Yes, it sure seemed so: as Hackett ALMOST got another shut out except that in the Third Hamilton's Carle, Wyman and St. Denis managed to score the only goal for the Bulldogs.
All goals came spaced evenly (was that the plan?).
Rau/Wellman/Noreau scored first on a PP in First,
Ortmeyer and Spurgeon in Second, and The Bulldogs in the Third... which seems to me proof that both teams were pretty evenly matched.
While Aeros started out with rapid fire which turned into barely glowing embers (13,11,4)
the Bulldogs went slower, but rev'ed it up hugely in the Third: 5, 13 and 21.
This was, for sure, Hackett's best game, yet, especially the 2.and 3. periods when he had to make save after save!
And the Aeros overall team effort kept pace with that.
That sole Bulldogs goal was unavoidable IMO.
Hackett was alone in his side of the rink and Carle just pushed it in.
It sure did seem as if Hamilton kept 'teasing' the Aeros to the point of penalties...as in the one given to Earl late in the Third, when he, IMHO, just reacted to the rough behaviour of White.
There were a few other incidents like that which could have turned into real brawls,
but most were broken up by the officials. And so the game sped on!
Here are a few unedited snapshots from the second and third periods.
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| Ortmeyer Goal |
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| Spurgeon always in evidence-on feet or on ice! |
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| The ubiquitous Spurgeon |
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| Levitating may have assisted Hackett in stopping this puck |
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| And so did this, a body save by Hackett and friend :-) |
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| That one went behind the net-Thank You |
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| Falk on knees-he'll try anything |
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| Conboy just wants to get into the net, doesn't he? |
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| McIntyre alert |
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| Hackett with a "flying save" |
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| And at the last THE defensive move by Spurgeon-plus Hackett falling on the puck...no way will the Dogs get a 2 goal!! |
Ortmeyer much in evidence. Rau swooping across the ice. Earl doing his thing. And lots of body checking,
Prosser loosing his stick, turns around, picks it up and finds the puck or rather the puck found him!
And so it went.
And the Aeros played it smart, tried to stay away from fights, even when provoked
And so they won this game!
In hindsight, Friday the Thirteenth turned out to be a lucky day/night for The Aeros.
BTW The Baby Sens' Corey Locke showed his mettle as MVP helping them win over the 'upstart' Checkers.
1 comment:
Outstanding action photos of a great game!!!
Hamilton's "penalty teasing" was, undoubtedly, part of their pre-game strategy of drawing key Aeros into "non-skating" penalties...to achieve 4-on-4 or 5-on-4 matchups, which might favor a Hamilton goal.
This almost succeeded in the final minutes when Ryan White (recently sent down from the (eliminated) parent Canadiens) got Robbie Earl into the penalty box on an "unsportsmanlike infraction", creating the 4-on-4 with more passing lanes and an improbable goal (after the Prosser turnover). There was nothing Hackett could do to save that goal, in light of the THEN 5-on-3 advantage of Hamilton (with Prosser effectively out of the play, going the wrong way!).
Nonetheless, it was good to see Hackett recover and turn away several more Hamilton SOG in the last seconds (with Spurgeon's help on the last).
Hackett played his best game as an Aero, last night.
Go Aeros!!!
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