Aeros fall to 0-3 on their 10-game homestand, lose 3-2 to Griffins

Aeros head coach John Torchetti took the blame for Friday's 3-2 loss to the Grand Rapids Griffins after explaining to the media that he thought the team has become lax and lazy for the last six periods.

"That's not us," he said.

He said he did not call for the right personnel is that situation, calling out the line of Dowell, McIntyre and Bulmer, which gave up the game-winning goal with just over two minute left in the game. Normally, that might be the kind of line you want in that situation, but two of the guys just returned recently from long-term injuries, and the other, Dowell, was just sent down from the Wild. And he did not suit up while on recall to the big club.

And that wasn't even the worse line of the night. Although they improved markedly as the game progressed, the Larsson/DaSilva/Phillips line had a rough go of it in the first period, and even though he gave up two goals, ECHL netminder Cody Reichard fared pretty well in 60 minutes against one of the top teams in the AHL.

He gave up some juicy rebounds, including the shot on the game-winner, but the Aeros were severely outplayed in the first 40 minutes and were on the penalty kill, perpetually, for the first 10 minutes of the middle frame.

After the Griffins went ahead, Jason Zucker had a great chance to send the game to OT, but he missed a wide-open net with a backhander. Tough, tough, break for the Aeros, who are off until Tuesday when they host the Griffins again at Toyota Center.

Houston Aeros photo /  by Morris Molina

Zucker missed most of the second period after getting hit in the left hand with a point shot from the Griffins. It sure was nice to see him back on the ice for the third. He created all night, as did Justin Fontaine, who made the play of the game on the saucer pass through the defense for the tying goal.

The Aeros took the lead on another pretty play by Zucker and Nick Petersen, but the Griffins tied it up seemingly seconds later on former Aero Jeff Hoggan's second goal of the game. That is whey I told Aeros PR guy Josh Fisher that this was starting to look just like the Tuesday game against the Stars.

He laughed and said, "This will probably end up 3-2..." Nice call, Josh.

Up in Dallas, the Wild played another poor defensive game and gave up five goals to the Dallas Stars in a 5-3 loss. Matt Hackett had no chance on four of them and will remain with the big club, while Darcy Kuemper will come back to the Aeros. Also, it is expected that the Wild may recall a forward today to take Kuemper's spot on the roster. We'll see who goes. Maybe Zucker?

Josh Harding is skating again, and appears to be on his way back to the lineup ... but, I really have no idea if he is going to be in game shape again this season. No stories about his progress mention what the Wild's plans for him are. Basically, what do you do with a goalie who just found the right combination of meds to stabilize his M.S. Do you just say, "OK, he looks good ... we'll start him against the Blues tonight." Or do you send him down for a few starts? I am just a fan, but my vote would be to let him to continue to practice. And there no way I let him play a game in the NHL until he proves he can handle live game action.

Until the Wild feel he is ready, Hackett or Kuemper will continue to backup Backstrom.

In AHL affiliation news, the dominoes are starting to fall. The Rivermen are pulling out of Peoria, as their owner, the Blues owner, has informed their building that they are leaving. Read here for more info, but basically, the thought is that the Blues will team up with the Wolves and the Canucks will move their farm team to Abbotsford just as soon as the Flames figure out what to do with the Heat. Rumors continue to point to Utica, New York, which just makes no sense to me, but what do I know?

There is still no news on what the Wild's plans are for the Aeros. Basically it just comes down to how much the Toyota Center people want to have hockey here.

I love hockey and the Aeros, so I hope they are able to work something out. In the last two weeks, I have made drives to San Antonio and Dallas to watch hockey. I hope I don't have to get used to that.

Wow, what a thriller! Aeros lose, 7-6, in overtime

Zucker scores on his first shot back with the Aeros / by Morris Molina

Normally a home loss after you've had the lead in the third period would be quite the bummer. But, with the way the game went last night, just about everyone on the ice will take the point and be someone satisfied with the result given how the game played out.

