As part of their “We will bring home a winner” promotion last night at Aviator Arena, the Brooklyn Aces guaranteed their fans a win.
While the team as a whole played stellar, racking up 63 shots on goal, Mike Thomson and Jesse Felten delivered like Joe Namath and Mark Messier, as Thomson’s first professional hat trick and a pair of goals by Felten paved the way for an impressive 9-3 Brooklyn win.
“I’ve had a couple of chances to get a hat trick this season, but it just didn’t come,” said Thomson. “I feels great now that I’ve done it.”
The Aces got on the scoreboard first after a pretty deflection in front by Thomson on a shot from the point by Gabe Yeung at 9:06. The lead didn’t last for long however, as a tally by Tommy Westfall at 14:51 tied the score at 1-1.
With the score tied, the line of B.J. Kuper, Felten and Eric Frank soon took over the game and got the Aces ahead again. Felten scored a pair of goals in 22 seconds at 16:37 and 16:59 following pretty passes by both Kuper and Frank, giving the Aces a two goal lead late in the first. A Kyle McCullough marker with 2:34 remaining gave the Aces a three-goal lead going into the second.
“I feel great,” said Felten. “My linemates are playing great now and it’s awesome to play with these guys.”
The second period started off relatively quiet, but the Aces maintained the offensive edge, plodding the net with shots on Bears goaltender Dan Stewart [50 saves]. The hard work paid off at 9:33 when Thomson potted his second goal of the game to give Brooklyn a four-goal lead. Continuing to out pace the Bears in the offensive zone, Thomson tallied again with 2:38 left in the period, giving him his first professional hat trick and the Aces a 6-1 lead going into the third.
“We know we have to keep this going,” said Thomson. “We can’t slack off.”
Hudson Valley attempted a comeback though, getting a goal from Rich Vega at 4:00 into the third that cut the lead to 6-2. 4:11 later, Mike Christensen scored his 20th goal of the season to give the Aces their five-goal lead back. 2:20 later, former Aces captain Dan Rohanna scored his first goal of the season to make it a 7-3 game. However over the next 4:12, Brooklyn got goals from new edition Josh Coyle and Christensen to put the game away at 9-3.
“We been on the road for a while and it’s great to win one for the fans,” said Felten. “It’s good to be back.”
With the win and a 5-2 loss by the Rockhoppers to Danbury last night, the Aces have stretched their first place lead over New Jersey to 15 points.
Not content with success this season however, the Aces know they still have plenty of work ahead of them.
“We have to be sharper tomorrow against New Jersey,” said Aces coach Chris Firriolo. “We need to be faster with our shots and in transition, but I think if we can do those things, we should be fine.”
Notes-
Eight players on Brooklyn had two or more points on the night.
Christensen’s 21 goals rank second in the league to only James Brannigan, the Aces sniper who was called up to the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL a few weeks ago.
Aces goaltender Miro Recicar made 22 saves on 24 shots.
Emergency backup Anthony Felice made two saves on three shots after coming into the game with 10:05 remaining.
Felice was reacquired by the Aces yesterday due to Eddie Neville’s call-up to Elmira.
According to Firriolo, Neville is expected back in the next few days.
Hudson Valley goaltender Len DiCostanzo was placed on Injured Reserve before the game.
Attendance for the game was 877.
Other news-
Last night’s scrap between Chad Wilcox and Joe Pelle has been added to the team’s fight page.
Photos by Patrick Hickey Jr.
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