Coachless and short-handed, Bakersfield beats Aces 3-1 3-1 WIN OVER ACES: Bakersfield, with a short bench and without its head coach, denies Alaska a sweep.

By turns listless and sloppy, and lacking any hint of rhythm or collective passion until the too-little, too-late stages Sunday night, the Alaska Aces earned a 3-1 loss their indifferent effort deserved.

The Bakersfield Condors, playing without a coach for the second straight night and dressing just 11 regular skaters in their 14-skater lineup, did not, however, come up short on persistence or will and earned the two points their extra effort warranted.

Bakersfield's victory prevented the Aces from sweeping the three-game ECHL series at Sullivan Arena and wrapped a weekend filled with chaos, suspensions and hurt feelings. Still, Sunday's finale was seriously subdued -- only six minor penalties -- in part because the teams were playing their third hockey game in less than 72 hours and also because both teams were short players.

Alaska (24-16-2) dressed just 14 skaters, two under the ECHL maximum. Bakersfield (22-20-2) played an equal number of skaters, but three of those -- Erik Felde, J.J. Waldrop and Sam Tikka -- were Alaskans filling in for a club that lost six players to league suspension after Friday's 5-4 Aces win, which concluded with a melee that prompted most of the subsequent 31 combined games worth of suspensions issued.

In the wake of Friday's mayhem, both Aces coach Brent Thompson and Condors coach Marty Raymond were suspended from Saturday's rematch, which the Aces won 4-1 - those suspensions meant the bench bosses could not communicate with their clubs during the game.

Raymond was also suspended from Sunday's finale after the league cited him for "violating League rules'' during Saturday's game - Raymond text messaged a staffer behind the Bakersfield bench.

To hear Aces sniper Wes Goldie tell it, his club on Sunday fell into a trap of assuming superiority over a beleaguered opponent.

"You look at their bench and there's no coach, and you beat them (Saturday) night, and you relax and think (victory) is going to happen,'' said Goldie, the Aces' leading scorer. "If you don't work or show up in this league, you're going to be beat, no matter who you play or how short they are. (The Condors) played pretty well.''

That the Aces could during most of Sunday's game glance up at the shot clock and see their advantage reported - they outshot the Condors 39-18 - only added a "false sense of security,'' Goldie said.

Complicating matters for the Aces was the continuing struggles of rookie goaltender Adam Courchaine (15 saves). His turnover behind his net furnished the game-winning goal.

With the Condors already ahead 1-0 on Guillaume Lefebvre's goal off a feed from former UAF center Adam Naglich in the first period, Courchaine went behind his net to play a dump-in. He passed the puck directly onto the tape of Stephane Goulet at the bottom of the left circle and Goulet fired into an open net.

That's the third straight start in which Courchaine has turned over the puck for an easy opposing goal.

The 21-year-old began the season as a terrific backup for veteran Gerald Coleman. In Courchaine's first seven starts for the Aces, he went 5-2-0 with two shutouts, a 1.58 goals-against average and .938 save percentage. In his last five starts, though, his numbers have plunged to 0-4-1, 3.64 and .835.

His counterpart Sunday, Bakersfield rookie Brian Stewart, continued to baffle the Aces. He made 38 saves. In his two games against the Aces, he is 2-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and .977 save percentage.

Stewart said the local additions to the Condors were a great benefit and his usual teammates played with determination.

"The guys we added, they all played really well,'' Stewart said. "That was obviously a big help.

"The guys really battled, and I thought we played better than we did (Saturday). We thought we had to come out of here with a couple of points or we'd be very disappointed.''

The Aces finally cracked Stewart midway through the third period when defenseman Chad Anderson whipped a waist-high shot from the right point and center Brian Swanson deflected it top shelf - "Unbelievable tip,'' Stewart said - to cut Bakersfield's lead to 2-1.

That goal seemed to lift the Aces out of their lethargy, but they could not muster another goal against Stewart and Brad Snetsinger's empty-net goal with 35.9 seconds left sealed victory for the visitors.

Alaska revealed plenty of effort in the final 10 minutes, but it didn't make up for the first two-plus periods, when its passing proved shoddy and it continually turned over the puck.

"Everything was going wrong, so it was hard to get anything going,'' said Goldie, who fired five shots on net. "There were lots of rebounds, but we didn't get to them. I know I had a few chances I should have buried.''

Shuffling the deck

The Aces are 16-6-2 at home, and their home winning percentage of .708 still is best in the 19-team league.

The Aces went scoreless on four power plays, snapping a streak in which they had scored at least one power-play goal at Sullivan Arena in nine straight games.

The Aces will take today off from practice, travel Tuesday and open a three-game series at Victoria (18-24-3) on Wednesday night.

Find Doyle Woody's blog at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.

Bakersfield 2 0 1 -- 3

Aces 0 0 1 -- 1

First Period - 1, Bakersfield, Lefebvre 1 (Naglich), 8:45; 2, Bakersfield, Goulet 15, 10:45. Penalties - Morency, Bakersfield (clipping), 12:03; Robins, Bakersfield (delay of game-puck over glass), 15:09.

Second Period -- None. Penalties - Goulet, Bakersfield (hooking), 9:26.

Third Period - 3, Aces, Swanson 15 (Anderson, Gaudet), 9:46; 4, Bakersfield, Snetsinger 14 (Robins), 19:24 (en). Penalties - Ward, Aces (boarding), 1:16; Ruegsegger, Aces (high-sticking), 11:10; Morency, Bakersfield (roughing), 13:01.

Shots on goal - Bakersfield 8-4-6--18. Aces 9-16-14--39.

Power-play Opportunities - Bakersfield 0 of 2; Aces 0 of 4.

Goalies - Bakersfield, Stewart, 10-3-4 (39 shots-38 saves). Aces, Courchaine, 5-6-1 (17-15).

A - 3,377 (6,396).

Referee - Joe Sullivan. Linesmen - Steve Glines, Chad Colliander.

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