Yes, Matt Hackett was rusty, but the guy had not played in a month, and he was sent down here specifically to get a game in before maybe be recalled to play with the Wild this weekend. The defense in front of him was horrible, too, and I feared before the game that the Aeros would get blown out.

Just a recipe for disaster when you're facing the best team in the AHL and one that just got two more players from their NHL parent, the Dallas Stars. Here, you can read the chron.com recap by Mike Damante, who filled in for the wayward Mrs. Galindo.

After the Stars won it in OT, the final count for the game was 13 goals. If you are scoring at home that's 24 goals in two games between the two organizations. The night before in Dallas, the Wild beat the Stars 7-4. Texas got payback on Tuesday, but the Wild won the mini-series three points to two.

OK, so that is a stretch on the sunshine there.

The bottom line is that the defense has to be better. Yes, there are some key clogs missing with Dowell being recalled and Stephane Veilleux being hurt. But Jason Zucker was a minus-two in the game after scoring the first goal. And based on where I was sitting for the game, I can't tell if Tyler Cuma was that bad or just a victim of extremely bad luck ... but he was minus-four in the game and was on the ice for the last four Stars goals.

My players of the game were Justin Fontaine and Steven Kampfer, who continues to be one of the best Aeros on the ice every game. The penalty shot by Brett Bulmer was a beat, so let's hope that gets him going for the home stretch ...

The Aeros have eight games left on their homestand, and they are 0-2 so far with two OT points in the process. Friday night, they'll host the Grand Rapids Griffins, who seem to win every game and score 11 or 12 goals in the process.

The defense and goaltending will be tested again.

Five of Six Ain't Bad

Not a bad weekend for the boys in the bomber jerseys, eh? A really tough 3 in 3 with a middle travel day and still earning 5 out of 6 points.

What's more, they earned them in all the right places. I think if there's game where they could afford to drop a point, it was probably this game tonight against the Amerks. Or maybe it just feels that way because I enjoy beating OKC so much more. :)

Either way, it was a big weekend and as Coach Torchetti said, if someone had offered him 5 of 6 he would have signed right on the dotted line.

What was interesting to me is that Torchetti has been harping on penalties the last few games, but tonight, I thought they were pretty disciplined, which is sometimes one of the first things to go when you're tired.

By pointing that out, I'm saying what I suppose is obvious: This team has got it going on. They had every right to be sluggish and sloppy (and they were at times) but instead, they put 40 shots on Leggio (who was playing his 54th game of the season... what an ironman!)

Seems to me this team is peaking at just the right time and powering ahead in the standings points. Just this weekend alone has been pretty impressive to watch.

Tonight in particular, goals from Rau and Phillips (who is red hot right now with 4 goals in 8 games) and a great game from Cody Reichard in net for just his second AHL game, really showed how well this team weathers a storm. And what are playoffs if not the biggest storm of the year?

(Also, have to mention two REALLY nice shootout goals by Granlund and, particularly, Fontaine. I'm still sort of angry at Fontaine for his, purely from a goalie perspective. It was as nasty as they come.)

The big home stand continues Tuesday night with the Stars and Grand Rapids on Friday. Keep Calm and Hockey On, folks.

Tonight: Aeros at OKC Barons

Everyone thought the OKC Barons would fall off the map once the lockout ended. In fact, the opposite has happened, and Todd Nelson's team might arguably be better now without their studs, who are now in Edmonton. They are better defensively, and they seem to keep every game close.

The Aeros have split two games with the Barons since the lockout ended, with each team winning on home ice.

Tonight, the Aeros will play their final road game before starting a major 10-game homestand on Saturday against the Rochester Amerks. The Aeros really need to bear down tonight and go for two points, as the game Saturday will favor the Americans on the schedule. They had Thursday off, and the Aeros will be playing their third game in three days will travel to and from OKC.

