Jaromir Blagr: The Hockey Blog

Emptying the notebook: Some Alaska Aces and Idaho Steelheads notes

Ahead of Saturday night's series finale between the Alaska Aces and the visiting Idaho Steelheads — the Aces won 6-2 Friday and 4-3 Wednesday, coming back from 2-0 first-period deficits both nights — The Blog emptied the notebook:

–Considering the Aces have fallen behind 2-0 in the first period in six of their last 10 games, they've done decently in those circumstances — 3-3-0.

–Aces linemates Peter Sivak and Stephen Perfetto each scored a goal Friday. That's the 13th time in 34 games together that they've done so, and the Aces, not surprisingly, are 10-2-1 in those games.

–Perfetto, with 23-30–53 totals in 34 games, continues to blow past his numbers last season as a rookie, when he went 15-33–48 in 72 games.

–Eight-game point streaks for Sivak (8-6–14) and Perfetto (8-8–16), which matches Perfetto's streak earlier for longest by an Aces skater this season.

–Sivak owns an ECHL-leading 32 goals in 40 games — he's seven goals ahead of the field. He has goal streaks of five games, four, four and four. His goal droughts? Just four games, three, two and two.

–Aces second-year center Ben Lake scored a goal Friday to give him 7-11–18 totals in 39 games. As a rookie last season, he was 7-15–22 in 66 games.

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–At plus-23, Sivak is tied for third on the circuit in plus-minus. He won the plus-minus crown in 2013-14 at plus-49.

–Danny Moynihan of the Aces is proving a thorn for the Steelheads. He is 13-15–28 in 39 games overall, and, get this, 6-2–8 in eight games vs. Idaho.

–Great line by Steelheads broadcaster Brian McCormack on Friday as on-ice officials and off-ice officials took some time before the third period to figure out penalties and manpower after a slight brawl — it wasn't full Gong Show, kids — at the end of the second period: "A real-life embodiment of the 'Who's On First' skit."

–Idaho's Anthony Luciani lost his 12-game point streak Friday. It was a sweet run — 8-9–17 in that span — that ties for third-longest on the circuit this season. Atlanta's Justin Buzzeo and Florida's Brant Harris each reeled off 13-game point streaks earlier.

–Idaho's consecutive losses are its first back-to-back defeats in regulation since Dec. 7 and 9 at Colorado.

–The Steelheads started Friday's game with just nine forwards (one shy of the usual complement) and six defensemen. After forward Travis Ewanyk got a game misconduct in the chaos that came at the end of the second period, and defenseman Charlie Dodero did not come out for the third period, they were down to eight forwards and five D. Idaho was short a forward to start the game because Branden Troock was recalled to Texas of the American Hockey League.

–Aces coach Rob Murray will miss tonight's game — Gerald Coleman and Tyler Ruegsegger will run the bench. Murray was scheduled to take a red-eye out of town after Saturday's game. He's being inducted into the American Hockey League Hall of Fame on Monday. He was tougher than differential equations as a player, but he's got a soft side — it says here there's no way he gets through his speech without leaking.

 

Doyle Woody

Doyle Woody covered hockey and other sports for the Anchorage Daily News for 34 years.

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