Everything that went so right for the Victoria Salmon Kings in the first round of the ECHL playoffs is suddenly going wrong in the second round. Victoria was in danger of falling behind 2-0 in its best-of-seven West Division final series against the Alaska Aces.
Alaska got two power-play goals in jumping to a 3-0 first-period lead last night in Anchorage in Game 2. Victoria goaltender Todd Ford, the hero of the first-round sweep of the Idaho Steelheads, allowed the three goals on just five Alaska shots in the first period. The Aces led 5-1 at the end of the second period. Overall, Ford had allowed five goals on only 11 shots over two periods. The game was in progress at press time.
The Victoria Salmon Kings are clearly having trouble solving the Sully. Not that many visiting teams have been able to.
The Aces had won their last nine games at Sullivan Arena, and 20 of their last 22, as they faced off against the Salmon Kings last night.
The top-seed Aces led the best-of-seven series 1-0 following Friday night's 3-0 victory at Sullivan Arena over the third-seed Salmon Kings.
The Sully, however, may now be the least of the Salmon Kings' problems. If Alaska holds on to win, the Salmon Kings would have to take two of three games in Victoria just to get the series back to Anchorage in the 2-3-2 format.
The third and fourth games are in Victoria on Wednesday and Friday. The fifth game, if needed, would be Saturday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
"We [needed] to come out harder than we did in Game 1 because this is a tough building in which to play and they have loud, passionate fans. Like Victoria, it's a hockey town where people know the sport," said Victoria forward Olivier Filion, in the morning skate before Game 2.
He knows of what he speaks, having played the previous four seasons in Anchorage with the Aces.
"But we came out and just looked at them skate," said Filion.
There was also the matter of Alaska goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux. When Victoria sniper Wes Goldie finally got one past him in the second period last night, it was the first playoff goal against Alaska at home by either Utah in the first round or Victoria in the second round after 10 straight periods of shutout hockey by Lamoureux.
Before the game, Victoria forward Darryl Lloyd talked about "getting guys in front of the net, getting in [Lamoureux's] face, and playing a rugged game in front of the crease."
The Salmon Kings, however, didn't do any of that.
Goldie's counter was also the first power-play goal allowed by the stingy Aces in 33 opposition attempts in the 2009 playoffs. The Aces, meanwhile, took advantage of their chances as they scored on three of four power plays in the first two periods last night.
"Down 2-0, it's tough to come back against a hot goalie," said Filion.
"We let them take the momentum at home. We did nothing to prevent it. We didn't play hard and aggressive. It's not easy to win here. But we have to take some games here, now."
That's if Victoria even gets back to the Sully.
