Aces beat Salmon Kings to lead playoff series 3-0 WESTERN FINALS: Alaska's 6-2 win puts it one victory from the Kelly Cup finals.

Adam Courchaine did not show a speck of rink rust even though a month had passed since he last occupied the crease.
Scott Howes continued to spank his former club.
And Chris Langkow proved his overtime strike two nights previous truly lifted him from his postseason funk.
With those guys serving as particularly sharp instruments, the Alaska Aces remained perfect in the ECHL playoffs with Saturday night's 6-2 filleting of the Victoria Salmon Kings in British Columbia.
The Aces' seventh straight win forged a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven, ECHL Western Conference Finals and drew them within one victory of gaining a spot in the Kelly Cup Finals for the third time in the last six hockey seasons.
And this time around, the Aces did not require the high drama that unfolded in Games 1 and 2 -- Brian Swanson scored with 8.9 seconds left to seize a 2-1 win in Wednesday's opener and Langkow's overtime strike furnished a 4-3 win in Thursday's Game 2.
While the Aces surrendered the first goal of the game for the first time this postseason, they promptly delivered four second-period goals at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in the provincial capital and reeled off six unanswered goals to cruise.
"I really think it's because of the standard they've set for themselves and their self-awareness -- they know they didn't play well in the first period,'' Aces coach Brent Thompson said by cellphone. "The leaders on this team don't just say things, they do them, and they got down to business.''
The victory shoved the Salmon Kings to the brink of elimination entering Game 4 Monday in Victoria. Only once in the ECHL's 22 seasons has a club roared back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series -- Cincinnati last season climbed out of that hole to beat Reading in the conference finals, then beat Idaho to hoist the Kelly Cup.
With Goaltender of the Year Gerald Coleman in Chicago to attend the funeral of his maternal grandfather, Courchaine made the first playoff start of his pro career. The rookie merely racked 35 saves. And he said it didn't hurt that his first appearance in exactly a month came on the same rink where he backstopped a 4-2 Aces win on March 30.
"This was the same building, and it was a bit of a carryover,'' Courchaine said. "And I had a lot of my teammates and Colesy say good things, so I felt confident.''
Courchaine said Coleman has been a valuable mentor and gave him a pep talk before he headed to Chicago.
"He's just been so great to me,'' Courchaine said. "He said, 'You've been lights out in practice, not letting our guys score, so don't let their guys score,' " Courchaine said. "He said, "I want to come back with a 3-0 lead. I felt like I took care of that for him.''
Thompson said Courchaine, who went 10-1-1 in his last 12 regular-season decisions, again proved how much he has grown his first season in the play-for-pay game. That was especially true against a Victoria team that crashed Courchaine's crease -- Tommy Maxwell bagged a hat trick of goaltender interference penalties -- and tried to rattle him.
"I thought he was mentally focused,'' Thompson said. "He looked confident. He looked comfortable. He made big saves when we needed them. I was proud of him. He did his job, like he's done it all year.''
Howes, a former Salmon King winger, got the Aces back on track in their explosive second period after Victoria's Matt Siddall scored on a first-period, power-play slapper that blew through Courchaine to give the Salmon Kings a 1-0 lead that lasted through the period.
Defenseman Daryl Boyle's one-timer hit Howes in the slot, where he was stationed with his back to the net less than three minutes into the period. He collected the carom, spun 180 degrees and flicked a dart through the pads of Victoria goalie David Shantz (26 saves) to forge a 1-1 tie.
Howes also added three assists, which gives him two goals and six helpers in the series. He also extended his point streak to 13 games dating back to the regular season.
Langkow, who went without a point in the Aces' first five playoff games before providing his one assist and his monumental goal in Game 2, then cranked off back-to-back goals. He beat Shantz with a right-wing wrister for his first goal of the evening and tucked a rebound inside the left post to push Alaska's lead to 3-1.
Swanson, the veteran center, piled on with 61 seconds left in the period, when Howes carried the puck solo into Victoria's zone along the right boards. Inexplicably, all three Salmon Kings defenders in the zone converged on Howes, who simply feathered a pass to open ice on left wing, which allowed Swanson to bomb a slapper past Shantz's glove for a 4-1 cushion.
"They're chasing hits right now,'' Howes said of the Salmon Kings.
Aces rookie center Ethan Cox added a pair of third-period goals, finishing Howes' 2-on-1 pass for a short-handed strike and scoring on the power play.
Victoria's Jeff Caister scored in the waning seconds, but all that did was nick Courchaine's stats a smidge.
Even with that late goal, the Aces matched their most lopsided win of the playoffs -- they dispatched Idaho 4-0 in the clincher of their sweep in the previous series.