Salty goal by M. Scandella (6) - Photo by Morris Molina

That is just my gut feeling, but the recent play of the Aeros suggests that they have a very good shot of taking at least one of these two games. Like John mentioned last night through quotes from Torchetti, the Aeros have to be more disciplined tonight. If not, Mark Arcobello and Jonathan Cheechoo will slice them apart.

And you have to figure Darcy Kuemper, who has been spectacular, will get a break. Maybe, maybe not. The Wild have not been shy about playing a well-rested goalie three straight games. You have to figure though that he'll sit one, especially with a groin injury not too far out of the rear-view mirror.

In their last 10 games, the Barons have points in seven of them (5-3-0-2). They have lost three straight home games, but they managed to get an OT point in two of them.

I like how the Aeros are playing right now; they've certainly attained an edge and are playing a salty game since that six-game winless streak back in January.

Torchetti loves the group he has right now and even went on the record as saying that he'd hate to play his team in the first round of the playoffs.

He's right; if the Aeros can stay away from the injury bug and be a tad more disciplined, they'll have a chance to make some noise in the Calder Cup playoffs.

Aeros Checkmate Checkers

It's been so long since the Aeros have played a game at Toyota Center that I just kind of figured they'd up and relocated to Des Moines already -- what, too soon? But the wounded warriors returned to Toyota Center tonight and matched the checkers move for move, getting the 4-1 win on the first night of a three-in-three.

Marco Scandella put the Aeros on the board at 11:24 of the first with a pretty shot he was able to get off and sneak between the goalie and the post as he was falling to the ice. Zach Phillips knocked in a rebound for the second goal, on a power play, at 12:16 of the first, then at 17:27 of the first, Justin Fontaine finished off the scoring with a shot from inches away which saw Charlotte's starting goalie, John Muse pulled from the game for Rob Madore, who got his first ever AHL action. (Carson McMillan got the empty-netter in the final minute for the final score.)

"It was a big win," head coach John Torchetti said. "Everyone stood up and they did a good job."

The Aeros have 14 regular season games remaining, and 10 of those 14 are at home, so let's hope the Aeros can take the time to rest up and get healthy as they make the final push for the Calder Cup playoffs.

And I know it's been awhile since we've seen the team, and had the chance to talk to John Torchetti, but he I don't remember him being as effusive and free with the praise as he was after tonight's win. But he knows his team's beat up, and he was thrilled to get the effort that he got out of a tired bunch of players. And most of the effort, most of the attitude the team's showing out on the ice, is the result of the veterans that were added to the team over the past couple of months, primarily Paul Mara, Jake Dowell, and Stephane Veilleux (who missed tonight's game due to an injury).

"Veilluex, Dowell, Mara have really changed the attitude in the building," Torchetti said. "Just working hard, holding guys accountable, telling them, hey, listen, this is the play. These guys play. Mara has 12-plus years. Jake has several years. Veilluex has nine years. They’ve got experience, and they’re bringing it. These guys are workers. That tells you a lot. We’re very fortunate to have guys that want to come down. They could be in a bad mood because they’re not being called up, but they’ve done a great job for us, and I’m really happy that they play for us."

Everything wasn't perfect for the team tonight. The team hasn't played since Friday, and he thought they looked really sluggish out on the ice. But he was trying to give the team some rest -- he worked them really hard on Sunday and Monday. And after the long road stretch where the team was seemingly playing every other night, he needs the team to get back into a rhythm.

He also wasn't happy with the penalties the guys got, and have been getting.

"We’ve got to stay out of the box," he said. "We’ve got to be smarter, especially with offensive zone penalties. It’s gone a kill us. We were short a guy…[Rau was out on a suspension] We're down to four [penalty] killers. I think Jake [Dowell] got into a fight to get a breather…."

"We’ve got to cut this out," he continued later. "But our past four or five games, we’re averaging five-plus [penalties], and that’s going to kill you one night. We’re wasting energy, and we’ve got to have better poise."

