Behind Recicar and Felten’s Trick, Aces Beat Rockhoppers 6-1

After defeating the lowly Hudson Valley Bears 9-3 in their last game, the Brooklyn Aces knew things would be a bit tougher last night against a much better New Jersey Rockhoppers team.

Making a statement, the Aces never trailed against the second place Rockhoppers and got a hat trick from Jesse Felten and a 36 save night from Miro Recicar, defeating New Jersey 6-1.

“I feel really great out there,” said Recicar. “My teammates supported me and allowed me to see the puck well. I’m happy with what we did tonight.”

The first period was a seesaw battle, with both teams scoring a goal apiece. Felten opened the scoring at 6:51 however and gave the Aces the early 1-0 lead. After some sloppy passing in the neutral zone, the Aces gave the Rockhoppers a two on one opportunity and Anthony Becker made the most of it, scoring his fifth goal of the season at 16:04 and tying the score at 1-1.

“It was a tough play,” said Aces coach Chris Firriolo. “There was nothing Miro [Recicar] could do on that one.”

Mike Thomson continued his hot play as of late in the second, lacing a wrister over New Jersey goaltender Nick Niedert’s left shoulder, giving the Aces a 2-1 lead. The score stayed that way the rest of the period, but the physical play began to take over the game as the team’s went in their locker rooms. Already down a man after B.J. Kuper went to the box on a major boarding play, Aces captain Chad Wilcox got nailed with a two minute penalty for after leaving the bench during a scrum and and skating towards his locker room.

Wilcox did not get physical with any player on New Jersey; he exited the bench and skated around the players tussling and skated towards the locker room, yet he still drew a penalty.

Aces coach Chris Firriolo had mixed feelings about the call originally, but in the end, side with the referees.

“They were just trying to maintain order,” said Firriolo. “They made the right call.”

Brooklyn fought hard to kill both penalties and Wilcox redeemed himself shortly thereafter in a small brawl with Rockhoppers forward Jason McCrimmon. Soon after at 3:02, Felten scored his second goal of the night to give the Aces a 3-1 lead.

“My linemates keep getting me the puck,” said Felten. “Things have been going awesome lately.”

A Mike Christensen powerplay marker 3:29 later stretched the Aces lead to 4-1. After a quiet few minutes, Felten scored again at 14:17 for his first professional hat trick, putting Brooklyn up 5-1. Chris Holmes added an insurance marker on a vicious slapper at 16:51 on the powerplay, putting the game away at 6-1.

Winning their first two games at home in ‘09, the Aces confidence appears higher than ever, despite dealing with a series of injured players on the blue line and forward lines.

That doesn’t mean they are counting out the gritty Danbury Mad Hatters though, the team they play tonight.

“They’re a tough team to play against and we’re really beat up right now,” said Firriolo. “We have to be on top of our game.”

Notes-

In spite of win, the Aces may be without their captain, Wilcox, who was checked into the boards by New Jersey’s Rich Jondo with a few minutes left in the third. After the hit, Wilcox was ushered into the locker room with the help of his teammates. No other information is currently known at the time.

Aces goaltender Eddie Neville was returned to the Aces after serving as the emergency backup at Elmira.

The Aces were three for seven on the powerplay and six for six on the penalty kill.

Christensen is now tied for the league lead in goals [22] with Ace James Brannigan who is still with the Utah Grizzles on a call up assignment.

Aces forward Tony Resendes is still unavailable to play, although he did participate in the morning skate.

Aces assistant captain Rob Miller was seen taking shots to today before the game, but is still a few weeks away from returning according to Firriolo.

Photos by Patrick Hickey Jr.

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