Oh what a treat ... Another Game 7

Here is a little game day treat for you ... the following is a little why the Aeros will/won't beat the Admirals and advance to the Western Conference Finals. Heather and I worked on this today, previewing the biggest game of the season at the Bradley Center.

First, we'll start with the bad news. If you stop reading after this one, it's your own fault.

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There is just no way the Aeros are going to win the game tonight.

Aeros fans have been tortured over the years. Game 6s have been an absolute terror to the team and its fans since pretty much Day one. And I mean tortured in the sense that Game 7s are so nerve/gut-wrenching as a fan. On one hand, you're glad your team is still alive. But ... one loss and you’re done.

And this year is especially bad; this isn't a team that made a nice playoff run -- this is a team, which if it wins tonight, will be a favorite (the highest seed left) to win the Calder Cup.

Before the Aeros really got things going as a franchise, they never played a meaningful Game 6. In 1999 - the year the team won its first championship - the Aeros lost two Game 6s only to recover and win two Game 7s.

Since then, they have won just about every Game 7 possible, save for one (at home against Manitoba) in the last IHL years when they blew a 3-1 series lead and lost the last two games at Compaq Center.

Remember the other night when the Aeros UNBELIEVABLE streak of playoff OT wins came to an end? Until that 5-4 OT loss, the Aeros had won 11 straight postseason OT games. No team had ever done that in the AHL, and I am still waiting to hear back if any NHL team can make the same claim.

Well, all good things come to an end eventually, and one of the reasons the Aeros won't win tonight has a lot to do with that. Since joining the AHL, the Aeros are 4-0 – all on the road – in Game 7’s. Only the Maine Mariners (5-0) have a better Game 7 record in AHL history. Milwaukee, however, is 2-3 in Calder Cup Playoff Game 7’s, their season ending in a seventh game in both 2009 and 2010.

Both trends reverse tonight, and the Admirals live to face the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Another reason the Aeros won't win tonight is Matt Hackett. I talked to several people who were in the building for Game 6. Their take? Hackett just wasn't good enough to win. The Aeros got back in the game despite Hackett, who got burned with the Aeros just five minutes away from much-needed rest.

I know he is a rookie, and I have no doubt he deserves all the credit for helping the team to where they are now. But, he is just not stopping a high enough percentage of pucks to steal a win. And you need that "steal-ability" from your netminder in Game 7s.

In case you have not been paying attention, the Admirals just got back three key ingredients for their Calder Cup run. Eliminated in Nashville last night, Lane Lambert now has Blake Geoffrion, Matt Halischuk, and defenseman Jonathon Blum at his disposal. Fans, if you thought the Admirals were tough before now, wait till they get some of those ATOs out of the lineup.

4-2, Milwaukee. Season over.

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There is just no way the Aeros are going to lose this game tonight.

As much as the Aeros tell themselves the pressure's on Milwaukee, I honestly believe the Aeros have given us and themselves plenty of reason to expect a win tonight.

The Aeros have the upper hand in every way, except in goal, and that's been the difference in this series. Generally speaking, the odd soft/flukey goal by Hackett and the odd impossible save by Smith is the only reason this series wasn't over several days ago.

Milwaukee's biggest strength is that they are stingy, but the Aeros have proven that they can still put a ridiculous number of shots on Jeremy Smith.

I think we've beat to death the fact that Hackett has to have a good game for the Aeros to win. I think we've also seen that he has a veteran's ability to bounce back from disappointing games, which I'd say the last one was a bit.

In fact, I think a little sting from losing the last game is good for the whole team. Unlike Milwaukee, the Aeros have lost two games in a row only once since mid-March. To me, that's a sign of great resilience.

It tells me that they can look at a loss, understand why it happened, and come out ready, willing, and able to redeem it the next game.

Tonight's game is all about the Aeros being focused and not getting sucked into Milwaukee's web of shenanigans meant to incite frustration and mistakes. We know they are capable of doing so.

And with an undoubtedly tired Jeremy Smith, and a tired Ads defense, I think pucks will go in a little easier tonight.

I will concede that the Ads getting defenseman Blum, and forwards Geoffrion and Halischuk back tonight will boost their offensive depth, but these guys are coming off a tough loss last night in Nashville, traveling today, and haven't played with the team in who knows how long.

