View From The Press Box: Aeros Cool Off Heat

How about that? In the space of a two-and-a-half hours the Aeros went from 10th place in the Western Conference playoff standings to sixth place. And they did so in rather impressive fashion, dominating the Abbotsford Heat and getting the 4-1 win in a game that wasn't near as close as that final score indicates.

The damage came, again, from the Aeros power play unit as the team's first two goals came off the power play. Justin Fontaine netted both of the power play goals with Jeff Taffe getting an assist on each and Kris Fredheim and Chay Genoway getting the other assists.

Jeff Taffe struck for his third point of the game early in the second when he took the pass from Genoway and stuck it past Heat goalie Leland Irving. And the Aeros final goal came off of the stick of Jon DiSalvatore who blasted a slap shot from way up above the left circle past Irving -- the assist going to, you guessed it, Taffe.

The game was marred by multiple fights -- Almond was hit with two fighting majors -- and it got really, really ugly at the start of the third period when Abbotsford's Akim Aliu went after Almond just seconds into the period. A semi-brawl ensued, and by the time the bodies were separated and the penalties were handed out, it was clear the Heat were beaten -- Aliu got 2:00 for instigating, 5:00 for fighting, and a 10:00 game misconduct, Hugh Jessiman got 2:00 for roughing and a 10:00 game misconduct while Almond got five for fighting and Carson McMillan got 2:00 for roughing (how Drew Bagnall escaped without a penalty is still surprising).

The Heat scored seconds later, but it was clear that it was way too little, too late, and that the Aeros were going to pull out this game.

Justin Fontaine looked really good for the Aeros, but the true star of the game was Taffe and the power play.

"A good power play, you have to stay with it," head coach John Torchetti said. "As long as your power play doesn't take momentum away, you've got to stay with it. And if they just stick with what we keep teaching them -- and they're doing a great job of that -- and just take what's given to you -- once you learn to just take what's given to you -- and you're going to shoot, you have to be shooting first...it starts with the shot."

Torchetti spoke glowingly about the play of Genoway, calling him a big plus who's really smart and who will be really dangerous once he learns to shoot the puck.

And speaking of dangerous, Taffe had his second four point night in his last three games, once again getting a goal and three assists. Torchetti credits this with Taffe getting more aggressive and competing for more pucks. He's challenged the vets to do more on the ice, and he says that, at times, challenging the vets and drawing more out of them on the ice hasn't been pretty because he can't always be nice, but that they have responded.

"I have a rapport with my veterans, and I trust them," Torchetti said. "We had a talk at Christmas -- now that we're down to three [veterans]...I'm going to be harder on you because I expect you to play at a level. I expect our team to still win....You're going to be pressured."

And in goal again tonight was Joe Fallon who stopped 26 of the Heat's 27 shots, including making several tough stops early in the game when the Heat seemed to be controlling the action.

"He played big," Torchetti said of Fallon. "He's getting comfortable, he's being confident. He's challenging. He's doing a good job for us."

The Aeros are now 29-20-3-9 on the season with 15 games to play. They're tied, pointswise, with four other teams who all have 70 points, but the Aeros winning percentage has them in a tie for sixth place with San Antonio, and they're only a point behind Chicago and Peoria, who both have 71 points.

If the Aeros keep playing hockey like they did tonight, aggressive, attacking the net, shooting the puck, they could still be dangerous. But this weekend could be the key as they take on a rapidly improving Rockford club on Friday, face Abbotsford again on Saturday, and Oklahoma City on Sunday.

Jon DiSalvatore said on Sunday that this is all in their control. And it is. They just have to keep winning and getting points. If the bleeding can stop in Minnesota and the guys here can actually stay here and stay healthy, then the Aeros might still be able to pull this out.

As for tonight, it was sure was a fun game to watch.

The Wild MASH Unit Strikes Again

It's not bad enough that Justin Fontaine's suspended.  Or that the Aeros lost to the Admirals last night.  Now comes word that Carson McMillan's been put on the IR.  Kris Foucault's on his way back to the Aeros, but Jeff Taffe and Cody Almond are on their way to the Wild.

Game Day, Aeros vs. Texas; It's time to step up

Normally I don't get a chance to go to Toyota Center for the morning skate, but something made me detour on the way to work. I watched the skate and then talked to Torch after the 60-minute workout. A few things stick out in advance of tonight's game against the Texas Stars.

First, we addressed last weekend, when the Aeros were bombed 10-2 by OKC and San Antonio. The scores weren't as bad as the games, but in the first game, a bad first goal led to another and before you knew it ... boom.

"We were fine in OKC, came out shooting, up 8-2 in shots; we were detailed, and then we don’t stay on the point with our execution on a forecheck," said Torchetti. "Boom, they get a goal on wrist shot from just inside the blueline, and then they score on the power play. Whatever they are shooting is going in right now, and whatever we’re doing is just letting it in. That is tough."

