Nothing comes easy for the Alaska Aces.

They lose the hard way -- witness Thursday's 8-7 OT loss in Las Vegas, which came when the visitors blew four three-goal leads.

And they win the hard way -- tonight they blew a two-goal lead midway through the third period but used defenseman Bryan Miller's goal with 37.7 seconds left in regulation to beat Vegas, 3-2.

And how about that National Conference playoff race -- second-place Bakersfield and last-place Ontario are separated by just six points. The Aces sit fifth with 68 points, but they are as close to second place (Bako, 71 points) as they are to eighth (last) place (Ontario, 65 points).

Gee, think these last eight Aces regular-season games carry any meaning?

By the way, Aces goalie Scott Reid was awful Thursday (25 saves on 33 shots), but he rebounded nicely Friday with 33 saves.

Oh, and here is your random stat of the night: In Thursday's goal-fest, the longest stretch without a goal was 8 minutes, 10 seconds. Tonight, Jarrett Konkle's opening goal and Tyson Marsh's third-period goal to give the Aces a 2-0 lead were separated by 44 minutes, 58 seconds.

That's hockey.