So their timing and communication and chemistry will be off and the Aeros likely have an opportunity to capitalize on any mistakes that may result from that.

The Aeros have everything going for them tonight and I think the urgency will be there from the start to wear the defense and Smith down early. And that's how the Aeros are going to win.

4-2 Houston, Bring on Hamilton.

Note and Observations For Game Seven Prep

Okay, before you do anything else, go read my story on last night's game that is currently in the Press. There's a few quotes I didn't get in last night, and I think the quotes from O'Sullivan and Ortmeyer best represent the mood of the team.

Now the important stuff, game seven.

The Aeros will skate at about 1:30 at Bradley Center today. And part of that skate will involve putting their mind in the right place. They've got to shake off Sunday's game, they've got shake off the disappointment of blowing the lead with 5:00 left. That game is over.

"Game sevens are exciting," Jon DiSalvatore said last night. "Obviously it would be great to close it out right now, but playoffs are an exciting time, and game sevens are an exciting time. We’ve got to shrug it off. Obviously it’s a tough loss to take, but we’ve got to get our heads right, wrapped around what we can do better. And just get excited for a game seven. It’s a good time."

Then he continued with how he wants the youngsters thinking.

"We can’t waste any time feeling sorry for ourselves right now. Let’s enjoy it. Let’s be upbeat and positive. Embrace the day, get better tomorrow, and get ready."

Jed Ortmeyer wants the guys thinking this: the pressure is on Milwaukee, not Houston. Milwaukee's the number one seed. Milwaukee's the home team.

"We came up a little bit short, but we’ve tried to take our game to them the last three games or so," he said. "The hits and the grinding and the shots on their goalie are going to take its toll. Like I said, the pressure’s on them."

And then this from Patrick O'Sullivan: "It’s tough, leading with five or six minutes left. It’s not a fun feeling right now, but take tonight to clear our minds, get back to practice tomorrow and refocus, and like I said, it’s a game seven, and those are fun to play."

Frankly, I think Mike Yeo saved yesterday's game. Sure, the Aeros lost, but they were losing their cool and making stupid play after stupid play, stupid penalty after stupid penalty, and he called a timeout and said something that got them back on track. There were some guys sitting next to me who I think might have been scouts -- they were sitting in spots reserved for the Aeros, but they weren't Aeros guys -- and they were talking about how impressed they were with Yeo and how he got a team quickly spiraling out-of-control back under control.

What are the keys for Game Seven?

Well, Matt Hackett has to play an entire game. Not all of the goals that happened yesterday were his fault. There were the continued defensive breakdowns and pucks deflecting off of players -- like the OT winner. But he's got to play an entire game like he did for the last 15 minutes of the second period and the first half of the third period yesterday. He doesn't need to be Jeremy Smith out there, but he's got to be more consistent.

More importantly, the guys have to play their roles. Ortmeyer and DiSalvatore noted that the problem at the start was that everybody wanted to play the hero and they got out of their roles and they started playing really stupid hockey.

On the plus side, Patrick O'Sullivan finally figured out how to get past Jeremy Smith last night. He and DiSalvatore have been taking their shots all series, good shots, but they broke through last night. And that pass O'Sullivan made to DiSalvatore for the second goal was just a thing of beauty.

And in that fashion, the Aeros can't worry about Smith.

"He’s standing on his head," O'Sullivan said last night. "100 saves in two games in Houston. That’s why they were in those games in our rink for sure. We dominated those games, and he kept them in it. We’ve got to continue to try and get traffic. He’s a good goalie. Goalies get hot in playoffs, and teams do well because of that. And I certainly think that’s the case with them. But we’re not concerned with what they’re doing or guys on that team as much as what we have to do. And what we can control is how hard we play, and we’re going to have a better start next game and we’re going to be okay."

I'll close with this statement from Mike Yeo:

"Playoffs aren’t any fun unless you get a chance to play a game seven. It’s difficult, there’s no question, to sit and say we had a chance to wrap it up. We’ve won a lot of hockey games this year, and we feel a lot of confidence in that room. We have a chance to go out here and play a great game and put all our chips in and give ourselves a chance to win a game seven. I think, if you look at the first series and how things went, and we don’t want to look past Milwaukee here, but if you do want to accomplish moving on and having success further, past this series, then you have to play against these hard games and against these hard teams. Milwaukee’s been a great opponent so far, and I expect [Tuesday] to be the same."

