Well, Peter Sivak delivered the Alaska Aces a hat trick.
And … OK, that actually about covers the highlights for the home hockey team Saturday night at Sullivan Arena. Otherwise, the evening proved a straight-up debacle.
Orlando Solar Bears 9, Aces 6.
The Aces chased the game all night. The only thing they caught was a humbling, humiliating loss.
Sure, they hit the halfway point of the regular season at a strong 20-11-5. But they're 2-4-0 in their last six games, and they've surrendered four goals or more in six of the last seven, and six-plus goals three times in that sorry stretch, which included a 6-2 loss to Orlando on Wednesday.
Also, the nine goals they allowed was a season-high by three, matched the most the franchise has given up in its 14 ECHL seasons and set a club record for most goals surrendered at Sullivan Arena.
Sivak, by far the ECHL's leading goal scorer with 30 in 36 games, looked for a positive amid all head-shaking sloppiness Saturday, and of late.
"Sometimes, it's good,'' the Slovakian native said. He pantomimed three slaps to the head. "It shows we should start to work all over again from the beginning.''
Aces coach Rob Murray wasn't buying.
"We've had ourselves a couple lulls this year where we kicked ourselves in the ass and said, 'Enough's enough,' " he said.
Even as the Aces struggled all evening, they weren't in horrible spots at either intermission. Sivak's goal in the last minute of the first period cut Orlando's lead to 2-1.
"We talked about that between periods — 'We're lucky to be where we are right now,' " Murray said.
Sivak scored twice more in the second period, when the Solar Bears (20-13-6) got two goals from former Ace Joe Perry, who was traded for Sivak last season. Orlando led 4-3 after 40 minutes.
Then last-period pain pierced the Aces. Orlando racked five goals in the period, two by Austin Block, chased Alaska starter Kevin Carr (20 saves on 26 shots) and greeted replacement Michael Garteig with goals on the first two shots he faced — Alaska turnovers prefaced each goal.
Kasimir Kaskisuo, who played all three games in the series, stopped 30 shots for Orlando.
Alaska's late third-period goals from Tommy Olczyk and Ryan Trenz proved window dressing and Darik Angeli's empty-net goal for Orlando felt merciful.
"It's a blur — I don't know what happened,'' Murray said. "It's one of those games like, 'Really, they scored again?' Not nearly good enough.''
Shuffling the deck
Sivak's natural hat trick was his second hat trick of the season and third of his ECHL career, and his sixth multiple-goal game this season. Sivak owns his third four-game goal streak of the season. He also had a five-game goal streak.
Sivak's 30 goals are eight more than any other player in the league. His plus-20 rating is tied for second on the circuit. Sivak is scheduled to play in the ECHL All-Star Classic in Glens Falls, New York, on Wednesday.
Sivak's second-period, power-play goal snapped a string of 15 straight power-play failures for the Aces. They gave up three power-play goals Saturday.
Perry's two-goal game was his fifth multiple-goal game of the season and his team-leading 21 goals ties him for third in the league.
One of hockey's perplexing stat-keeping rules nicked Garteig — he took the loss because he gave up Orlando's seventh goal, the game-winning strike, even though the Aces trailed 6-3 when he entered the game.
The Aces open a two-game series at Utah on Friday night.
The Aces slipped to 10-6-2 on home ice. They've actually been slightly better on the road at 10-5-3.
Orlando 2 2 5 9
Aces 1 2 3 6
First Period – 1, Orlando, Danford 4, 4:19; 2, Orlando, Brouillard 7 (Manderson, Perry), 18:25 (pp); 3, Aces, Sivak 28 (Perfetto, Moynihan), 19:03. Penalties – Brouillard, Orlando (roughing), 5:55; Hunt, Aces (interference), 8:48; Moynihan, Aces (cross-checking), 9:31; Marchment, Orlando (hooking), 9:31; Tarasuk, Aces (slashing), 14:38; Witala, Orlando (slashing), 14:38; Block, Orlando (holding), 14:54; Geurts, Aces (hooking), 16:43.
Second Period – 4, Aces, Sivak 29 (Coffman, Tarasuk), 5:55 (pp); 5, Orlando, Perry 20 (Miller, Gacek), 9:58; 6, Aces, Sivak 30 (Moynihan, Trenz), 13:44; 7, Orlando, Perry 21 (Faille, Manderson), 16:46 (pp). Penalties – Marchment, Orlando (tripping), 5:21; Perry, Orlando (hooking), 7:02; Coffman, Aces (tripping), 7:27; Crane, Orlando (holding), 10:14; Lake, Aces (holding), 15:22.
Third Period – 8, Orlando, Block 7 (Manderson, Brouillard), 3:24 (pp); 9, Orlando, Block 8 (Witala, Gacek), 5:53; 10, Aces, Breton 7 (Olczyk, Coffman), 6:21; 11, Orlando, Gacek 14 (Crane, Bradley), 7:30; 12, Orlando, Faille 16, 9:26; 13, Aces, Olczyk 5 (Trenz, Coffman), 16:28; 14, Aces, Trenz 3 (Moynihan), 18:26 (ea); 15, Orlando, Angeli 6 (Gacek, Block), 19:36 (en). Penalties – Perfetto, Aces (slashing), 3:09.
Shots on goal – Orlando 13-9-12—34. Aces 10-15-11—36.
Power-play Opportunities – Orlando 3 of 5. Aces 1 of 5.
Goalies – Orlando, Kaskisuo, 9-7-4 (36 shots-30 saves). Aces, Carr (26-20); Garteig, 8-4-0 (7-5).
A – 3,404 (6,399). T – 2:37.
Referee – Mike Sheehan. Linesmen – Scott Sivulich, Josh Ellis.