Inconsistent effort leads to Miners loss.

GAME STORY

Inconsistent effort leads to Miners loss.

CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON)
Led by Keith Yandle’s four-assist night, the Las Vegas Aces skated to a 5-2 victory over the Sudbury Miners on Saturday night.

Four different Aces players would contribute offensively with a goal and an assist, and Aces goaltender Carter Hutton made 29 saves to get the win. Zack Hyman and Aaron Ekblad each scored in the losing effort for the Miners, while goalie Darcy Kuemper stopped 33 of 38 shots faced. He remains winless on the season.

The inability for the Miners to play a full 60 minutes has been a troubling concern the past two games. The Aces led 3-2 after two periods, before blowing the game open in the third with a pair of goals. We're horrible in the third period right now, and thats myself included, thats everybody," Ekblad said. "We got to be better. We got to fix it."

Las Vegas opened the scoring early in the first when David Perron's shot from the circle beat Kuemper cleanly to give the Aces a 1-0 lead. The Miners would respond a few minutes later when Zack Hyman tipped a Chris Tierney feed past a screened Hutton to tie the game at 1. However, that lead was short-lived, as Thomas Vanek’s power playmaker late in the first would allow the Aces to take a 2-1 lead after the first.

The two teams would trade goals in the second, but the inconsistent play that has crept into the Miners game as of late, reared its head in the third as the Aces iced the game in the third. We have to have more tenacity offensively and defensively for the full 60 minutes," Miners forward Vincent Trocheck said. "And we have to shoot more. Shooting creates opportunities."

MINERS NUGGETS
- For the first time this season, the Miners power play failed to produce. They were held scoreless in their two attempts.

- Sam Reinhart currently sits as the Miners scoring leader with 8 points through 6 games but was held
pointless for the second straight game.

- The loss drops the Miners home record to 2 wins and a loss, in three games. They finish up this mini, 3-game homestand on Monday night versus the Victoria Ronin.