HOUSTON, Texas – Houston Aeros goaltender Anton Khudobin got the best birthday gift a goalie could ask for as he pitched a 2-0 shutout to put his team up 3-1 over the Milwaukee Admirals in the West Division finals. Khudobin, now 23, stopped all 27 shots on goal. Combined with Khudobin’s play was the Aeros’ smothering team defense which had Milwaukee visibly frustrated.
“I thought our guys played their hearts out tonight,” said Milwaukee coach Lane Lambert. “We’re being stymied right now from putting the puck in the net, and it certainly wasn’t for lack of effort.”
Indeed, the shots were 27-14 overall in favor of the Admirals and that club had a 12-2 advantage in the third period alone. But the Aeros continued their trend of starting the scoring and then clamping down to get the win.
The first goal came from Houston’s Benoit Pouliot, who has consistently been able to manufacture breakaway and odd-man rushes throughout the playoffs. But Pouliot had not been able to finish until Admirals captain Nolan Yonkman went to the box for a holding penalty, giving the Aeros the man advantage.
Defenseman Brandon Rogers sent the puck in deep from the point and Marco Rosa carried it around the back of the net for a wrap-around attempt. Rosa missed but Pouliot was waiting at the top of the crease to bat it past a prone Drew MacIntyre at 16:56 in the first period.
The game would remain 1-0 Aeros for two more periods, but not for lack of trying on Milwaukee’s part. The Admirals did not have the luck, as pucks hit posts, skates, bodies, everything but the back of the net as they peppered Khudobin with shots.
“He’s playing great hockey. I think that he had a chance to see the puck and if he sees it he making a save. We’re not getting the bounces. We’re putting the effort there. We’re trying to get our shots through,” said Yonkman. “We out shot them and that’s what we can do… We’re sticking with the process and we’re still sticking with our game plan.”
Milwaukee pulled goalie MacIntyre for the man advantage with a little over a minute left in the game, and with just a few seconds left on the clock, Clayton Stoner cleared the puck out of the Aeros zone. Krys Kolanos chased it across the goal line and then wrapped it around the post into the empty net for his fifth goal of the playoffs.
Lambert said his team will look to improve speed through the neutral zone and improve the forecheck as they look ahead to Saturday night at what is now a must-win Game 5 in Houston.
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