Bulls Take Rubber Match In An Overtime Thriller
Anchorage Daily News Sean Curry of Alaska tips an airborne puck away from Peter Sivak of San Francisco during first-period action Friday evening Jan. 25, 2013 at Sullivan Arena. ERIK HILL — Anchorage Daily News
The Bulls take the weekend series with the Aces following a thrilling victory in overtime. San Francisco was able to pull off the victory on the shoulders of a strong final two periods after playing sluggish in the first two. The Bulls were led by their two scoring leaders today as Peter Sivak and Dean Ouellet combined for three goals and two assists. Taylor Nelson was an absolute stud again as he stopped an amazing 38 of 40 shots as he kept the Bulls in the game all night.
First Period:
The first period was not a overly strong first period for the Bulls as they only managed eight shots on the period. The Aces held the majority of the possession for most of the first period and managed to get off 14 shots, but Bulls goalie Taylor Nelson took charge as held the Aces scoreless in the first period. The Bulls opened the scoring with Dean Ouellet finally broke through for his 19th goal on the season. He was assisted on the goal by Peter Sivak and Scott Langdon. The Bulls penalty kill was able to maintain the the one goal lead by killing off two power play opportunities for the Aces late in the period.
Second Period:
The Aces came back fighting in the second as they again dominated possession throughout the period. It took only nine seconds for the Aces to tie the game up as Shawn Skelly was able to beat Nelson. Shortly after the Bulls found themselves with their backs against the wall as they had to kill off a four minute power play after Christian Ouellet was charged with two minor penalties. The penalty kill answered the bell as the managed to fight off the Aces power play and prevent them from taking the lead at the moment. The Aces would finally take the lead midway through the period as Jarred Smith was able to solve Nelson for the go ahead goal. The Aces out shot the Bulls 13 to six.
Third Period:
The Bulls need to come clicking in order to have a shot to win the game as they trailed two goals to one. The were given a golden opportunity inside of the first two minutes as B.J. Crum was given a minor for a cross check. Peter Sivak took advantage of the power play and tied the game with 19th goal of the season. He was assisted by Cody Carlson and Christian Ouellet. The pace of the third period quickened as both teams fought for that game winning goal. Neither team would capitalize as Nelson stopped all 11 shots he faced in the third, while Guggenberger was able to stop nine of the 10 he faced. This rubber match would be heading to overtime. Aces won the shot battle 11 to 10.
Overtime:
The Bulls came into the overtime period riding the momentum of Sivak’s game tying goal in the third. They did not have to wait long as Sivak netted his second goal of the game to end the game and send the Bulls on their way home happy. The goal was Sivak’s 20th on the season, giving him the team lead in goals. Aces out shot the Bulls 40 to 26 in the game.
The Bulls were sluggish offensively for most of the first half of the game as they only managed 14 shots through the first two periods. They managed to get an early goal off the stick of Dean Ouellet. Then the Bulls managed to battle back in the third after going down two to one after two periods getting a goal from Peter Sivak as the Bulls capitalized on an early power play opportunity in the third. Taylor Nelson did his job as he was the main reason the Bulls had a chance to take the game in to overtime. He limited the damage throughout the night as he stopped 38 of the 40 shots he faced during the game. He stellar play gave the Bulls to the ability to take the game to overtime, where Peter Sivak had the game winner with his second goal of the contest. The Bulls improve to 17-21-5 on the season, while the Aces drop to 32-12-2. The Bulls will travel to Stockton to renew their rivalry with the Thunder with a midweek contest on Wednesday.
Three Stars:
- Peter Sivak – San Francisco
- Taylor Nelson – San Francisco
- Mark Guggenberger – Alaska