"Just shoot the puck," said Aeros head coach John Torchetti.
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| Justin Fontaine tries to shoot through the defense. Houston Aeros photo |
Hopefully later tonight, I will have time to give you the whole story and more of a reaction from Torchetti, but for now, just know that the Aeros are happy with the two points. They lost a game when they led after two and won a game, in regulation, when trailing after two, so really it all evens out.
It's so hard to be frustrated with all the disorganization, but the injuries are piling up, and the Wild haven't even harvested the team yet.
Here were the scratches for the game today:
- Mara (upper body)
- Coyle (recalled)
- Connelly (shoulder)
- Petersen (Undisclosed)
- Foucault (Undisclosed)
- Palmer (Undisclosed)
- Broda (Undisclosed)
- Cuma (saw him wearing a boot on his left foot today)
Because of the recall and the two new injuries to Cuma and Mara, the Aeros dialed up the ECHL to get the services of Wes O'Neill and Ryley Grantham.
I think legitmate scoring chances were about the same Sunday, but the IceHogs had way more shots. Kuemper was great, again, even though the first goal of the game was as soft as we've seen this year. Just no way that puck should go in in that situation, and I don't think he was screened or it hit anything.
(Even Torchetti said it should have been a 1-1 hockey game going into the third).
Tomorrow, the Aeros will wrap up their homestand against San Antonio. With as bad as the Rampage have been on the road, I think the Aeros will have a good shot at getting the two points, if they get the early lead and make Markstrom think a little bit. He's as good as they come as far as AHL goalies are concerned.
The Rampage are revamped with the addition of former Aero Jed Ortmeyer, but expect another low scoring game. Goals (and butts in the seats) will be at a premium Monday night.
What were your thoughts on the games this weekend? Texas is just better, but I think they got the game-winner by "cheating" for lack of a better phrase. I thought Kuemper was interfered with on their second goal. As for the game today, I think the Aeros deserved at least a point for their effort ... and got two thanks to the greasy goal by McIntyre.
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3 comments:
And that friday goal was reviewed, which I dont think is a permissible reason for a review (interference). I thought the review itself was kind of strange, but I also didn't see the interference. Overall they play better hockey Fri.
The Friday effort was an improvement. Nice game and crowd today. I didn't see the interference and interestingly, goaltender interference is not cited as eligible for a referee video review, although they reviewed it anyway.
Friday night, the Stars turned up the heat, became physical, and the Aeros turtled. Simple as that.
Too many times I saw the Aeros dump the puck in deep, and just sit back and look at it. Why? I don't understand this. Down one, and you dump and look???
Last night was a win, yeah. But it was more like an Icehogs goalie loss. The goal by Medvec was made without much traffic from the blue line, the goal by Bulmer was not unlike the soft goal let in by Kuemps other than Bulmer went short side, and the goal by McIntyre was simply not getting down fast enough to close up the five hole. The Aeros did play more physical, though. However, the power play was horrible.
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