Pics from the comeback that wasn't

Chris got some great shots for us from Game 6. Pretty incredible game, but it did seem like a bit much to expect the Aeros to win 3 consecutive OTs. The law of averages just kinda shrugged and laughed at that notion.

I have no doubt the Aeros can win this Tuesday, but it's going to take a full team, 60 minute effort, from the goalie on out. But when the Aeros play THEIR game for a full 60, they are better than Milwaukee. And Smith is one tired goalie, I guarantee it. Sure, Hackett's played the same number of games, but he's only been half as busy.

And while the boys are focusing on process instead of outcome Tuesday night, I'll be doing the same in my own game, so I'll miss this one. Hope I'll have good news when I get off the ice and Friday night wasn't actually my last trip to the Toyota Center until October.

(Does your stomach hurt as much as mine when you think about that? Ugh. But it's a testament to my belief in this team--or possibly to my air-headedness--that the thought didn't even occur to me until I was packing up my stuff after Friday's game.)

Anyway, without further ado, here are my favorites from the night. You can check the full set here, especially if you have a thing for Hackett. Bunch of fabulous glamour shots of him.

All photos courtesy of Chris " I <3 Kelsey Wilson" Jerina.

Bulmer crushing Aaron Johnson. Milwaukee fans mostly oblivious. SIDDOWN!

Love the perspective on this shot.

Hackett gets a timely leg over. You can see the puck just under the logo on the outer roll of his pad.

And then Smith does the same. You can see the puck on the toe of his pad.

Okay fiiiiine. ONE goalie glamour shot:

Alright. That is all. Good night.

Notes And Observations From A Game Six Loss

Okay, it's been a really long damn day for me -- curse you Continental Airlines -- and I'm really tired, so this won't take long. And it's my understanding that we'll getting some of Chris Jerina's photos up here, so you can look at some good later.

So on with the important stuff. That being that the Aeros lost 5-4 in OT to force a game seven on Tuesday. They were five minutes away from winning the series. Five minutes. Then it all fell apart. Still, seeing the way the Aeros played the first 25 minutes of this game, just getting to OT is a bit of a wonder. But, as Patrick O'Sullivan said after the game: "It sucks for us right now, but we’ll be ready."

1. As much as I would like to believe O'Sullivan, after watching today's game, one can't be blamed for wondering if the team will be ready. If you can't be ready for a game six, then how can you be ready for anything?

2. I think I've figured out the problem with the team's sometimes slow start. I spoiek with Matt Kassian right befor the playoffs, and he said the biggest difference between this team and the Constantine playoff team is that this team expects to win. So, when they come out, they're just really not prepared because they're convinced they can turn it on at anytime.

I think that's what Mike Yeo is getting out here: "Momentum’s a funny thing. We just didn’t have our heads at that point [when he called the timeout]. We weren’t playing our game. If you’re going to lose, that’s one thing. But go down swinging, go down with your game, but we weren’t doing that. That’s just what it was, like we came back last game, we scored in two goals in less than four minutes, so we knew that we still had enough time to crawl back into the game, but the way it was going, the direction it was going, we had no chance. It would have been way uglier, way worse. I give the guys credit because they got their own minds back in the right place."

3. I spoke with Yeo, Jon DiSalvatore, Jed Ortmeyer, and Patrick O'Sullivan after the game, and none of them were happy with the way the game started for the Aeros, or with the team's play up until the time of the timeout.

"I think we were a little geeked up to the start game," DiSalvaore said. "Maybe a little over-anxious, a little over-excited. Obviously they got out to that early lead and emotions kind of took over, and we did lose our heads there for a bit. We took a couple of uncharacteristic penalties, penalties that can hurt you in the playoffs."

"We just needed to focus, to regroup," Ortmeyer said. "We were too excited. To ramped up to get out there and make a difference. Each guy wanted to wear the cape tonight. And that’s not the way we play. We’ve had success by doing the little things right, and we got a way from that and came unglued a little bit."

4. How will this loss affect the team? We'll let Patrick O'Sullivan asnwer: "It’s tough, leading with five or six minutes left. It’s not a fun feeling right now, but take tonight to clear our minds, get back to practice tomorrow and refocus, and like I said, it’s a game seven, and those are fun to play."