But tonight the Aeros got the win to improve their record to 32-22-4-4 (72 points), and five points behind Charlotte for the second spot in the South Division. They face the Barons in Oklahoma City tomorrow night, then they're back at Toyota Center to host Rochester on Saturday. So until then.

POST SCRIPT

Could whoever is doing the sound at Toyota Center please learn the volume control knob is located on the sound board. Please? I don't think the sound was even that loud for Eric Clapton's concert last Sunday. And can somebody please tell me why Joe O'Donnell's radio broadcast was being broadcast in the seating areas? His pregame show was louder than the anthem.

Texas High School Hockey Championship & other stuff

Couple of quick notes as we head into the evening:

First, I want to thank Andrew for keeping things going here lately and for, as usual, being so knowledgeable and generous with his time. My husband and I are in the middle of moving to Dallas (I know... *sad trombone*) and, while I'm fortunate that selling/hunting/buying/negotiating/etc. all happened during this ENDLESS road trip, it has nevertheless been all-consuming.

However, as we head into this dense final stretch of home games, I'm excited to get refocused and see this puppy through to the bitter and/or sweet end (with Mike Damante graciously filling in at the Chron when I can't make it to games).

I dunno how much more pro hockey we're going to have in Houston after this season (really, I don't know... not hinting at anything here... you're all reading the same writing on the wall that I am at this point), but we have a nice little stretch here to really soak it all in and put our backs and hearts into it.

Second, if you want even a little more live hockey, Houston is hosting the Texas High School Hockey Tournament this weekend and Saturday's Aeros game will be followed up by the championship game.

Normally Dallas gets these tourneys because they have a more robust youth hockey scene (thank you Stars), but Houston got it this year, so it's a pretty big deal and should be some good hockey. I've played against high school kids a few times and, let me tell you, I avoid it like the plague now because I don't like crying myself to sleep at night. They're prettyyyyy, prettyyyyy, pretty good.

So, to summarize:

• Galindo traded to Dallas for a bag of pucks
• Houston vs Rochester / Texas High School Championship Double Header Saturday
• (Bonus) Still sorta mad about how much the Aeros scored on Brusty the other day

Okay. I'm off. See you tonight. Here's hoping I remember how to write a game story.

Game Day: Aeros vs. Charlotte

If the Aeros have any dreams of getting the No. 4 seed and securing home ice in the first round, they need to beat the Charlotte Checkers tonight.

If they do it, they'll have to without Chad Rau, who was suspending by the league earlier this week for a high-sticking incident at San Antonio. That hurts a little bit, but the Aeros can win this game if they return to a good penalty-killing technique and Darcy Kuemper continues to play well.

I am not 100% sure if it is related, but the Aeros signed Kirk MacDonald to a contract. He played four games for the Aeros during the road trip and even missed some time in the middle of that stint with an injury. The MacDonald signing also indicates to me that the same forwards that have been out, continue to be out with undisclosed injuries.

MacDonald has done alright in the ECHL, but he'll be just another body trying to make it work at Toyota Center tonight.

Opposite Kuemper, I'd expect the Checkers to start John Muse, who's filled in rather decently with Peters up in Carolina. Muse is 3-4 and has started every game for them since then. He gave up six last weekend against Texas and then rebounded nicely with a 3-2 overtime win in the rematch.

The weekend before that, he split two games against the Aeros at Time Warner Cable Arena.

The Checkers, like the Aeros, have only played about 10 games in the last month. Since Feb. 23, Charlotte is an even 5-5 with just three regulation wins. Their once great defense is a little shaky now. Muse has started eight of those games and he's given up more than 3.6 goals per game during that span.

I'd really be disappointed and shocked if the Aeros don't win the game if they can keep the Checkers under three goals.

After tonight, there are only 10 home games left at Toyota Center. Barring a complete choke, the Aeros will make the playoffs for the 16th time in 19 years. If you want me to put a number on it, I'd say the team needs just seven more wins to clinch at least the No. 8 seed.

I'm actually optimistic that they'll finish closer to 4 than 8, but we'll see. The Aeros do have a very tough schedule down the stretch. No matter what happens, the final month will be filled with excitement.

