Inside the Numbers: What to Look For In Game Two

With game time quickly approaching for tonight's game, I thought I would throw out some numbers and let you get a look inside while getting some ideas of what to watch for tonight. (Sorry, I don't have Milwaukee notes, so I can't really give you those numbers, but would if I could).

The most important number is this: when the Aeros have won the first game of a series, they've then gone on to win eight of 12 series. When the Admirals have lost game one of a series, then they're 1-2 all-time in the Calder Cup playoffs. However, the Aeros have started a Calder Cup playoff series 2-0 four times, and the team is only 5-7 all-time in Calder Cup game twos.

The keys of this game will be essentially the same keys as with Game One: score first; score on the power play; shut down Milwaukee's penalty kill; have the lead after the first period; and take the same or less number of shots than Milwaukee.

The Aeros are 4-1 in the playoffs this year when they score the game's first goal. They are 3-0 when leading after the first period; 3-0 when leading after the second, and 2-1 when tied after one. Whereas, if they're trailing after period, they're 0-2. And they are 3-0 when outshot during a game and 2-0 when shooting the same, whereas they are 0-3 in games where they outshoot the opposition.

They are 5-1 when not allowing a power play goal in a game, but 0-2 when they allow a power play goal. The Aeros have the AHL's second best power play during the playoffs, going 11-for-36 (30.6%) -- first is Wilkes-Barre/Scranton which is 9-for-21 (42.9%). And the Aeros have scored a power play goal in every game in which they've been on the power play. The Aeros completely shut down the Admirals power play on Thursday as well as virtually shutting down Milwaukee during the regular season. This could be important seeing as how the referee for tonight's game is Jeff Koharski who has never seen a ticky-tack penalty that he won't call.

Seeing as how Koharski is the ref, Kevin Constantine should be drilling into the mind of his players that, while aggressive play is okay, and penalties off of aggressive play are acceptible, penalties because of stupid or sloppy play and mental mistakes should not be allowed. The main culprits here tend to be the same players every game: Corey Locke, Benoit Pouliot, and Tomas Mojzis.

Locke tends to make up for these penalties by scoring -- he's the third in the AHL in playoff scoring with 10 points (4-6=10). It's also important for Pouliot because, while hasn't been much of an offensive force in the playoffs, he's been proving to be an excellent addition to the penalty kill unit. Another player who needs to be careful is Clayton Stoner. Stoner doesn't make a lot of stupid penalties, but he likes to hit and he likes to play aggressive, and it can be argued that he spends most of the game committing some type of hard foul.

I also find this stat interesting. As much as we complain about Anton Khudobin's play in goal, the fact is that he has allowed three or more goals in only half of the team's games. The Aeros are 3-1 when scoring two or less goals (the loss was the 2-1 Game Six loss to Peoria). So maybe he's not doing too bad after all. Though it is important to remember that, with Khudobin, he tends to be as good as his defense. If his defense has a good game, he has a good game, and vice-versa.

I'm also going to keep with the same refrain I've used in past playoff games. The key players for Houston will be Krys Kolanos, Matt Beaudoin, Clayton Stoner, and Anton Khudobin. Kolanos and Beudoin, while not having the same number of points as Locke, are both guys who seem to be driving the offense every night, and they're the only ones who seemingly seem willing to push the action every minute, every period. Stoner's been the key to the defense, and he's been playing with an intensity I have't really seen before. The better Stoner plays the better the rest of the defense seems to play, and the better the defense plays, the better Khudobin seems to play. The two things Khudobin has to try and do is cut down on his rebounds and not lose focus.

So there you go. That's inside the numbers for Game Two.

Now let's play some hockey.