HOUSTON, Texas – The Houston Aeros took their league-leading overtime playoff win streak to 11 games in a 3-2 win over the Milwaukee Admirals Friday night. With the Admirals up 2-0 until late in the third, and the Aeros unable to put the puck past goalie Jeremy Smith despite more than 45 shots, it looked almost certain the series would go back to Milwaukee in their favor. But the Aeros’ two regulation goals in the final 5 minutes and overtime winner sent the Admirals home stunned by the sudden rally. “What can you not say about our guys? Just their battle level and their continuing to push and keep going and fight right to the end. It’s a pretty amazing, resilient effort by our guys,” said Aeros coach Mike Yeo. It was a tough break for Smith, who ultimately stopped 50 shots in the loss, while Aeros goalie Matt Hackett saw 25 shots. On the offensive side, Aeros winger Patrick O’Sullivan led the team with 12 shots on goal and Chad Rau had 9. Both goalies were very good early, but the shutout was broken midway through the second on a hard shot from the blue line that Matt Hackett batted away with his blocker. The puck went straight up in the air, landed on Hackett’s shoulder, fell to his feet, and Ryan Thang batted it in before Hackett could locate it. “Once that happened, I think we started to force things a little bit,” said Yeo. “There was some frustration in our game where we started to take a couple of penalties, so I think it’s a good lesson for us. One way, certainly, we can improve.” Milwaukee went up 2-0 late in the second when Mike Bartlett and Steve Begin picked up a turnover in neutral ice during an Aeros power play. With only one Aero defending, Bartlett took a shot and Begin buried the rebound for a shorthanded goal with 5 seconds left in the second period. With Smith stopping the Aeros at every turn, a two goal lead seemed nearly insurmountable. “(Smith) was great. Again. The one thing we keep saying is, ‘We can grind him down, too,’” said Yeo. “If he’s going to make 50-something saves, then we’re going to get to the net and we’re going to get to the net and we’re going to keep throwing pucks there and eventually he’s going to get tired as well.” Indeed, with only 5 minutes left in the third period, Robbie Earl finally got the Aeros on the board to end Smith’s shutout on a 5 on 3 power play. “We needed that,” said Earl after the game. “It’s one of those moments where its like, okay, this is do or die and we were able to capitalize.” Then with less than a minute and a half left, all the nice set-ups that failed to connect in the first 58:39 were justified, as Jon DiSalvatore streaked down the wall with Chad Rau charging up the slot. A quick pass across the ice and Rau put it home to send the game to overtime. And there, the Aeros had history on their side. In his second goal of the game, Robbie Earl banked the puck off traffic in front of the net at 8:45 of the extra frame, sending the 5,032 elated fans home happy and hoping they haven’t seen the last of the Aeros this season at the Toyota Center.
Contact Heather.Galindo@prohockeynews.com
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