Tardy Post - Aeros lose at San Antonio

I was traveling all weekend, so I did not have a chance to get an update on the blog. But, in case you missed it, the Aeros dropped a 4-2 decision at the AT&T Center on Friday night against the San Antonio Rampage. 

Looking to go two games over .500, the Aeros played a great road first period and followed that with an ever better second period ... until the last seconds when they allowed the game-tying goal. 

Early in the third, Stephane Veilleux got an unsportsmanlike penalty that eventually led to a 5-on-3 and the game-winning goal for the Rampage. 

There is no question that the fresh legs prevailed, but the penalty by Veilleux just continued a sequence toward defeat that started with the McMillan,/Fontaine/Granlund line allowed the tying goal with under 10 seconds left in the period. 

That sealed at least a point for the Rampage, and the third-period penalties was the dagger. 

Thursday, the Aeros will start a three-in-three against Charlotte. Friday, they're in OKC before coming back home to start a 10-game homestand against the Rochester Amerks.

The Aeros are seven points back of Charlotte with a pair of games in hand. It seems very unlikely that they'll catch them for the No. 4 seed and home ice advantage. But win the game Thursday, and things could get interesting down the stretch. 

Thursday is a big game; hope to see you at the rink.

Carson McMillan scored at San Antonio Friday -  photo by Josh Huskin

Aeros power past Heat, move to 10 games over .500

After the Aeros went up 2-0 on the Abbotsford last night, Heat coach Troy G. Ward called a timeout. After that stop, the Heat outshot the Aeros close to a 2-1 margin for the rest of the game, and the 4-1 final was a lot closer than the score indicates.

Yes, the Heat defense was atrocious. Yes, their PK was even worse as the Aeros scored twice and generated close to a dozen Grade A scoring chances with the man advantage. 

But the Heat kept coming and coming and coming, and when Darcy Kuemper wasn't making difficult saves look easy, he was lucky as the Heat mis-fired at least two open nets and several other prime chances down 2-0. 

Even when Zack Phillips made it 3-0 (and Oh, what a pass by Larsson), the Heat kept it up and never quit until Lamb scored Abbotsford's only goal of the game with 14 ticks left on the clock. 

While it would have been nice, Kuemper didn't really lose the shutout in hearbreaking fashion. His performance was spectacular, and one garbage time goal doesn't take away from what he did in the last 40 minutes as the ice seemed tilted toward the Aeros goal. 

Aeros D Brian Connelly- Photo by Morris Molina, Houston Aeros

Big-picture wise, the win gets the Aeros 10 games over .500 for the first time this season, and with 70 points, they are six points clear of the team (Milwaukee) with the 9th best winning percentage in the Western Conference. 

The Aeros have 16 games left. If they win just eight more games, they'll finish with 86 points, and the Admirals would have to go about 12-5 to catch them. While the playoffs certainly are no lock, I think the Aeros are more likely to be a 5 or 6 seed than they are a 7 or 8 seed. The Aeros "magic number" to clinch a spot in the top 8 is down to 29, and 11 of their last 16 games are at home. 

This is the toughest part of the season, so there are no promises. 

It was nice to see a big crowd at the game on a Thursday. Nearly 6,500 see the Aeros put on quite the show. Connelly was great, and I thought Paul Mara and Marco Scandella were good on the power play. Mikael Granlund sees things happen before they happen, and having him in Houston is going to be a real treat for ever how long he "has" to stay down in the minors. 

The penalty kill has turned away 21 straight shorthanded situations. They are perfect since that third-period meltdown in Abbotsford two weeks ago. 

If they keep that going - hey, they are not going to stay perfect - they are going to be real tough to beat in the playoffs. 

Tonight, they visit San Antonio, who just lost two straight at home to OKC. They did get one point in shootout loss on Wednesday, but they pretty much have to win out just to have a chance to make the playoffs. 

