Christensen and Neville Sharp Again in 7-3 Win

The last time the Brooklyn Aces were on the ice with the Danbury Mad Hatters on Dec. 18, it was obvious they were frustrated. Facing a gritty team that plays physical in both ends, the speedy and smaller Aces couldn’t beat Danbury goaltender Derek MacIntyre when it counted, ultimately falling 5-4.

Five days later and fresh off a 4-2 win against New Jersey however, the Aces had their way with MacIntyre all night long, scoring seven goals on 42 shots in an impressive 7-3 win.

“Danbury is a good club,” said Aces coach Chris Firriolo. “Every time we play them it’s a battle. This win gives us a bit of momentum when we go there on Friday.”

Playing with their biggest physical edge of the young season, the Aces jumped out to an early lead after Mike Christensen scored on a breakaway goal at 2:16. At 10:53, the EPHL’s leading goal scorer, James Brannigan netted a powerplay marker after some nifty passing from C.J. Tozzo, putting the Aces up by two. 5:41 later, MacIntyre coughed up another goal after Chad Wilcox intercepted a neutral zone pass and gave it up to Christensen for his second tally of the night.

On the other end of the ice, Aces goaltender Eddie Neville was anything but erratic, making several sprawling saves that kept the score 3-0 through one period of play.

“I feel better the more I play,” said Neville before he made 26 saves on the night. “I feel really confident and comfortable right now.”

With Neville still exceptionally strong in net and Chad Wilcox taking down K.C. Caudill in scrap early on in the second, it was obvious the Aces had Danbury on their heels. After Eric Frank netted his first professional goal in almost two seasons at 7:05 on assists from B.J. Kuper and Jesse Felten, it appeared that Brooklyn was in total control and were beating Danbury in every facet of the game. With 46.9 seconds left in the second, the “Three Amigos” line of Christensen, Felten and Chris Holmes was reunited on the powerplay and produced, as Holmes tapped in a loose rebound and put Brooklyn up by five going into the third period.

Aside from producing another scrap between Wilcox and Caudill, the early part of the third period was once again all about the Brooklyn offense. At 4:45, the line of Kuper, Frank and Felten was at it again after a Felten goal in traffic made it 6-0.

“I feel awesome right now,” said Felten. “Getting back with my two other amigos for a little while helped me a bit. I have a good thing going with Frank and Kuper too, we work really hard and get a lot of chances because of it.”

Just when things seemed to be going perfect for Brooklyn, Danbury managed to spoil Neville’s shutout bid on a Stephen Schofield goal at 9:52. Less than two minutes later, Danbury inched it’s way closer with an Igor Karlov shorthanded tally that made it 6-2. With 6:19 remaining, the Mad Hatters scored again, this time off the stick of Mykul Haun, making it a 6-3 game.

Soon after, Firriolo called a time-out and made sure this time they didn’t surrender another goal. Keeping defensive specialists like Kuper and Christensen out for a large chunk of the remaining time, the Aces clamped down on defense and after Felten drew a penalty with four minutes remaining, the game was back in the Aces hands.

“That timeout changed the momentum,” said Felten. “We needed it too.”

Soon after, the “Three Amigos” line scored again on what appeared to be Christensen’s best Pelle impersonation, as he kicked the puck over to Holmes, who deposited the pass into the back of the net at 16:58. The Aces then went on cruise control and finished the rest of the game with the same intensity they started it with, winning by a score of 7-3.

With the win, it appears that the Aces have put their recent two-game losing streak behind them and are once again, the unquestioned kings of the EPHL.

Nevertheless, this team understands they have to dedicate themselves to playing a complete game and cannot afford to fall apart when they have a big lead.

“We still need to be able to shutdown teams more not like them come back. We have to make a statement,” said Christensen, who had four points on the night. “Eddie’s [Neville] stats are just as important as anybody else’s. He keeps us in games. In spite of that though, we’re happy we came out with the win. Merry Christmas.”

Video-

Chad Wilcox vs K.C. Caudill

The video is also available now on the team’s fight page as well.

Photos by Ron Hatcher.

Related posts:

1. Two Goals From Christensen Not Enough in 4-3 Shootout Loss Despite stellar efforts from Mike Christensen and Eddie Neville, the...
2. Christensen’s Hat Trick Powers Aces Win Over Hudson Valley Behind a hat trick from Mike Christensen, the Brooklyn Aces...
3. Aces Trounce Bears in 8-1 Win With Mike Christensen and Rob Miller back in the lineup...
4. Aces Trap Bears in 8-4 Win Coming off a tough 4-1 loss against the Danbury...
5. Preflight Briefing- Mike Christensen Despite missing 12 games this season due to injury, Brooklyn...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.