5. That's it for now. I've got to get some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

View From The Pressbox: Aeros Lose Game Six

The Aeros almost won a game they had no reason winning. They almost won this series in six games, and they almost didn't have to worry about a seventh game. They had the 4-3 lead with five minutes left, and they lost 5-4.

They came out playing awful, awful, awful hockey. Stupid penalties. Turning over the puck. Not being aggressive on offense. Matt Hackett couldn't stop anything. They were down 3-0 at the 3:24 mark of the second period, and they deserved to be down 3-0.

Then things got really stupid, and the really stupid involved Matt Hackett getting into it with Roman Josi. This happened at the 5:06 mark of the second. Mike Yeo called a timeout and gathered the team. I don't know what he said -- nobody I talked to would go into specifics -- but from that timeout until about the five minute mark of the third period, the Aeros dominated.

Unfortunately, it wasn't good enough.

"We didn’t play very well till we were down three-nothing," Patrick O'Sullivan said. "We took stupid penalties. We knew that they were obviously going to be fighting for their lives."

I'll try to throw some more up later tonight. But the guys I talked to kept going back to how they blew it in that first period.

The good news on the night was the Patrick O'Sullivan and Jon DiSalvatore had their best games of the playoffs. And Jarod Palmer made a spectacular play for the team's first goal.

But they just couldn't hold on. Hackett let down when it most mattered, not that the defense helped. Jeremy Smith recovered when it mattered. And now the Aeros are get to play a game seven they probably shouldn't be playing.

The Aeros can score on Milwaukee and Jeremy Smith. I think that's been proven. A guy can only stop so many shots. The problem on Tuesday will be stopping Milwaukee.

Aeros Win Another Thriller, Take 3-2 Series Lead

This is what it looks like in the scrum after a huge win.

When the Milwaukee Admirals took the 2-0 lead on a short-handed goal with just five seconds left in the second period, I turned to Heather and Andrew and made the following statement: it's all over. The Aeros are going to lose tonight. Then they're going to lose Sunday.

While a bit dramatic, one couldn't be blamed for thinking this, seeing as how the Aeros were losing 2-0 in a game they were absolutely dominating. They had out-shot Milwaukee 38-16. They were playing physical hockey, and they were forcing the action in the Milwaukee's zone. There's just no way they should have been trailing, except that Matt Hackett had a brain fart on the first goal and there was a huge defensive breakdown on the shortie.

But Milwaukee goalie Jeremy Smith was just light's out dominating this game, stopping anything and everything the Aeros were throwing his way. There was just no way, NO WAY, the Aeros were going to make a comeback and win this game.

NO FRIGGING WAY!

We know now how the game turned out. Robbie Earl scored on a 5x3 power play with 4:22 remaining in the game. Then Jon DiSalvatore hit Chad Rau with a beautiful pass and Rau buried the puck with 1:22 left to tie the game. Then Robbie Earl again, off a play by Casey Wellman, netted the game-winner at the 8:45 mark of the overtime.

And just like that, the Aeros got the 3-2 OT win for the second night in a row to grab the 3-2 series lead over the Admirals.

What more can be said after that? Well...

1. I think Jeremy Smith could kill his entire team and get off with justifiable homicide. He faced 53 shots in this game as the Admirals defense struggled to keep the Aeros out of the offensive zone. The Aeros weren't successful for most of the night, but the reason they weren't successful was that Smith was getting to everything.

That said, the Aeros knew they could get to him. They knew if they kept attacking he would break because he's only human. Here was the Aeros game plan as the game got late.

"He was great, again," Mike Yeo said. "He’s played – the one thing you keep saying is we can grind him down, too. If he’s going to make 50-something saves then we’re going to get to the net, and we’re going to get to the net. And we’re going to keep throwing pucks there, and eventually he’s going to get tired, too.

"He played back-to-back, and he played two hard games in a row. So hopefully we’re going to get to him as well."

And eventually, the Aeros did get to him. It took nearly the entire game, but they got to him.

2. Fifteen of the 53 shots Smith faced came off of the sticks of Robbie Earl and Chad Rau. Earl, specifically, has been attacking Smith the entire series, but he hadn't been having much success. Until tonight, when the team needed him the most.

