KHUDOBIN EARNS 2-0 SHUTOUT IN GAME 4 OVER ADMIRALS

HOUSTON, Texas – Houston Aeros goaltender Anton Khudobin stopped all 27 shots faced on his 23rd birthday as the team defeated the Milwaukee Admirals 2-0 Thursday night. The Aeros lead the West Division Finals series 3-1 with the win in front of 3,189 fans at Toyota Center. Houston could wrap up the series with a win in Game 5 on Saturday night in the 7:35 p.m. contest.

The Aeros and Admirals return to Toyota Center for Game 5 on Saturday night, May 9 at 7:35 p.m. It is the last game at Toyota Center in the West Division Finals as Games 6 and 7 (if necessary) are in Milwaukee. Tickets are available by calling (713) 974-PUCK or visiting AEROS.com.

GAME SHEET

The Aeros controlled for the first few minutes of the opening period and earned a power play at the 2:53 mark when Jed Ortmeyer went to the penalty box for interference. Houston was unable to score on the power play and Milwaukee shifted the momentum in their direction. The Ads earned their first power play of the game at the 6:27 mark on a interference call to Marco Scandella, but Houston’s penalty kill didn’t allow Milwaukee to score the first goal.

At the 16:56 mark of the first period, Benoit Pouliot tallied his first goal of the post-season on the power play. Brandon Rogers took a shot from the right point and the puck bounced off the back board where Marco Rosa picked it up and hurried to the other side of the net. Rosa quickly wrapped around and dished the puck to Pouliot who was on the doorstep to whack it into the open net. The goal marked the third time in four games against Milwaukee that the Aeros tallied the first goal of the game.

Houston held on to the 1-0 lead going into the first intermission and killed a penalty to Rogers in the final two minutes of the period. Through the first 20 minutes of play the Aeros were outshot 9-7 but held the lead.

Milwaukee again recorded more shots than the Aeros in the second period, this time just 6-5 but without a scoring change. The Aeros earned a pair of power plays in the frame and the clubs skated 4-on-4 just over halfway in. During the 4-on-4 Khudobin knocked aside multiple scoring chances by the Admirals keeping Houston’s one goal lead.

Just three minutes into the third period Pouliot and Krys Kolanos paired up for a 2-on-1 breakaway looking for a 2-0 lead. Pouliot carried the puck in on Milwaukee goaltender Drew MacIntyre’s stick side and passed the puck to Kolanos on the far side of the Admiral netminder but lost the pass ending the 2-on-1. At 8:53 in the period Pouliot was sent to the box, giving Milwaukee their third man advantage but failed to convert, keeping the game 1-0 in favor of the home club.

The Admirals pulled MacIntyre in favor of an extra attacker with just over a minute remaining in the game. While faced with the 6-on-5 situation, the Aeros cleared the puck to the other end of the ice after facing a number of shots against. Kolanos, the Aeros regular season goal-scoring leader, chased the puck down beyond the goal line and was able to swing it in front of the net and in before being hit hard by a Milwaukee defender, giving Houston the 2-0 victory.

Houston was outshot 12-2 in the final period, 27-14 in the contest. MacIntyre knocked aside 12-of-13 shots faced in the contest as his Admirals failed to convert on all three of their power-play chances. Houston finished 1-for-4 on the man advantage in the contest.

NOTES:
- Houston recorded seven shots in the first period for the most this game. The Aeros have put seven or fewer shots on net in 10 straight periods dating back to the third period of Game 1 of this series on April 30.
- The Aeros have killed off all six short handed situations, three tonight.
- Houston goaltender Anton Khudobin earned his second shutout of the playoffs on his 23rd birthday. The shutout was the third of his career, having recorded one during the 2007-08 regular season and the other on April 17 in Game 2 of the Peoria series.
- Krys Kolanos’ third period goal gave him a two-game goal streak, his second such streak of the playoffs, third for the Aeros.
- The Aeros have recorded at least one power-play goal in nine of their 11 playoff contests. Houston has converted on 13-of-51 man advantages in the Calder Cup Playoffs for a 25.5% conversion rate.