Christensen’s Hat Trick Powers Aces Win Over Hudson Valley

Behind a hat trick from Mike Christensen, the Brooklyn Aces defeated the Hudson Valley Bears 8-1 at Aviator on Tuesday night.

Sporting the beginnings of what look to become future playoff beards, the Aces ran the table on a Hudson Valley team that despite a hard luck season, never gave up.

Now with only two games remaining, due to the ever-growing possibility that the last game of the season with the Bears will be canceled, the Aces are warming up for the playoffs.

“We’re looking towards a championship now,” said Aces defenseman Doug Hoffman. “We got the W and we’re moving on.”

Hudson Valley got the scoring started at 15:09 of the first on a Kevin Straub goal that put the Aces down early. Brooklyn fired right back however, getting goals from C.J. Tozzo and Hoffman 20 seconds apart at 17:09, giving them a 2-1 lead.

With 12 seconds left in the period, Christensen scored his team-leading 32nd goal of the season, putting the Aces up 3-1 going into the second period.

“It was a good win,” said Aces head coach Chris Firriolo. “Those guys [Hudson Valley] worked hard this season though and without them, the league couldn’t have survived. I have a lot of respect for them.”

The first 12 minutes of the second period was a much calmer hockey experience, as both teams played aggressive defense and got good goaltending. Nevertheless, Brooklyn eventually broke the stalemate and scored two goals in 59 seconds, as Christensen notched his second goal of the game on a beautiful hesitation give and go with Dan Carney that left him with a wide open net- and a goal in traffic by “Super” B.J. Kuper, putting the Aces up by four.

Hudson Valley also produced some thrills late in the period as well, but was unable to cash in on a penalty shot by Tori Jacob at 15:31, keeping the game at 5-1.

At 15:32, the big bad Brooklyn offense produced again, as Christensen netted his third goal of the game to make it 6-1 with only 20 minutes remaining.

“It feels good,” said Christensen. “But we have an important weekend coming up. These goals are just a bonus. Winning is better.”

Continuing right where they left off in the second, Chris Holmes scored for Brooklyn at 5:51, making it a 7-1 contest. At 14:46, Tozzo tallied again, putting the game away at 8-1.

With the win, Brooklyn garnered its 34th win of the season and are looking forward to their next game, this Friday against New Jersey, to see how prepared they really are for the playoffs.

“I told the guys that the season starts tomorrow,” said Firriolo. “They understand that and we’re going to try and finish what we started.”

Notes-

Aces forward Kyle McCullough was a healthy scratch tonight, a reward for a 91-point season despite nagging injuries.

Aces backup goaltender Anthony Felice made an appearance in the third and made five saves.

New addition Bill Horton was a +2 with two shots in his first game with the team.

“He did a good job,” said Firriolo. “He was solid.”

Eddie Chlanda had three assists his his first game with the team in over six weeks.

According to Firriolo, Aces goaltender Eddie Neville is expected back for the playoffs.

Attendance for the game was 742.

Video-

Jacob’s penalty shot vs Miro Recicar:

Photos by Patrick Hickey Jr.

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