Liam Stewart's short-handed one-timer, a glorious chance afforded by Stephen Perfetto's penalty-killing persistence in the third period, rang off the base of the right post – "Just unlucky,'' Stewart said.
Justin Breton's 2-on-1 wrister off the rush from the right circle went precisely where he intended in the second period, but Missouri Mavericks goaltender Josh Robinson squeezed his right arm to his torso to trap the puck.
"I thought it was going in,'' Breton said. "Goalie made a lucky save. That's right where I wanted to put it.''
Those opportunities represented two of the Alaska Aces' best scoring chances Sunday afternoon in a 3-1 ECHL loss at Sullivan Arena that spotlighted their anemic offense to start the season.
Alaska scored just four goals, one into an empty net, in losing two of three to Missouri, which won 3-0 Saturday after the Aces opened the season with a 3-1 win Friday
Granted, the sample size is tiny, particularly in a 72-game season, but the Aces aren't making life difficult for opposing masked men. Robinson, who made 28 saves Sunday after delivering a 25-save shutout Saturday, had a clear view of nearly every Aces shot in that span.
"When Justin Breton is leading your club in chances for – not to take anything away from J.B. – that's not going to cut it,'' said Aces coach Rob Murray. "With this group, we haven't had enough chances where guys are going to the dirty areas and getting screens.''
A screen by Aces winger Joe Perry, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 215 pounds, helped furnish Alaska's lone goal. That came with just 91 seconds left in regulation, when defenseman Landon Oslanski stopped a Mavericks clearing attempt at the right point and cranked a slap shot through the screen provided by Perry and over Robinson's left shoulder to cut Missouri's lead to 2-1.
"That might be the only shot he didn't see the last two nights,'' said Aces goalie Troy Redmann, who made 28 saves Sunday. "That's the hardest thing for a goalie – traffic, and tips. When a goalie's going good, get traffic in front of him.''
The Aces pulled Redmann for an extra attacker with 84 seconds to go, but Mavericks defenseman C.J. Ludwig scored into an empty net from neutral ice to secure victory for the visitors.
When teams struggle to score goals, there are stock solutions. One is getting traffic in front to take away the goalie's eyes. Another is getting the puck to the net, and in a way that creates rebounds.
In other words, don't just flick a high shot the goalie can glove for a whistle. Get the puck in his feet and crash the net to create chaos, and hopefully, goals.
Breton said he thought the Aces had enough opportunity to cash in Sunday.
"We definitely had our chances,'' he said. "Pretty soon, they'll start going in and get our momentum going. If you're not getting chances, that's different. If you're getting your chances, you're playing right, and they're just not going in. They will.''
Meanwhile, Alaska's goaltending has put it in position to win. Redmann, who made 39 saves on opening night, owns a .957 save percentage after two starts. Rookie Steve Summerhays owns a .900 save percentage in one game, and the Aces' team save percentage of .940 is excellent.
Still, opposing goalies – Robinson and Parker Milner, Missouri's opening-night man – own a .963 save percentage.
Missouri opened the scoring Sunday with a early second-period, power-play strike that came on a play the Aces have leaned on in the past with the man advantage – a defenseman sneaking back-door for a tap-in. In this instance, Trevor Ludwig arrived at the bottom of the left face-off circle to bang home Rocco Carzo's feed through the top of the crease.
The Mavericks extended their lead to 2-0 on an Aces' own goal late in the second period. Perry tried to clear the puck from near the left post but chipped it into his own net – Missouri's Josh Holmstrom was credited with his third goal in the last two games. That goal came seconds after the Aces had created a rare net-front scramble in front of Robinson.
The Aces finally broke their goal drought at 118 minutes, 32 seconds, when Oslanski's laser beat a screened Robinson.
"As good as (Robinson) was playing, we needed to do that more because he was in a groove,'' Perry said.
Shuffling the deck
Trevor Ludwig's power-play goal for Missouri was the only man-advantage goal the Aces have surrendered in 12 opposing power plays. Missouri was 1 for 4 on the power play Sunday.
Alaska went 0 for 2 on the power play and is 1 for 6 this season.
Of the four Aces penalties that granted Mavericks power plays, three took place in the offensive zone – Perfetto's hooking, Tim Coffman's holding and Dean Chelios' tripping – and one in neutral ice. The latter was Ben Lake's boarding.
Aces winger David Eddy and defenseman Gleason Fournier each sat out with lower-body injuries, Murray said.
Breton leads the Aces in shots on goal through three games with 13, Perry is second with 10, and Oslanski and center Tyler Maxwell are tied for third with eight each.
The Aces next play Wednesday, when they open a three-game homestand against the Idaho Steelheads.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockeyblog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
Missouri 0 2 1 -- 3
Aces 0 0 1 -- 3
First Period -- None. Penalties – Perfetto, Aces (hooking), 9:27; Burroughs, Missouri (elbowing), 16:14.
Second Period – 1, Missouri, T. Ludwig 1 (Carzo, Sylvestre), 1:44 (pp); 2, Missouri, Holmstrom 3, 17:43. Penalties – Lake, Aces (boarding), 1:32; Traversa, Aces (slashing), 11:52; Lafranchise, Missouri (slashing), 11:52; Maxwell, Aces, double-minor (boarding, roughing), 17:09; C.J. Ludwig, Missouri, double-minor (roughing), 17:09; Jones, Missouri (hooking), 17:50.
Third Period – 3, Aces, Oslanski 1, 18:29; 4, Missouri, C. Ludwig, 19:48 (en). Penalties – Coffman, Aces (holding), 2:45; Chelios, Aces (tripping), 12:36.
Shots on goal – Missouri 9-7-15—31. Aces 11-7-11—29.
Power-play Opportunities – Missouri 1 of 4. Aces 0 of 2.
Goalies – Missouri, Robinson, 2-0-0 (29 shots-28 saves). Aces, Redmann, 1-1-0 (30-28).
A – 2,626. T – 2:24.
Referee – Kenny Anderson. Linesmen – Travis Jackson, Chad Colliander.