3. Of the game-winner, Earl gave the credit for the play's success to Casey Wellman who won a face-off and started the action. Earl claims to have just been in the right place at the right time.

"Off the face-off, Wellman had it," Earl said. "I’m not sure what happened, but I know he cycled it back down to me. And I was able to get the bead on the D and was able to cut back, and then I saw a bunch of legs and I decided to pick one out, and it went in."

4. Earl's goal comes off of the rype of play that Yeo wants to see. Attacking the net. Again, and again, and again, forcing Smith to make plays. And he thought they were better at it tonight than they were in game four.

"That’s where you give the guys a lot of credit," Yeo said. "I thought last game we started to try to get a little too precise with our shots. Tonight we were just focusing on getting them to the net and creating those battles in front of the net. Those are hard plays for the goalie, and physically draining when you’re scrambling around and there’s traffic in front and guys are poking at pucks. I thought we did a nice job with that."

5. The Aeros had doubts when they went to the locker room for the second intermission. They had been following the game plan, putting the puck on net and trying to create havoc, and they were losing. But Chad Rau said they talked about this and knew what they had to do.

"Just to stick with it," he said. "We knew for the most part, besides a couple of plays, a couple of turnovers, that we were playing a good game. That’s the kind of feeling we all felt. So we knew we just had to stick with what we were doing and come out of strong."

6. And Mike Yeo noticed this, saying that a mindset that Jeremy Smith was just too perfect began to get to the team in the second period, leading to the two goals.

"That is exactly what happened," he said. "One way we can get better is, once that happened, we started to force things a little bit and we put ourselves in some tough positions. You start to force a play into the middle. And now we’re all kind of caught on the offensive side of the puck, and we’re back-checking. There was some frustration in our game where we started to take some penalties. It’s a good lesson for us. One way, certainly, we can improve. And then when they scored that second goal, we were stretching a shift and we were forcing a play. You want to do the right thing. You just have to make sure you keep your focus and go and do it the right way."

7. As you read below, Admirals coach Lane Lambert attempted to have a heated discussion with the officials in their locker room after the game. And in some ways, that was understandable as the officiating in this game, hell, this whole series, was horrendous.

For instance, I'm still trying to figure out how, where two players drop their gloves, throw numerous punches to the face that land, don't get called for fighting but instead each get four minutes for roughing. And it appeared to me, numerous times, that both goalies were mauled and mugged by guys jumping all over them and jabbing them with sticks while they were covering the puck. So while I'm sure Lambert will be getting a hefty fine from the league office, I hope that somebody with the league will do something about Ghislain Hebert and Mark Lemelin.

For what it's worth, I think Lambert might have been right regarding the interference penalty on Grant Lewis as I felt it was a fantastic acting job on the part of Casey Wellman. Still, that shouldn't have caused the Admirals squad to melt down, get called for a delay of game penalty seconds later, and have to kill a 5x3 power play.

Also, for what it's worth, I've been going down that corridor for four years, and this is the first time any coach, either the Aeros or the opposing coach, has attempted to get to the refs after a game.

8. Once Earl made that first goal, you could feel the momentum shift. Still, I was really worried and I was mentally cursing Mike Yeo as Matt Hackett stayed in the net and stayed in the net and stayed in the net as the clocked ticked down. I was down in that corner, and I saw him keep looking at the bench, waiting for the sign to rush off so the Aeros could get that extra skater out there. The irony being, of course, that they didn't need the extra skater as Hackett wasn't even halfway to the bench when Jon DiSalvatore hit Chad Rau with that perfect pass which Rau then buried in the net to tie the game.

9. The Aeros were lucky tonight. As much as they dominated the action, they needed luck to swing their way, and swing it did when they got that 5x3 power play. And when they got that chance, they capitalized.

"We needed that," Earl told us. "It’s one of those moments where you’re like, okay this is do-or-die, and we were able to capitalize. That second goal, it was an unbelievable play, and a timely goal. It was a valiant effort by everybody, and now we’re up 3-2."

10. Yes, the Aeros are now up 3-2 and they're heading back to Milwaukee. You've got to wonder if all of the action he's been facing is going to get to Smith. But the Aeros can't worry about that. They've just got to concentrate on their game.