If the Aeros bear down and score first, they'll be tough to beat. They also need to be a lot more disciplined than they were Thursday. I think all the penalties were just a product of how the game went. 

Where is referee Jeff Smith when you need him?

Here are some misc. stats from the game last night: 

• The Aeros now have a plus-9 goal differential on the season. They are plus-10 in the 2nd period. 
• The Aeros finished the season series 3-1 against the Heat, outscoring them 14-8.
• Houston scored 7 power play goals against the Heat on 21 opportunities. 
• The Aeros went 16-for-18 on the PK against the Heat this season. 
• Houston has scored at least one PP goal in 5 of their last 7 games overall
• Mikael Granlund has points in six straight games as an Aero (3g+5a=8pts.)

In closing, it was not a good night for our long-time friend Barry Brust. He has really struggled - right along with the Heat - since his magical shutout streak from earlier this season. Abbotsford has fallen from a Top 4 team to a squad that will very, very likely miss the playoffs. 

It was Brust's first game at Toyota Center since leaving the organization three years ago. He was on the bench as Robin Lehner led the B-Sens to the 2011 Calder Cup Championship. As an opponent, he's only played at Toyota Center twice. 

As a member of the Manchester Monarchs, he beat the Aeros in OT back in Oct. 2005. He allowed just one goal, a shortie by Kirby Law. Before Thursday, his last game in the building was mop-up duty against the Texas Stars on Feb. 27, 2010. After Wade Dubielewicz allowed three shots on three goals, Brust came in a stopped 13 of 14 as the Aeros comeback fell just short. 

I hope I am wrong, but I think we just saw Brust's last-ever game in Houston. He has been tremendous to fans and media alike, and I know I am not the only one who'd put him in the Top 5 of all-time Aeros goalies.

Brusty makes a save - Morris Molina, Houston Aeros

 

Wild trades Genoway to Capitals organization

Two months ago, Aeros defensemen were dropping like flies to injury ... and it looked like the team was going to slip away from the back just as the team was losing some very talented forwards to the NHL after the lockout.

But Steven Kampfer started to play well, and Jim Mill plucked Paul Mara from the ECHL and Kyle Medvec was recalled from the Orlando Solar Bears. Kris Fredheim was steady and Chay Genoway provided some puck movement to keep the team alive and well in the Western Conference playoff chase.

Now, in a move to free up some room in the organization, the Wild traded one of those blueliners, who just a few months ago provided life support to a team hemorrhaging players left and right.

Goodbye, Chay Genoway.

He was a healthy scratch in three of the last four games, all on the road, so most just assumed injury. But on Thursday, the Wild dealt Genoway to the Capitals for a conditional seventh round pick. The Aeros lose their second-best d-man, from a production standpoint, for virtually nothing (as far as the Aeros are concerned).

But there was room to do it for a pick, so they did it. Marco Scandella is healthy again, Brian Connelly, too, is back from a gruesome shoulder injury. And Tyler Cuma said on Twitter that he expects to be cleared to play soon enough.

During the stretch where the Aeros were on the road for 17 of their last 21, Genoway played in 17 of those games. He did not score a goal, but he contributed with six assists and was plus-six as the Aeros went 12-8-0-1.

Yes, the Aeros will miss Genoway, but there are plenty of defenseman in Houston with much to prove, and that, partly, is what made the blueliner expendable.

Here is a high-level look at what the Aeros' main blueliners have done in the last 21 games:

 2     Paul Mara            16 games       1G/5A     +4
 4     Drew Bagnall        8 games        0G/1A      -2
 6     Marco Scandella   6 games        0G/2A      +1
 7     Kris Fredheim      20 games       0G/2A      -5
 8     Kyle Medvec       21 games       3G/1A      +2
10    Brian Connelly      4 games        0G/4A        E
23    Steven Kampfer   21 games       1G/8A      +9
61    Tyler Cuma           3 games        0G/1A      +1
39    Chay Genoway     17 games      0G/6A      +6