As for San Antonio?

"I think we played well enough to win in San Antonio, but again," said Torch. "We had three bad breakdowns."

And they aaaallllll ended up in the net.

"What do you mean Matt can't hack it? He is the (f**king)
bomb up in this place ... He will score three goals tonight."

We also talked about Hackett's numbers and his recent propensity for allowing at least one bad goal every game since, well, since he was sent back down from Minnesota. Torchetti defended his sophomore goalie, and said the wins will come again.

"At the beginning of the year, Hack pretty much won us a bunch of games," said Torch. "And I don’t even think he even got No. 1 player for our team. Everyone just said, 'Oh, it’s just Hack, he doesn’t deserve a helmet (the prize the Aeros give to their player of the game) for just being himself.'

"But then, when we’re not winning, it’s, 'Oh, Hack let in a soft one.' It’s a two-way street. We have to button down, too, for him."

Torch, as he does so often, then went on a bit of a tangent ... He went from talking about Hackett being able to win games for the team to challenging the veterans on the team to step up and score a big (and timely) power play goal tonight.

And that set up the next topic rather nicely. Jeff Taffe.

In 14 games since New Year's, he has not scored a goal and he's minus-11. He's down to minus-17 (17!) and if my notes are right, there are only two guys in the entire league worse off. Taffe is not minus-17 player. But it will only get worse if some shots don't start going in for him, and if he continues to let up (defensively) during critical times of the game.

Taffe, who hits more posts than anyone since Steve Kelly, needs to shoot the puck more. And that is exactly what Torchetti said.

"It’s a situation for him that, one, you want to get out of the scoring slump," said Torchetti. "To do that, you have to put the puck on the net more, which we’ve talked about.

"He is a big part of our success, and I am putting some pressure on him; I have to. I know he can do it, though. He will come through. It just seems that everyone is slumping at the same time."

Re-read that last line. Not only is everyone slumping at the same time, there is almost no-one left in the lineup. The depth is gone, and team confidence is at all all-time low ... for this season.

Make no mistake, tonight is a huge game. The Aeros desperately need a win, and they need to do it at home. They've just one win at Toyota Center since Dec. 16. They've won just three of their last 14 games at home (even though they do have points in seven of their 11 losses).

My gut says no tonight and yes to Saturday and Sunday. I just have a feeling the weekend could go really well, but it's nothing more than a hunch.

Hopefully my prediction for tonight will smack off the post and land in the corner for what fans really want - a Houston Aeros victory.

Aeros Defeat Rampage 2-1 (IN OVERTIME!!!!!)

The Aeros did the unthinkable tonight.  They got the overtime win.

That's right.  You read that correctly.  The Aeros got the overtime win tonight, defeating the San Antonio Rampage 2-1 for their first OT win since March 15, 2011.  And boy, did it feel good.

"It's not even the New Year yet, so that's a good sign," head coach John Torchetti said shortly after the victory.   A victory powered by a pretty Jeff Taffe goal at 1:03 of the OT that came from the left of goalie Jacob Markstrom and was set up by a beautiful Jon DiSalvatore cross-ice pass from down low.

The Aeros tied the game in a most improbable fashion, scoring on the power play at 13:40 of the third period, Chad Rau taking a rebound and lifting it over the shoulder of Markstrom.

"It was good to see our power play," Torchetti said.  "It did a good job, got a big goal.  Got us back in the game, changed momentum.  I thought we played more of our style in the third."

The lone goal for the Rampage came at 3:31 of of the second period when San Antonio's Michael Caruso at mid-ice, hit the puck off of a stanchion and the puck flew past Hackett.  It was one of the goals that can kill a team, and in weeks past, it probably would have killed the spirits of the Aeros, but the veterans were back from Minnesota, and they were out in full force, as if willing the team to victory.

"Our leadership was fantastic tonight down at the end.  All of our leaders played huge roles.  Ortmeyer, Almond.  Strong penalty kill.  [Hackett] played big, Hack kept us in the game in the first."

The Aeros (17-6-2-7, 43 points) moved back into second place of the AHL's West Division with the win, bypassing the idle Abbotsford Heat, and they're one point behind the first place Oklahoma City Barons.  The Aeros return to action when they travel to San Antonio to face the Rampage on Friday night.  The Aeros return to Houston next year when they host the Barons on Sunday, January 1, 2012 at 5:05.

Some Prodigal Sons Return

It's a Christmas Miracle...the Wild have reassigned Jed Ortmeyer and Jeff Taffe to the Aeros.  This means that a) either the Wild are actually getting healthy, or b) they're going to try some different Aeros next week.

Aeros return to action on Monday night when they host San Antonio at 7:05.