MILWAUKEE, WI – It started as a David and Goliath battle. The Milwaukee Admirals had just swept through the first round of the West Division playoffs; the Houston Aeros had required all seven games to get past their opening round series. On top of it the Aeros were without both regular season starting goalies and a top scorer.
This series went back and forth in dramatic extremes, from the Aeros being up 3-1 in the series to Milwaukee tying up the series with a 7-0 victory on Monday.
But in the end, just like in the original battle, the underdog beat the odds and took down the giant. The Aeros’ defense smothered the Admirals in Wednesday night’s 5-2 victory and will head straight to Manitoba for the Western Conference finals which will start on Friday.
For a while after the game, the official scoresheet listed Aeros goalie Anton Khudobin as both the first and third stars of the game. It’s since been corrected (Mike Santorelli was the third star), but there’s no doubt the 23-year-old goaltender’s play has been the story of the series. He didn’t finish three of the seven games, but when he did, it was a win for the Aeros.
Wednesday was no exception, as he stopped 28 of 30 shots, but much of the rubber never found him as the Aeros defense played like their lives depended on it.
Further, the formula that’s worked for the Aeros all during the playoffs held fast yet again: Score first. Hold the lead into the second period and then leave happy with the win.
Corey Locke got on the board first at 3:34 in the first when he knocked in a rebound off a shot from the point by Maxim Noreau. Then, less than a minute later, Krys Kolanos blasted a wrister from the circle that beat Admirals goalie Drew MacIntyre. And with that, Milwaukee’s game plan switched to playing catch-up, and they never did. Patric Hornqvist scored a power play goal for the Admirals at 14:12 in the first to get them in the game. Play remained tight and scoreless through the end of the first and deep into the second until defenseman Clayton Stoner put the Aeros up two goals again with a shot from the point on a power play.
The momentum threatened to shift, however, when the Admirals Santorelli picked up a pass from Cody Franson on an Aeros turnover and sent the puck hopping over Khudobin’s right pad and trickling into the net, with just two seconds left in the second period.
But when play resumed the Aeros continued to deny the Admirals’ offensive pressure. At 5:30 in the third, Tony Hrkac and Bryan Lundbohm fought off the Admirals defense to bring the puck into the Admirals’ zone. The pair got MacIntyre moving on a give-and-go that allowed Lundbohm to tuck it behind the goalie for the 4-2 lead.
Milwaukee continued to press hard into the third, outshooting the Aeros 13 to 9, but it wasn’t enough. Admirals coach Lane Lambert pulled MacIntyre for the extra attacker with over two minutes left in the third, the Aeros fought off the man advantage, and Locke broke free to score an empty net goal with 1:51 left in the game.
The Aeros will continue their road trip tomorrow, heading north to Winnipeg, where a well-rested Manitoba Moose await after having swept Grand Rapids a week ago. Game 1 of the Conference Finals begins Friday night in a scenario exactly like the underdog Aeros faced coming into this round.
Contact heather.galindo@prohockeynews.com
Catch all the playoffs at Intotheboards.net
You must be logged in to post a comment.