Aeros check Checkers 4-1

in front of a measly crowd (but it IS a Thursday night) of  4000 - absent STH must have been counted as well, because it just did not look that full to these old eyes :-)!

But even though they won with the empty netter by McMillan and Fontaine by 4 to the sole goal by Checkers' by Terry, Welsh and Raymond in the 2nd period, IMO it was not as exciting a game to watch as others have, and this one could have been. it was a win at home and that makes up for a lot, right, chers reader-hockey-fans?
Right?

First in line is Phillips.. last is Kuemps ;-)!

Kuemper did extra well, stopping all but that one, which did come on a PP for the Checkers.
Yes, the team's passing has rather improved.
Yes, 2 of 4 PP resulted in goals, by Phillips, Kampfer and Petersen, and Fontaine, Connelly and Petersen in the First.
Scandella with Granlund (he does a good job lining up pucks for others to score with) and Kuemper, put Aeros on the board about half into the First!
Yes, there was some grappling, and one real fight, and yet, IMO, it was just an average game.

Muse Nr. 1 during 1.period

Fredheim on guard

Granlund keeps a sharp eye on puck after face off

Save by Kuemps- first of 3

Second of 3

Saved-Third of 3

All looking, open mouthed, at Kuemper's saves from earlier in the game ;-)

Checkers switched goalies after Muse let in 3 in the First.

Madore Nr. 30 stops one of the 16 SOGS

And Rob Madore (also a 'short' goalie at 5'10), was so good in the 2. and 3. periods that Aeros could not score with any of the 16 Shots on goal. BTW the 2 Shots on Goal they managed on Madore in the Third were - shall we say - less than stellar!:-(
But a win and 2 points that's what counts, right!

The Thirteenth strikes again.. Aeros loose in OT to Checkers

Even if it was not a Friday, the 13th seems an unlucky number for the Aeros.

 Alas, no Birthday Present of a win for Chilly who had invited friends to celebrate and entertain the  few 3,000 loyal fans who kept sneaking away to check on the Texans game ;-)!

Friends of Chilly's

To my big surprise the First Period saw heavy action, fast and furious skating and lots of slipping, sliding and pile ups in front and into nets :-D!
And some heavy crashing into boards ... a WILD game!

Foucault tried often

Despite that appearance, the Checkers were off to a slow start with just 8 sogs but 1 goal by Dalpe, Shugg and Beca, while Aeros managed to toss 10 on Muse all of which he stopped.

In the second period penalties multiplied  5 for Checkers who skated aggressively. They revved up their attack on Hackett to 14 but no goal. Aeros had progressively fewer sogs for the rest of the game.

 

Genoway on offense?

Genoway on defense

 

Glove Catch by Muse

.

Genoway takes on Sutter

Fredheim in action-no he did NOT trip Rutherford

Another pile up-save by Muse

Hackett lets puck go after save

One of the PP allowed Foucault, Phillips and Cuma the only goal for Aeros in the 2nd.
In the 3rd a visible slowing occurred; neither team scored. And so we went to OT.

What seemed to me happened at the very end of the period, or even just into the 2nd intermission was a huge fight. Mara and Sutter, which almost escalated - but did not - into confrontation between the two goalies, as well. 5 minutes to each Fighter plus a game misconduct-leaving the bench for Mara - and so HE was out for the rest of the game. I am sure Mills did not intend that when he hired Mara!

Somewhere in there is Muse, Fredheim hugs  Pistilli ;-)!

Mara and Sutter, Muse faces Hackett - lineman arm keeps them apart ?

Rau speeds by fallen Bellemore ;-)

Red Sweaters after Zucker !

Genoway seemed just about everywhere, on defense, on offense, taking on Sutter in a little "Hey you" broken up soonest by officials. McMillan skated like the devil was after him...and twisted and turned rapidly where needed.
Phillips, long locks flying, gave a lot. Larssen tried, as did others. Fredheim had long carry of the puck only to pass it to the wrong stick ;-)!
Cuma had a few good moments but overall was ineffective.

The Goal by Nash in OT-fuzzy pic due to shock ;-)! by photo taker :-)!

Zucker appeared to have become the whipping boy for the opponents, many times he was hemmed in by red sweaters.

Monsters behave like it and beat Aeros 3-2

A sad state of affairs on the ice at the tonight!
And in front of respectable crowd of  over 9,000...

That was a rebound and no gaol!

