well behind the Aces' blue line. It was his 14th goal of the season.
"I had a little bit of time," Perfetto said. "They made a bad turnover on the half wall and they just didn't have pressure on me, and I put it down the length of the ice."
Perfetto was one of three Aces to score. Sivak — the Aces' points leader with 23-19—42 totals — started the scoring with a power-play goal in the first period, and Ben Lake added a close-range goal in the second period.
But arguably the biggest play came in the net from goalie Lukas Hafner. In his fourth game of the season, Hafner made 32 saves and earned his second win.
Several times, Hafner found the puck in front of a crowded net and either gloved it or deflected it to safety. He also survived all five Colorado power plays.
"He works his ass off every day," Murray said. "He knows his position on the team, (that) he's the back up (to Kevin Carr). When he gets the chance, he's prepared, he's ready to go. He's earned another start tomorrow."
The Aces round out their three-games-in-three-days series with Colorado at 3:05 p.m. Sunday at Sullivan Arena.
Another Alaska win would narrow the Eagles' gap in the Mountain Division standings. Colorado is tied for the division lead with the Allen Americans with 42 points. Alaska and Idaho are next with 37 points apiece.
"It's always good to end the year with a bang, but it will be better to start it with a bang as well," Perfetto said. "Hopefully we can follow it up tomorrow and get four out of six points."
Colorado 0 1 0 — 1
Aces 1 1 2 — 4
First Period — 1, Aces, Sivak 23 (Coffman, Tarasuk), 15:55 (pp). Penalties — Stewart, Aces (cross-checking), 2:57; Aces bench minor, served by Nikiforov (too many men), 7:10; Zahn, Colorado (holding), 14:58; Zimmerman, Colorado (roughing), 16:15; Hunt, Aces (elbowing), 16:15.
Second Period — 2, Aces, Lake 5 (Breton), 1:56; 3, Colorado, Garbowsky 8 (Nicholls, Marto), 5:18. Penalties — Hunt, Aces (roughing), 2:31; Descoteaux, Aces (hooking), 10:25; Salazar, Colorado (interference), 13:40; Marto, Colorado (tripping), 18:19.
Third Period — 4, Aces, Perfetto 13 (Stewart, Levesque), 11:29. Penalties — Lauwers, Aces (tripping), 2:42.
Shots on goal — Colorado 12-13-7—32. Aces 12-10-14—36.
Power-play Opportunities — Colorado 0 of 5. Aces 1 of 3.
Goalies — Colorado, Saunders, (11-2-1) (36 shots-32 saves); Aces, Hafner, (2-0-2) (32-31).
A — 3,809. T — 2:22.
Referee — Kenny Anderson. Linesmen — Josh Ellis, Scott Sivulich.