ONTARIO – To beat the Victoria Salmon Kings, winners of 13 straight games, the Reign will need to play 60 minutes of hockey. On Wednesday, 59 minutes and 1 second didn't cut it.
Luke Erickson's fast-break goal with 59 seconds left in the third period lifted the Alaska Aces to a 3-2 victory over the Reign before 4,345 at Citizens Business Bank Arena.
That didn't happen Wednesday, when the Reign were done in by their own defense. They allowed 45 Alaska shots to their own 25, and failed to backcheck on the game-winning goal.
Jackson's ninth goal of the season, a power-play goal 2:08 into the third period, tied the game at 2. Itan Chavira directed the puck toward the net from the left faceoff circle, but it was kicked the other way in the crease and onto Jackson's stick.
The assist gave Chavira, a Phillips Ranch resident playing his fourth game with the Reign, the first point of his professional career.
The Aces tried to put the game away in the first period with a pair of goals less than a minute apart. With Reign forward Brad Mehalko in the penalty box, Alaska's Cam Keith took a backdoor pass and slid it past John Murray at 8:55.
At 9:49, Murray seemed a bit slow to recover when Brett Hemingway anticipated a ricocheted puck off the boards, tucking it into the net before the goalie could react.
Alaska controlled the tempo in the first period, but Reign forward Dale Reinhardt made the most of a breakaway chance at 11:58, scoring his second goal in as many games to make it 2-1.
Skating in from the neutral zone, his first shot was stopped by Lamoureux, who allowed a short rebound. Reinhardt wisely followed his shot, then dove headlong to poke it into the net before the goalie could recover.
The Reign split a pair of home games against Victoria in December.