Larsson tries again

Kuemper saves

That bundle is Aittokallio ;-)! and he did MAKE THE SAVE!

Where is Tony Hrcak when you need a steadying seasoned Veteran to inspire the youngsters?
Mara certainly did not seem quite THE thing.
Of course, it was only his second appearance so maybe I need to cut him some slack.

The other newcomer, Reed (#15), seemed to be in the spot more often than not and did push a puck away from the net. Kuemper did stop 29 sogs of 32, but Aittokallio faced 28 and stopped 26.

Somehow, the guys seemed disoriented, albeit skating furiously and passing passably-at times.
Too many times the action took place in the Aeros zone! So better get the puck out of there, guys!

Yes, Zucker and Larsson nicely made the two goals on a PP out of 6.

I must say Larsson has grit!
He was escorted to the bench seemingly injured, but soon was back on the ice and SCORED the 2nd goal.

What more can one write about this game without sounding repetitive.
A replay from last evening when Hackett ate the loss. Now it was Kuemper who choked.

Is it catching?

Kendo between Fredheim and  G Walker?

Geoff Walker pats Fredheim on helmet! :-) after the Kendo move!

Kuemper saves this one ..

After the Zucker Goal.. Pock of Austria looks on while Aittokallio can't believe it!

Fireworks in the Southwest-Aeros have a win!

Yes, it's true.
The night sky somewhere over Meyerland Plaza was filled with bursting multicolored sparks.
A fitting end to a smashing (and I mean this literally) game.
It's been quite a while since the glass reverberated like shots!
Bodies slammed into boards so frequently -THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.
And the raucous fans went wild.. "hit'em, get'em"..
and so on right at my right ear. It still feels numb!
Leaving the numbers game to the experts,
here is my take on this afternoon game.

Apparently the talking to the guys by the coaches about
 'puck management',
 'the best defense is offense',
'don't let the others have any 'space', etc.

Ortmeyer, he with the 2 assists

worked. A rejuvenated team stormed out and took on arch rival Rampage.

Body checks de rigeur.

 'Humpty dumpty' falls on both sides.

Ortmeyer and McLean (chivalry is not dead yet-Mc Lean lent a helping hand up to fiormer mate)

Tangling with foes any which way.

This was a good game.

Not a great game, but both teams worked at it.

Both scored 1 goal in the First, with Hollweg on a PP, and Fredheim (Ortmeyer, Gillies) shortly after.

Hackett got his 'moxie' back, after all that words starts with a M(ontoya in the net), not with a C(limie)!  Just kidding.

Even though it was a good game, it lacked the DRAMA of last night...

no fights to speak of-  tee hee -

but for the last few minutes.

Lots of "to'ing and fro'ing" all through the 2.
with heavy work for Hackett and Montoya .

                       But then the Third...  Earl getting feisty.. jabbering?

Montoya, stunned, on knees after that Daoust, Rau Earl goal!

 No, I DON'T wanna look at that dratted Nr. 62!

Patting the Winner

The Scrappers's goal to make it 2 Aeros - 1 Rampage.

And after that it's back to
Rampage pounding Hackett - he saves.
Aeros pounding Montoya - he saves.

A stranger interlude: did the net break, did the puck break it?
What happened?
I was so intensely watching referees and others seemingly reweaving the net..

Inspection

Net fixed?

                                      And  now it's back to the game, guys!
I caught only the tail end.

Gillies with Ortmeyer (he's again much in evidence-good move to sign him) makes it 3-1 with an empty netter on a PP, yet!

Fans ecstatic, as are the Gillies huggers!

and few more pictures-enjoy

all by artandhockey's trusty little 'pic-snapper'!;-)



Hackett at work



 A dropped stick, yet a save!

Brandon Buck "I'm just protecting Matt, Sir"!

Intermission Entertainment of the cuter kind

Hackett in full form!

Oh, just look at that little puck!

Number 1 Star of the Game with big grin!

Aeros ready to play!

When it came to the anthem...

there was this one male/boy singer who was so darn off pitch, but he made up for it by singing loudly.

 The sopranos of this group sounded really very good, however!

But then the second choir presented such a variety: another patriotic song -was it America the beautiful, or what. Well, never mind they were hardly audible from a certain location.

On the other hand the cute little skaters in unison and the small drill team were rather pleasant to look at!

I truly hunger for trained opera singers' presentation of the anthem.

And more instrumental entertainment,

provided IT is audibly mike'ed!