Sea and air battle in second round

MILWAUKEE, WI – The Admirals finished first in the West Division and tied with Manitoba for the most points in the league with 107. Their goals for at 229 isn’t particularly splashy, but their goals against at 195 is the second-lowest in the league (again, Manitoba leads that stat). Including the decisive four game sweep of Rockford in the first round, the Admirals have not lost eight consecutive games.
 

Houston Aeros – They finished third in the West Division with 87 points and were the only team to make the playoffs with fewer goals for (218) than goals against (230). The Aeros took seven inconsistent games to win the first round over Peoria, and had won only two of their last 10 regular season games.
 
GOALTENDING
 
Milwaukee – Drew MacIntyre is the quintessential “hot goalie” in the playoffs, having allowed only four goals on 109 shots during the Rockford series and boasting a 0.963 save percentage. MacIntyre is in his fourth AHL season and was voted into the AHL All-Star game in January.
 
Behind MacIntyr e is rookie Mark Dekanich, who played 30 games for the Admirals this season and ended regular season with an impressive 2.09 GAA and  .923 save percentage that put him second in the AHL only to Goalie of the Year Cory Schneider.
 
Houston – The Aeros have some excellent goalies in Barry Brust and Nolan Schaefer, but the two were bit hard by the injury bug in March and the team has had to rely on ECHL call-up Anton Khudobin to hold the reigns through a tough playoff chase and now through a challenging first round.
 
Jitters, some soft goals, and some juicy rebounds have led to some chest-clutching in the stands, but Khudobin and the defense held the goals against to two or less in all but two of the playoff games thus far. Behind him is Dallas prospect Matt Climie and the possibility of Brust or Schaefer getting healthy enough to return.
 
Advantage – Milwaukee
 
 
OFFENSE
 
Milwaukee – The Admirals have good scoring depth and can come at an opponent with several looks. They can be speedy, they can be physical, they can shut down, and they can agitate. They have several players, including   ;Patric Hornqvist and former Minnesota Wild prospect Ryan Jones, who contributed successfully with parent club Nashville Predators through the season and are back with the team.
 
Houston – The Aeros have some high-flying offense, but those same players are prone to turnovers against a hard-working defense and could be accused of lazy play at times. The team struggles to score during even strength play which puts pressure on the power play. Krys Kolanos is a game-changer on any line, and Corey Locke can be with the right linemates. The team does get some offensive help from the blue line from Maxim Noreau. Jesse Schultz has been one of the core playmakers on the team but was lost to an ankle injury in Game 6 of the semi-finals. Schultz’s injury will hurt scoring depth.
 
Advantage – Milwaukee
 
DEFENSE
 
Milwaukee – With the second fewest goals against in the league during the regular season, the Milwaukee defense can’t be ignored. But some of that credit goes to solid goaltending and team defense, as the Admirals blue liners can be flat-footed at times. However, this was not the case in round one, so it remains to be seen if the defense can continue to play as they did in the first four games of the post-season.
 
Houston – The Aeros defense has a little bit of everything—grit, size, speed, offensive threat—but not enough of any of those to have one characteristic that defines them, other than a consistently strong work ethic, which is aided by a team-wide defensive responsibility required by Coach Kevin Constantine’s system.
 
Advantage – Draw
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
 
Milwaukee – The Admirals have a strong top power play unit and then drops off dramatically with the second unit. During the regular season, their power play was ranked ninth in the league and ranks eighth during the playoffs thus far.
 
Milwaukee boasted the top penalty kill in the league during the regular season but are 12^th so far in the playoffs, with three of the four goals against during the semifinals coming during a Rockford power play.
 
Houston – Special teams play is the Aeros’ bread and butter. Their power play was the third best in the league during the regular season and second best so far in the playoffs, so it behooves Milwaukee to stay out of the box.
 
On the penalty kill, the Aeros are ranked third so far in the playoffs and were sixth in the league during regular season play.
 
Advantage – Draw
 
PREDICTION – Milwaukee in five – The Admirals have been consistently good all season and went from red-hot to white-hot in the playoffs. And while the Aeros have some talent, they have been consistently inconsistent all season and only just escaped the first round. Without better goaltending and more consistent scoring by Houston, this is Milwaukee’s series to lose.
 
Contact heather.galindo@prohockeynews.com
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