"They’re a strong home team," Rau said. "We know that. We’re going to have our work cut out for us when we get back to Milwaukee. We’re going to have to come with an even stronger game."

11. Games six and seven will be in Milwaukee. The Aeros will fly to Chicago on Saturday morning, then bus to Milwaukee. They've got the momentum on their side. But while it looks like the Admirals might be going into meltdown mode, that can't be counted on.

I hate to keep going back to this, but I have to go back to what Jed Ortmeyer said after the last regular season game. The key to winning a series is what happens on those days between games. You can't get too high; you can't get too low. You can enjoy it, but you've also got to put it behind you and focus on what's ahead. The Aeros can't worry about Jeremy Smith or how Milwaukee responds in an elimination game. The Aeros have to concentrate on their game, on their process. They've got to control those things they can control, and they've got to work hard.

It's worked so far. Let's see if it keeps working.

(And just a reminder, T3I will be in the building for game six, and for game seven, if needed. I'll be there for both, and Andrew hopes to be there for game seven.)

In Which Lane Lambert Throws A Fit

The corridor that leads to the Aeros locker room is also the same corridor that houses the locker room for the AHL officials. And it's after the game and various people are gathering. Families of the coaching staff start drifting down. There are various security people there, and the medical staff, waiting to see if anybody needs to be treated.

It can get kind of crowded.

This is also where we conduct our interviews every night. And we're talking to Mike Yeo, getting his thoughts on the game, and a commotion begins down at the door where the officials locker room is. We keep on with our interview, but it's kind of loud. When we're done, Yeo asks those around what the noise was about, and we're informed that it was Admirals coach Lane Lambert trying to get to the officials in their locker room. There were a few loud profanities exchanged, but nothing physical happened.

As far as we can determine, Lambert never actually got into the room. We have confirmed that he talked to the AHL officiating supervisor, who was down there, but we do not know if he ever actually talked to the officials, besides shouting various profanities at them.

We were also informed that he put the loss of the game and the loss of the series -- which has not yet happened -- on the officials. And we have learned that what ignited his fury was the interference penalty called on defenseman Grant Lewis at 14:49 of the third period when Milwaukee was still up 2-0. A few seconds later, the delay of game was called on Brett Palin, the Aeros were on a 5x3 power play, and just like that, the score was 2-1 Milwaukee and all of the momentum was on Houston's side.

And, this probably goes without saying, but Lambert can probably expect a call from the league office tomorrow demanding an explanation for his actions while hitting him with a fine.

Aeros Win 3-2 (OT) -- The Game Winning Goal

I'll have some quotes and a story up later -- mainly because Andrew's hogging my recorder with my Robbie Earl quotes. Needless to say, the Aeros scored two goals in the final 4:22 of regulation to send the game to OT, then won, once again, in OT.

Jeremy Smith was fantastic in net for Milwaukee until it counted. And then along with the win we had Milwaukee coach Lane Lambert showing up outside the officials locker room, pounding on the door, while we were interviewing Mike Yeo. But we'll get to that later.

Meanwhile, here's Robbie Earl scoring the game winning goal.

Houston Press story... go read it!

Hey gang, check out John's story over at the Press if you want to be cool and awesome. You know you do.

Notes And Observations From Game Four

The two biggest Aeros stars of the game, Carson McMillan and Colton Gillies, celebrate at the end of the game.

The Houston Aeros 3-2 (OT) victory was actually about two Aeros team. There was the team that played in the first period, the third period, and the overtime. That team played with confidence, attacked the net, and basically made plays. Then there was the team in the second period that played like it was still Tuesday night. Luckily Milwaukee wasn't able to grab the lead in the second period, and the good Aeros were able to return and get the win.

So, on to some random thoughts and notes.

1. Great game, once again, by the third line as Colton Gillies, Warren Peters, and Jed Ortmeyer have really stood out and excelled in this series. Ortmeyer attacked the net early in the first period with a shot from mid-range. Gillies was in the right spot for the rebound, and the Aeros were in front.

2. The goals tonight came about from the Aeros doing what they do best. Attacking and getting what they call secondary goals -- goals off of rebounds or passes down in traffic and taking advantage.

