For many, Sunday is a day of worship — religion, or the Church of the NFL.
For others, it is a day of leisure.
For the Alaska Aces, Sunday brings high-adventure hockey on home ice.
So it was again as the Aces built a three-goal first-period lead and a four-goal second-period lead, then had the Colorado Eagles slash that cushion to a single goal before the Aces secured a 6-4 ECHL victory at Sullivan Arena.
Tim Coffman snatched a turnover eight minutes into the third period and roofed a wrister to give Alaska (18-7-5) the breathing room of a two-goal advantage, and Lukas Hafner delivered a career-high 43 saves. Coupled with Saturday night's 4-1 Aces win, the short-handed Eagles (19-9-4) lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time all season.
The Aces led 3-0 less than seven minutes into the game on goals from Stephen Perfetto (33 seconds in), Peter Sivak (4:02) and Vladimir Nikiforov (6:46). That barrage chased Eagles goaltender Matt Skoff, who stopped just two of five shots in his club debut after being acquired in a trade with Florida, in favor of stalwart Clarke Saunders.
After Matt Garbowski trimmed Colorado's deficit to 3-1 later in the first period, Coffman and Nolan Descoteaux scored inside the first five minutes of the second period to give Alaska a 5-1 bulge.
Yet Shawn St.-Amant scored goals four minutes apart later in the second period, and Kenny Brooks converted with 13 seconds left before intermission to shrink the Aces' advantage to 5-4.
That comeback came from an Eagles crew that dressed just 14 skaters, two below the ECHL maximum, with just four defensemen in that group. That number fell to 13 skaters late in the first period – forward Josh Nicholls did not return after getting freight-trained by Aces defenseman Dax Lauwers, who received a major charging penalty and game misconduct.
Coffman furnished some freedom when he sniffed out Mitch Holmberg's drop pass inside the Colorado line in the third period and roofed a wrister over Saunders' glove for a 6-4 edge that held.
"We get up so much and stop playing with structure, and get away from what got us up so much,'' Coffman said. "Great teams learn to put teams away, and we have to learn to do that to be a great team.''
This latest Sunday suspense inside Sullivan followed a pattern.
On Sunday, Oct. 30, the Aces led Rapid City 4-2 inside the final two minutes of regulation before surrendering two extra-attacker goals that prompted overtime. Sivak scored just 16 ticks into extra time for a 5-4 win.
On Sunday, Nov. 27, the Aces led visiting Utah 3-0 in the first period and 4-2 in the second before Sivak's last-minute, empty-net goal held off the Grizzlies, 5-3.
On Sunday, Dec. 11, the Aces owned a 4-1 lead over league-leading Toledo halfway through the game and promptly surrendered the last four goals for a 5-4 regulation loss.
All four of those Sunday home games for the Aces have been the third game in three nights for both teams, and Alaska coach Rob Murray attributes those wild games to that heavy work schedule.
"Fatigue is definitely a reason,'' Murray said. "You couple that with a few bad bounces, and there you go.''
Hafner's exceptional play has put the Aces in something of a quandary. They have an established ECHL goalie in Kevin Carr. Rookie Michael Garteig, who is under contract to the Vancouver Canucks and has been up with Utica of the American Hockey League since November, is expected back soon. ECHL teams generally do not carry three goaltenders, at least not for long.
When Garteig went up, the Aces turned to Hafner, who played for them late last season after finishing his college career at Western Michigan. They released him in training camp this fall and he shined for Columbus of the Southern Professional Hockey League before the Aces summoned him back when Garteig departed.
Hafner, Murray said, has "been awesome.'' The rookie is 3-0-2, with a 2.13 goals-against average and .939 save percentage.
"Good for Haf – he hasn't played a bad game,'' Coffman said. "He battles his ass off and never complains. He practices hard. He knows the situation, and that's what makes you commend him even more.
"He could easily take it easy in practice, but he doesn't.''
