colorado eagles – CanucksBanter

LOVELAND, CO. – Tim Coffman and Stephen Perfetto each scored two goals, goaltender Michael Garteig made 36 saves as the Aces bounced back from a season-opening loss with a resounding 5-2 victory over the homestanding Colorado Eagles at the Budweiser Events Center.

Another rough and tumble first period, but Alaska drew first blood with Coffman’s first goal of the season at 7:03. Assists to Garet Hunt and Tim Wallace.

Colorado tied the game at 13:53 on Michael Sdao’s first goal of the season. The period ended 1-1, but bad vibes on the ice prompted pushes and shoves and a little more to boot.

Just one goal in the second period, and it was Alaska’s top line doing the damage. Perfetto found the back of the net at 5:34 from Peter Sivak and Cody Kunyk.

The Alaska offense, despite being outshot, was more efficient than Colorado and it showed on the scoreboard in the third period.

After Casey Pierro-Zabotel tied the game at 2 for the Eagles at 5:48, the Aces showed great resiliency with goals by Sivak at 10:11 (Kunyk, Perfetto); Coffman’s second of the game at 18:00 (Wallace, Justin Breton); and the final nail, an empty-net, unassisted goal, by Perfetto to hand Colorado its first loss of the season.

Garteig was sharp in his first game in Glacier Blue, turning away 36 Eagle attempts.

His counterpart on the other end, Kent Simpson, took the loss with 25 saves, one night after blanking Alaska.

Aces bench boss Rob Murray gets pats on the back as well as he reached a milestone with his 200th regular-season win for Alaska. He also guided the Aces to a Kelly Cup championship back in 2014.

Alaska is off until their home opener, Friday, October 28 against the Rapid City Rush.

Source: Coffman, Perfetto, Garteig and Murray lead Aces past Eagles 5-2 | alaskaaces.com

LOVELAND, CO. – Kent Simpson stopped 26 shots and Jesse Mychan scored the game-winning goal in the second period as the Colorado Eagles downed the Alaska Aces 2-0 Friday night at the Budweiser Events Center. It was the Aces first game of the season, Colorado’s third.

The game took on a physical tone from the start but offered no goals. Both goaltenders, Simpson of the Eagles and Aces netminder Kevin Carr were good and the first period shots favored Alaska 9-7.

Most of the second period was tight hockey. The Aces continued to look for their scoring dynamic, working hard, getting chances but getting little to show for it.

With Alaska’s Garet Hunt off on a high-sticking penalty, Mychan popped the puck past Carr at 18:11, assisted by Casey Pierre-Zabotel and Matt Register. The period ended 1-0 Eagles and an 18-17 edge in shots.

In the third, the Aces pressed for the equalizer, but a long-distance empty-net goal by Register with 1:35 to go dashed the Glacier Blue hopes.

Simpson finished with 26 saves for the shutout…Carr 22 stops for Alaska.

Shots ended up 26-24 in favor of Alaska.

The Aces fell to 0-1. The Eagles are now 3-0.

The Aces received six power-play opportunities in the contest, all coming in the first two periods, but the Colorado penalty kill was strong, backstopped by the performance of netminder Kent Simpson, who improved to 2-0 this season after turning aside all 26 shots he faced for the shutout.

“We just made hard plays all night and we played like it was a 1-0 game and that’s how you have to play to win. It was a solid team game,” Simpson said. “You take (the penalty kills) as they come. Our kill has been really good, so we have to keep that going for sure.”

Source: http://www.reporterherald.com/

The Aces and Eagles will play again Saturday at 5:10pm Alaska time in Loveland.

Source: Aces battle hard in season-opener but fall 2-0 to Eagles in Colorado | alaskaaces.com and http://www.reporterherald.com