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Boguniecki, Doyle lift Aces over the Condors: 3-2 WIN: Veteran Boguniecki scores two goals for the Aces. [Anchorage Daily News, Alaska]
(Anchorage Daily News (AK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Feb. 6--At 34, Eric Boguniecki has lost some of the explosive jump in his stride that fortified his game when he was a younger man.
Still, in his 13th season of pro hockey, his mind and his hands remain agile and effective, reminders of why he was once a 22-goal scorer in the NHL.
Friday night, Boguniecki unleashed two goals that were top-shelf, in terms of both location and quality, to spearhead the Alaska Aces' 3-2 ECHL victory over the Bakersfield Condors at Sullivan Arena.
That production, combined with rookie center Nick Mazzolini's goal and assist, Frank Doyle's 25 saves, the usual lethal penalty killing and an earnest effort from a short-handed crew, put the Aces (22-21-4) in position to sweep the three-game series that wraps tonight.
All that ammunition was required, also, to prosper against the terrific goaltending of Bakersfield's Timo Pielmeier. Simply reciting that he made 27 saves does not do justice to the caliber of the German's work before an announced crowd of 5,300.
For Boguniecki, who owns 12-18--30 totals in 31 games with the Aces, the last couple of weeks have provided rejuvenation. He missed four games last month to have injections in his hips -- he will need hip replacement surgery, he said -- and upon his return has delivered 3-5--8 totals in the last six games.
"I feel a helluva lot better," Boguniecki said. "Am I the same player? No, obviously not. But this is my last year, my final year, and I'm committed to finishing it.
"Sometimes, my mind is in the right position, but my body isn't, and that's frustrating."
Boguniecki said the satisfaction he gets from the game is different now. Sure, he still savors winning -- that never seems to get old for any athlete. But he likes to think he helped get erstwhile winger John Lammers back up to the American Hockey League, and hopes he can help get his current linemates, Mazzolini and Judd Blackwater, at shot at the next level.
T.J. Fast, a 22-year-old second-year defenseman who continued his hot scoring of late with an assist on Mazzolini's first-period, power-play deflection, said younger players can learn plenty from Boguniecki's smarts and professionalism.
"He's a great role model for every single one of us," Fast said. "He's got that experience, he speaks his mind, he's played at every level and he's so smart. He's so calm when he has the puck."
Boguniecki and Mazzolini furnished the Aces a 2-0 first-period lead.
Mazzolini pounced on a Bakersfield turnover in the game's second minute and fed Boguniecki, who whistled a dart from the left circle over Pielmeier's glove. Mazzolini added a power-play goal with five minutes to go in the period on a deflection of defenseman Nick Tuzzolino's shot.
Bakersfield (26-15-3), which has lost four straight for the first time this season, pushed back in the second period when defenseman Raymond Eichenlaub deflected a shot from captain Andrew Ianiero for his first pro point in 26 games.
But Boguniecki's second goal of the game restored Alaska's two-goal lead at 3-1 late in the second period and offset a third-period deflection goal by Bakersfield's Mathieu Aubin.
After an Aces flurry, the Condors gained possession of the puck and initiated a counter-attack. But their first pass hit traffic and ricocheted back to Boguniecki, who was between the face-off circles trailing the play.
"I put my head down to go (for a line) change," Boguniecki said. "The puck was right there and I got an adrenaline surge."
He collected the puck, pivoted and took a couple of strides on what amounted to just about the shortest breakaway possible -- "To go along with the shortest guy out there," said Boguniecki, who is listed at 5-foot-8 -- and roofed a wrister over Pielmeier's glove.
Doyle did the rest, raising his record with the Aces since his Jan. 1 acquisition to 9-2-2 -that means the Aces have secured 20 of a possible 26 points on his watch.
Shuffling the deck
Fast's assist gives him 4-7--11 totals in the last 12 games.
"I'd like to think I'm an offensive defenseman and I can jump in the play to give us a fourth guy on the rush and help give us some offense," Fast said. "The (roster) numbers are down, so everybody has to chip in."
Doyle lowered his goals-against average to 2.46, second in the league, and kept his save percentage at .923, which leads the league.
Mazzolini's season scoring line of 16-22--38 in 38 games ranks him fifth in scoring among rookies.
The Aces killed all five Condors power plays and in home games this season have killed a league-high 91.3 percent off opposing power plays.
Jimmy Dahl, the former Ace and UAA skater, filled in for the Aces by playing a regular shift and giving them nine forwards. He had an apparent first-period goal disallowed after referee Keith Kaval ruled he interfered with Pielmeier.
Aces defenseman Bryan Miller missed his sixth straight game -- he's rehabbing a shoulder injury.
Former Condors defenseman Quinn Fair coached the club. He filled in for longtime bench boss Marty Raymond, who flew back home after Alaska's 4-1 win Wednesday to be with his wife, Jessica, who gave birth to their daughter, Anna Michelle, earlier Wednesday. Before Raymond left, he reported mother and daughter both doing well.
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Find Doyle Woody's blog at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.
Bakersfield 0 1 1 -- 2
Aces 2 1 0 -- 3
First Period -- 1, Aces, Boguniecki 11 (Mazzolini), 1:33; 2, Aces, Mazzolini 16 (Tuzzolino, Fast), 14:54 (pp). Penalties -- Naglich, Bakersfield (hooking), 2:16; Dahl, Aces (goaltender interference), 4:55; Green, Aces (boarding), 9:17; Macenauer, Bakersfield (hooking), 10:56; Lizon, Bakersfield (interference), 14:33; Menei, Bakersfield (tripping), 15:14; Blackwater, Aces (hooking), 17:34.
Second Period -- 3, Bakersfield, Eichenlaub 1 (Ianiero, Menei), 8:29; 4, Aces, Boguniecki 12, 15:04. Penalties -- Allen, Bakersfield (interference), 4:25; Johnson, Aces (hooking), 17:46.
Third Period -- 5, Bakersfield, Aubin 10 (Allen, Macenauer), 2:38. Penalties -- Tuzzolino, Aces (hooking), 13:57.
Shots on goal -- Bakersfield 5-16-6--27. Aces 9-15-6--30.
Power-play Opportunities -- Bakersfield 0 of 5; Aces 1 of 6.
Goalies -- Bakersfield, Pielmeier, 19-13-3 (30 shots-27 saves). Aces, Doyle, 12-4-2 (27-25).
A -- 5,300 (6,396). T -- 2:19.
Referee -- Keith Kaval. Linesmen -- Steve Glines, Travis Jackson.
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Copyright (c) 2010, Anchorage Daily News, Alaska
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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