"The style of play, like tonight, where we got our goals, was right in front," Gillies said. "They were secondary opportunities. That’s where you’ve got to get your goals with a team like this."

The Aeros didn't get many of those secondary opportunities on Tuesday night -- except from the third line, so they worked at getting more tonight.

3. Mike Yeo, as promised, made some line changes, but no lineup changes. I'll try to address the Matt Kassian situation in a bit, but first...Yeo moved Chad Rau up to the first line with Jon DiSalvatore and Patrick O'Sullivan and placed Cody Almond with Robbie Earl and Casey Wellman. The third and fourth lines were not changed, which made sense, especially with the third line, since that's the one line that has been working at a top notch level this entire playoff series.

"I thought that they did very well," Yeo said. "The offensive zone time from O’Sullivan, Rau, and DiSalvatore, they could have had four goals tonight. I thought that they complimented each other well. And I really like the physical presence that Cody Almond brings to Robbie Earl and Casey Wellman’s line. It gives them a guy that’s going to be hard on the forecheck, physical down low and strong on pucks and get to the net. It’s a nice – a different element on that line."

4. That said, the play of the top two lines still isn't where it needs to be. Robbie Earl was agonizingly close in the second period, and O'Sullivan's goal was on the power play. While I love the play we're seeing from the third and fourth lines, it's got to be asking for trouble to keep depending on them to handle the brunt of the scoring load.

5. Our friends in Milwaukee were a bit pissed the other night because they didn't think Mike Yeo said enough nice things about Milwaukee's game. So we asked him about the play of Milwaukee goalie Jeremy Smith, who is about the only reason this game went into OT.

"He was very good," Yeo said. "He was very good tonight. I give him a lot of credit for that. But there were a lot of things in our game that I really liked. I loved how many times we gave him opportunities to be good.

"The way we were taking pucks to the net, and the way we were shooting and attacking the net, not only off the rush, but in the offensive zone, I think we made it a much more difficult game for him. And that’s what he have to continue to do. He’s obviously a very good goalie."

6. The Aeros teased the fans who were around for the pregame skate as the Aeros sent out 19 skaters. One of those 19 was Matt Kassian. However, come game time, Kassian was indeed scratched. And frankly, despite what some desire, it is very doubtful that Kassian will be playing this series as the team likes what it's seeing from Brett Bulmer.

This quote from Yeo, when asked about the current McMillan line and the game-winner probably says it all.

"We let the other lines go out there and do their thing," he said. "Those guys – I thought that line was very good for us tonight. Not just in the overtime period, as far as Carson’s line. I thought that Bulmer, to me took another step in his game. And I think the last two games Palmer’s been very, very good.

"But that’s set up because we’re playing our game. Those guys get on in a good change. And now [Milwaukee’s] tired and we’re able beat them on an icing call. And we’re able to keep tired guys in the defensive zone and force them to defend down there.

"As much as a credit as it to those guys, because they played a great game, it’s also a credit to the other guys who were on the ice before them."

7. Carson McMillan has two goals in the playoffs this season. Both goals have been game-winning goals, and both goals have been in overtime. We spoke to McMillan after the game, but because I have to give something to the Press, you're going to have read his thoughts about the goal there.

However, McMillan did offer up some thoughts on the line shifting, and about how the team just sticks together no matter what.

"We’re a close group," McMillan says. "Anytime we shift lines, it’s just – maybe it might click some more chemistry. I think the guys just went out tonight and wanted to work hard for each other. When you do that, good things happen."

8. Friday will be the last time for the Aeros to take advantage of the home ice against Milwaukee. The Aeros are hoping to take advantage of the so-called hot ice. That said, they know they just can't depend on the heat/conditions to get to Milwaukee.

"It is a hot rink," Gillies said. "Our fans are great to us, too. That helps us out, huge. We can hope for that, but we’ve got to be ready. They’re going to come out really hard. It’s going to be an intense game tomorrow for sure."

And that was echoed by McMillan: "I think sometimes it is [the hot rink being an advantage], but they came early, probably got a couple of practices in. I’m sure they’re used to it by now. We’ve just got to stay hydrated, because it is hot, and stick to our game and know that good things happen."

10. The series is tied 2-2. Milwaukee's owned the odd-numbered guys, and Houston's owned the even-numbered games. Does that change on Friday night? Well we'll know this evening.