An injury to Aces defenseman Marc-Andre Levesque in the third period Sunday – Levesque suffered an upper-body injury when cross-checked into the corner boards by Ryan Harrison – could furnish Murray with wiggle room on the roster, provided Levesque goes on injured reserve.
The danger with releasing Hafner is it's a decent bet another ECHL club would claim him.
Hafner said he loves playing for the Aces, and is attempting his best to take his situation one day at a time.
"What I've been trying to do is not worry about it – easier said than done,'' Hafner said. "Getting released the first time sucks, and I imagine getting released a second time would too.
"For me, I just try to focus on hockey because those other things I can't control.''
Shuffling the deck
Alaska's victory gives it 41 points in 30 games and the top winning percentage in the Mountain Division at .683.
Colorado (42 points in 32 games, .656) and Allen (42 points in 35 games, .600) are tied for first place, one point ahead of the Aces. Idaho (39 points in 32 games, .641), where Alaska travels for a three-game set starting Wednesday, sits in fourth place, two points behind the Aces.
The top four finishers in the seven-team division qualify for the Kelly Cup playoffs.
The Aces killed all four Eagles power plays, which gives them 36 consecutive kills in the last nine games. Alaska's 89.7-percent penalty-killing efficiency ranks second on the circuit to Manchester (91.1).
Coffman's two goals marked his third two-goal game this season and sixth multiple-point game of the season.
Sivak's goal and two assists give him 16 multiple-point games in 30 games, and six games with three points or more. Perfetto's goal and assist gives him 12 multiple-point games in 24 games.
The Aces' three first-period goals in a span of 6:46 marked the fifth time this season they have reeled off three goals in 7:17 or less.
Descoteaux's fourth goal of the season ties him with Steven Tarasuk for the most by an Aces blueliner.
Colorado 1 3 0 4
Aces 3 2 1 6
First Period – 1, Aces, Perfetto 15 (Moynihan, Sivak), :33; 2, Aces, Sivak 24 (Wallace, Tarasuk), 4:02 (pp); 3, Aces, Nikiforov 2, 6:46; 4, Colorado, Garbowsky 9 (Marto), 13:40. Penalties – Mychan, Colorado (slashing), 2:03; Zahn, Colorado (high-sticking), 2:55; Harrison, Colorado (boarding), 6:56; Wallace, Aces (hooking), 11:35; Lauwers, Aces, major-minor-game misconduct, served by Coffman (charging, roughing), 15:51; Zahn, Colorado (roughing), 15:51; Stewart, Aces (hooking), 19:25; Mychan, Colorado (hooking), 19:25; Salazar, Colorado (hooking), 19:25.
Second Period – 5, Aces, Coffman 11 (Perfetto, Sivak), 1:18 (pp); 6, Aces. Descoteaux 4 (Lake, Breton), 5:40; 7, Colorado, St.-Amant 2 (Register, Saunders), 10:42; 8, Colorado, St.-Amant 3 (Garbowsky, Harrison), 14:42; 9, Colorado, Brooks 1 (Register, Holmberg), 19:47. Penalties – Hunt, Aces (roughing), 8:42; Descoteaux, Aces (hooking), 8:42.
Third Period – 10, Aces, Coffman 12, 7:56. Penalties – Harrison, Colorado (cross-checking), 10:42; Hunt, Aces (unsportsmanlike conduct), 15:28; Mychan, Colorado (cross-checking), 15:28.
Shots on goal – Colorado 21-16-10—47. Aces 16-10-6—32.
Power-play Opportunities – Colorado 0 of 4. Aces 2 of 5.
Goalies – Colorado, Skoff (5 shots-2 saves); Saunders, enter 6:46 1st period, 11-3-1 (27-24). Aces, Hafner, 3-0-2 (47-43).
A – 2,585 (6,399). T – 2:29.
Referee – Kenny Anderson. Linesmen – Scott Sivulich, Josh Ellis.