There’s an electricity in the Toyota Center air whenever Aeros forward Krys Kolanos touches the puck. An electricity that comes from the belief that something is about to happen, that the Aeros are going to score a goal.But it’s just not with Kolanos. This electricity sparks whenever Corey Locke or Jesse Schultz touches the puck. This is the result of the new guys bringing a level of skill that the Houston Aeros haven’t had in a few years. And it filters down to the rest of the squad.
The Aeros scored four goals tonight against the Providence Bruins, and Kolanos got a goal and an assist while Corey Locke got two assists. The defense kicked it up a notch in the third period, and along with goalie Nolan Schaefer, shut down the Bruins in the third period as the Aeros got the 4-2 victory before a crowd of 3,941.
The Bruins got the scoring off to a start when defenseman Matt Lashoff fired a laser of a shot past Schaefer at 5:41 of the first period. But just a little over a minute later Jason Deitsch backhanded the rebound of a Kolanos shot past Providence’s Kevin Regan to tie the score at 6:57.
The Aeros grabbed the 2-1 lead at 1:52 of the second when Kolanos took the pass from Locke and tipped the puck into the net – with what appeared to be an uncredited assist from the skate of Providence’s Adam McQuaid. But the Bruins tied the game about fifteen minutes later when center Levi Nelson lifted the puck over Schaefer’s shoulder and into the net.
The game winner came at 3:26 of the third when Danny Irmen made a nice play on the puck to knock it into the goal for the 3-2 lead. And the Aeros iced the game when Brian Lundbohm got the empty-netter at 19:21.
The win improved Houston’s record to 6-3-0-0 and 12 points for the season, including a perfect 5-0-0-0 at Toyota Center. The win also moved them into a three-way tie for second place in the West Division with Chicago and Iowa.
They next play at 4:05 on Sunday afternoon against Michael Scott’s favorite team, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
SOME MISCELLANEOUS GAME NOTES:
This was, in many ways, a strange game. There appeared to be lots of action, lots of skating up and down the ice, lots of puck movement. But there wasn’t a lot of hitting. And for the most part, the intensity seemed to be lacking.
Until the third period when the Aeros kicked it up a notch. A notch that the Bruins just couldn’t match.
“The last couple of games we’ve really came out with more heart as the coaches call it, especially in the third period, and defensively, we just shut everything down,” Nolan Schaefer said after the game. “We’ve got to be proud of our efforts, and hopefully we can keep everything going.”
Center Jason Deitsch, who was the number two (fixed) star of the game with a goal and two assists agreed. “We worked hard and came out and did all of the little things in the third and got a couple of goals.”
Added Danny Irmen, the number one star (fixed) of the game and who got the game winner, “I don’t know what we’re doing, but whatever we’re doing is good.”
Whatever they did seemed to work in the third period. But sitting in the press box both teams looked a bit out of synch in the first two periods. I’m glad the Aeros intensity kicked in the third; I just wish that it had been there the whole game.
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Krys Kolanos got two more points last night, the second period goal, and an assist in the first period. He has now scored seven points (six goals and one assist) in his six games as an Aero. And Corey Locke continued adding to the offense as he assisted on two goals to bring his point total to nine (three goals and six assists) for the season.
“There’s an additional level of skill here, and that makes everybody good,” Kevin Constantine said after the game.
Now I’m not as trained a hockey observer as some of you, and definitely not Constantine, but I’ve sure noticed the difference. As I wrote above, when I see that puck hit Kolanos’ stick, I’m expecting something good to happen. I rarely felt like this with last season’s team.
“I think tonight,” Constantine said “There was a stretch in the second period where we went end-to-end and got lots of scoring chances, and did some things, that I thought maybe was the best five to ten minute stretch of just really good plays, really good offensive plays that I’ve ever seen in my coaching here.”
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Peter Schaefer did get the start for the Providence Bruins tonight, and with his brother Nolan starting for the Aeros, the two brothers played against each other for the first time ever.
"It’s a different experience. I think I’d rather be on the same team than playing against him. He’s such a good playmaker," Schaefer said.
But as fun as the experience was, Schaefer had some empathy for his brother who finds himself in the AHL after spending much of his career up in the NHL. "I was kind hoping that he would get one on me, actually," Schaefer said. "He doesn’t deserve to be here. And he’s had a tough go. [He's been injured for most of the season] He’s just a great guy. I’m sure he’ll get back up to the NHL. He’s just got to get 100 percent healthy."
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Yes, you did see defenseman Maxim Noreau up in the forward spot during the game. Constantine said he'll do this on-and-off during the season because he likes Noreau's versatility.
Ryan Hamilton missed the game due to his upper body injury once again. Kevin Constantine is not sure of when Hamilton might be able to make it back. John Scott, who has been out with a bad ankle sprain, will hopefully be able to return to the team by the end of next week when the team goes back on the road.
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And just a few minor items for the Aeros gameday entertainment folks.
First, could you make sure the PA Announcer picks up the correct line-up info. For the second game in a row he got the scratches wrong. And could you ask him to speak a little slower, and a little clearer? It was kind of hard figuring out the Providence starting lineups because nobody could understand him.
Also, if you're going to do the trivia thing on the scoreboard, make sure you spell the names of the former Aeros correctly. For instance, the correct spelling is Derek Boogaard, not Derek Boogard.
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And because of the mellow kind of mood that seemed to be the state of play for the first two-thirds of the game, I've decided to close things out tonight in a mellow mood. So here's Olivia Newton-John with "Have You Never Been Mellow."
ADDITION: Oh, and I actually forgot some things. The Aeros were outshot yet again, this time 27-24. And finally, would somebody tell the PA guy that it is called an "empty-netter," and not an "open-netter." I may be relatively new to this whole hockey thing, but I know that, and I'm not being paid by the team to relay info to the fans.
That is all.