Shuffling the deck
Aces All-Rookie defenseman Mark Isherwood got back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch in the first two games of the series. Shutdown defenseman Russ Sinkewich came out of the lineup to make room for Isherwood.
Howes extended his point streak to 13 games dating back to the regular season. Boyle's two helpers gives him four assists in his three playoff games with the Aces since coming down from Peoria of the American Hockey League after the Rivermen were swept from the Calder Cup playoffs.
Swanson (one goal, one assist) and former Victoria captain Wes Goldie (two helpers) have each scored at least one point in six of seven playoff games.
The Kalamazoo Wings scored four first-period goals Saturday night to chase Wheeling rookie goalie Peter Delmas, seize a 4-1 win over the visitors and even the Eastern Conference Finals at one game apiece.
Ryan Nie made 37 saves for Kalamazoo, which fell 3-2 in overtime to the Nailers in Game 1 on Friday night. Justin Taylor and A.J. Thelen each furnished one goal and one assist for the Wings.

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

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Aces 0 4 2 -- 6
Victoria 1 0 1 -- 2
First Period -- 1, Victoria, Siddall 3 (Turek, Caister), 14:25 (pp). Penalties -- Maxwell, Victoria (goaltender interference), 3:06; Gentile, Aces (hooking), 3:06; Maxwell, Victoria (unsportsmanlike conduct), 9:41; Fraser, Aces (unsportsmanlike conduct), 9:41; MacMurchy, Victoria (interference), 11:47; Fraser, Aces (holding), 12:52; Martin, Victoria (hooking), 15:18.
Second Period -- 2, Aces, Howes 5 (Boyle, Swanson), 2:52 (pp); 3, Aces, Langkow 2 (Fraser, Ward), 9:45; 4, Aces, Langkow 3 (Howes, Goldie), 13:43; 5, Aces, Swanson 3 (Howes, Goldie), 18:59. Penalties -- Aspenlind, Victoria (hooking), 2:05; Anderson, Aces (hooking), 10:41.
Third Period -- 6, Aces, Cox 1 (Howes), 6:29 (sh); 7, Aces, Cox 2 (Boyle, Kissel), 19:24 (pp); 8, Victoria, Caister 4 (Couture, Gajic), 19:55. Penalties -- Maxwell, Victoria (goaltender interference), 3:27; Goldie, Aces (goaltender interference), 5:12; Maxwell, Victoria, double minor-misconduct, served by Cowie (cross-checking, goaltender interference), 8:09; Isherwood, Aces (roughing), 8:09; Caister, Victoria (slashing), 9:18; Goldie, Aces, double minor (high-sticking), 14:31; Siddall, Victoria, minor-major (roughing, fighting), 17:55; Anderson, Aces, major (fighting), 17:55.
Shots on goal -- Aces 11-10-11--32. Victoria 9-16-12--37.
Power-play Opportunities -- Aces 2 of 8; Victoria 1 of 6.
Goalies -- Aces, Courchaine, 1-0-0 (37 shots-35 saves). Victoria, Shantz, 7-3-1 (32-26).
A -- 3,614 (7,006). T - 2:26. Referee -- Keith Kaval. Linesmen -- Francis Trempe, Trent Knorr.