The picture here is what the Houston Chronicle did in the middle of the Astros' 2005 season. That team rebounded late and got within one game of the World Series.
In case you missed it, Nik Backstrom got hurt during warm-ups for the Wild, and Josh Harding got the call and played really well. But with their No. 1 goalie hurt, the Aeros will lose their No. 1 goalie at THE WORST possible time.
Mike Condon played really well down the stretch during the regular season, but it's assumed that he will get his first pro playoff start tonight against Grand Rapids. It's not literally a must-win game, but it is a must win game for the Aeros, who need to win two of three on the road to get to the next round.
With Zucker and Scandella and now Darcy Kuemper on recall, just about everyone is putting the Grffins down in ink to advance this weekend.
My brain agrees with that, but if the Aeros win tonight ... somehow, some way, we'll see what happens in Games 6 or 7.
Here are some notes from the Aeros press office. What are your thoughts on the series?
After two games in Houston, the series shifts to Grand Rapids, continuing a best of five series with Game Three on Wednesday. Houston claimed Game One with a 3-0 shutout on Friday night. Grand Rapids took Game Two with a 3-2 victory at Toyota Center on Sunday. Houston has outscored Grand Rapids 5-3 through the two games. The Aeros took two out of three games in Grand Rapids this season.
The Aeros and Griffins meet for second time in postseason history. In 2003, Houston defeated Grand Rapids in seven games of the Western Conference Finals. The Aeros went on the win the Calder Cup after jumping out to a 3-1 series lead, only to see the Griffins come back and force Game seven with a pair of overtime wins. Grand Rapids forward Jeff Hoggan and Houston forward Stephane Veilleux both played for the Aeros that season.
The two teams met six times during the regular season. Grand Rapids claimed four wins, including a shootout victory at Toyota Center. Houston was 2-3-0-1 against Grand Rapids, including an 0-2-0-1 record at Toyota Center. The Griffins were 4-2-0-0, including a 1-2-0-0 record at Van Andel Arena. Grand Rapids won the last three meetings of the regular season. Each team posted a shutout in the series, while Grand Rapids outscored Houston 13-10. The road team won five of six games. Three of the games have been decided by one goal. The teams are a combined 4-for-45 on the power play with Houston going 2-for-23 and Grand Rapids going 2-for-22.
The Aeros hit the road for the first time this postseason. The team posted a 19-15-2-2 mark away from home in the regular season. Houston finished 7-3-0-0 over the last ten games of the regular season. Houston was even in scoring on the road, matching the home team with 102 goals per side. The Aeros have won seven of their last nine games.
Grand Rapids posted a 21-12-3-2 record at home in the regular season, outscoring the home team 109-100. Grand Rapids finished the year with a 4-4-1-1 record over the last ten games of the regular season.
In the regular season, Houston and Grand Rapids have played 74 times in AHL history. Over the course of time, the Aeros are 36-28-10 against the Griffins, who are 32-33-9 all-time against Houston. Over the last five years, the Aeros have a 13-9-0-2 mark versus Grand Rapids and they have posted a 6-4-0-2 mark at home.
Justin Fontaine led all Houston skaters in scoring with four points in six games against GR. Griffins forwards Jeff Hoggan, Riley Sheahan, Jan Mursak, Francis Pare and defender Luke Glendening led their team in scoring. Hoggan and Chad Billins led all skaters with three goals apiece in the season series. Hoggan tied with Mursak (4a) for the team lead with four points. Pare, Billins, Sheahan and Glendening each had three points. Houston goalie Darcy Kuemper was 2-2-0 against GR, posting a 1.72 goals against average and a .942 save percentage. Grand Rapids goalie Petr Mrazek went 1-2-0 with a 1.98 goals against average and a .929 save percentage. Tom McCollum was 3-0-0 with a 1.00 g.a.a. and a .964 save %.
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4 comments:
i was both amazed and impressed with the job mike did during his brief period.
in order for him to be successful he's going to need quite a bit of help from the defense and hope we keep the puck in the offense end longer then we did Sunday.
Not giving up yet but it's getting close. stranger things have happened.
go aeros
I believe you made of typo in the following statement: "My brain agrees with that, but if the Aeros win tonight ... somehow, some way, we'll see what happens in Games 6 or 7."
Don't you mean Games 4 and 5?
Yep... Brain freeze.
What's up with cuma- is he hurt or HS?
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