HOUSTON – The Barons justified their number one seed with a dominating win over the Aeros in Houston on Thursday night in a best-of-five game series.
With thirteen minutes into the game, rookie Tyler Pitlick got the Barons on the board with a pass from Hunter Tremblay and Mark Arcobello. A few minutes later, Chris VandeVelde was whistled for cross-checking; however the Aeros were unable to capitalize on the power-play. At the end of the first period, the shots on goal were a very lop-sided 19 to 3 in favor of the Barons.
Late in the second period, a power-play opportunity for the Barons occurred when Cody Almond of the Aeros was sent to the penalty box for hooking. The draught of a power-play goal for the Barons was finally diminished when Teemu Hartikainen scored at 14:32 of the second period, by tapping in his second rebound. Assisting on this goal were Josh Green and Magnus Paajarvi. This score was followed 1:21 minutes later by another rookie earning his first post-season goal: Tremblay scored on a tip-in from Arcobello and Ryan Keller.
Fifty-seconds later, “Rookie Night” continued when Tanner House scored to put the Barons ahead 4-0. Assisting on his goal were Antti Tyrvainen and defenseman Alex Plante. This three goal barrage prompted a goaltending change for the Aeros. Mike Brodeur replaced Matt Hackett with 3:17 remaining in the second period. The shots on goal at the end of the second period, continued to be lop-sided, at 40 to 9.
With six-minutes remaining, in the final period, the teams skated four aside when VandeVelde and Drew Bagnall were whistled for matching minors. A few minutes later, the Barons would score a fifth and final goal. Anton Lander, yet another rookie, scored on goaltender Brodeur. This was the fourth line to score, and earned Keller his second assist for the night. This was the only goal Aeros goaltender Brodeur allowed.
Barons’ goaltender Yann Danis faced only 14 shots and earned his third shut-out versus Houston this season. Oklahoma City had balanced scoring, as all four lines for Oklahoma City scored. Four of the goal scorers were rookies.
The final shots on goal were 48 to 14. Oklahoma City was successful on the penalty kill, as Houston was not able to convert on two power-play opportunities. The Barons capitalized on their one and only power-play opportunity in the second period.
Statists of Scoring Leaders for “night one” of the Calder Cup Finals, has five Barons in the top 18 spots: Tremblay (goal, assist), Arcobello (two assists), Keller (two assists), Hartikainen (goal), House (goal), and Lander (goal).
Up next is game two in this best-of-five series, which will be played in less than 24 hours in Houston tonight. It is expected to be a very physical game, with the home team coming out to win.
Contact the author at gail.hamill@prohockeynews.com
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