Alaska Aces' 2-0 loss to Idaho Steelheads darkens possibility of playoffs

That wasn't the full, twisting dagger the Alaska Aces absorbed Wednesday night, but the steel pierced them dangerously deep.

The Idaho Steelheads' 2-0 victory over the Aces at Sullivan Arena, combined with Utah's home-ice overtime win earlier in the evening, greatly reduced Alaska's chances of qualifying for the ECHL Kelly Cup playoffs.

With two games remaining in the regular season, the Aces' tragic number is two. Any combination of Utah points earned and Alaska points lost that equal two will keep the Aces out of the playoffs for the third consecutive season. They did not fail to make the playoffs in any of their first 11 ECHL seasons, won three Kelly Cups in that span and made another appearance in the Finals.

The Aces in February announced they will fold the franchise after this season because of financial losses.

Alaska's fate could be decided Friday night, when they entertain Idaho in the second game of a regular season-ending, three-game series, and Utah again entertains the Missouri Mavericks.

Branden Komm's 29-save shutout and Joe Basaraba's second-period goal delivered Idaho the win, and Andre Bouvet-Morrissette's empty-net goal with seven seconds left tied a bow on it.

Utah moved three points ahead of the Aces in the race for the final playoff berth in the Mountain Division with a 2-1 overtime victory that eliminated the Mavericks from playoff contention. Former Aces defenseman Garrett Haar furnished both Utah goals — those marked his first two goals of the season.

Komm, who was coming off a 31-save shutout against Colorado, racked his third bagel of the season and stretched his shutout streak to 124:46.

Idaho (41-22-7) is locked into third place in the Mountain Division and has made the playoffs in all 14 of its ECHL seasons.

The Aces (32-28-10) generated few quality scoring chances and proved particularly unthreatening on the power play. All three of their power plays came in the third period, when they trailed 1-0, and they unleashed all of one total shot on goal with the man advantage. On the third of those power plays, on which Idaho penalty-killing forward Rob Linsmayer showcased stellar work, the Aces struggled mightily to get through neutral ice and did not control the puck in Idaho's zone until 10 seconds remained on the man advantage.

The closest the Aces came to the equalizer came with about five minutes to go, when winger Marco Roy rang a wrister from the left circle off the right post. The puck ricocheted off the iron and back off Komm's right skate blade, then trickled wide left of the net.

Earlier in the third period, Alaska's Danny Moynihan enjoyed a quality chance off the rush but former Ace Corbin Baldwin, a tireless shot-blocking defenseman, got his 6-foot-5, 220-pound frame in the way to save Komm the trouble.

About two minutes before that, Aces leading goal scorer Peter Sivak could not quite corral the puck on Komm's doorstep and the Idaho masked man went full snow-angel to trap the puck beneath his pads for a stop in play.

Aces first-line center Stephen Perfetto, back from an extended promotion to the American Hockey League, earned a quality chance in the second period with a left-dot wrister off the rush. Perfetto got the shot off quickly, but Komm snapped shut his pads and smothered the bid.

Otherwise, most of Alaska's shots either came from distance, were easily swallowed by Komm or directed to a safe area by the goalie — the Aces' attack was often a case of one-and-done. Komm's teammates excelled at blocking shots and in gathering rebounds to kick-start the counter-attack.

The game was goal-free nearly halfway through before Basaraba made the Aces pay dearly for a turnover. The 6-foot-3 Basaraba, whose stick appears so long it looks designed for a 7-3 guy, beat Aces goalie Kevin Carr (20 saves) to the short side with a wrister from the left circle. Basaraba squeezed his shot between the blocker of Carr, who made his 18^th consecutive start, and the left post.

Idaho 0  1  1  — 2

Aces 0  0  0  — 0

First Period — None. Penalties — None.

Second Period — 1, Idaho, Basaraba 21 (Van Brabant, Harstad), 8:41. Penalties — Tarasuk, Aces (roughing), 6:28.

Third Period — 2, Idaho, Bouvet-Morrissette 5, 19:53 (en). Penalties — Baldwin, Idaho (tripping), :31; Harstad, Idaho (hooking), 6:32; Luciani, Idaho (hooking), 9:54.

Shots on goal — Idaho 9-7-6—22. Aces 13-9-7—29.

Power-play Opportunities — Idaho 0 of 1. Aces 0 of 3.

Goalies — Idaho, Komm, 18-13-3 (29 shots-29 saves). Aces, Carr, 18-22-5 (21-20).

A — 2,957 (6,399). T — 2:15.

Referee — Andrew Wilk. Linesmen — Scott Sivulich, Dominick Eubank.