|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
In
The Wings
Houston heads to Hamilton hopeful to win one game and with it the AHL title.
Following a weekend victories of games 4 and 5 in Houston, the Aeros head north with a 3-2 series lead in hopes of winning their first Calder Cup championship with a Game 6 win in Hamilton.
On Friday in game 4, Stephane Veilleux emerged in the role of hero for the Aeros, who were on the brink of a 3-1 deficit.
Veilleux scored twice -- with 1:46 left in regulation and 2:22 into overtime -- as Houston, with a 3-2 win over Hamilton, tied the Calder Cup Final at two games apiece.
The game was a hard-hitting, scoreless affair for nearly 51 minutes when Rickard Wallin got the Aeros on the board first.
Michael Ryder tied the score with his league-leading 11th playoff goal at 13:41, and Bill Lindsay put the Bulldogs in front 83 seconds later.
Veilleux's blast from the high slot beat Ty Conklin in a four-on-four situation to force OT, and he snapped a shot home off a Zbynek Michalek pass to give the Aeros the victory.
In game 5, Houston rallied from an early two-goal deficit to post a 6-4 win on Saturday night.
The first period was a high scoring affair.
Hamilton struck first with a goal by Jason Ward 3:17 into the game. Tony Salmelained followed that up with a goal less than two minutes later. Houston got on the board with a power play goal by Rastislav Pavlikovsky. The Aeros tied the game when Jeff Hoggan scored at 11:43 of the first. Hamilton regained the lead on a goal by Marcel Hossa two minutes later. The scoring ended in the first period when Jean-Guy Trudel scored at 14:20, leaving the count at 3-3.
After a scoreless second, Tony Tuzzolino gave the Aeros their first lead of the night 4:14 into the third, but Bill Lindsay's highlight-reel goal tied the score with 4:39 to play. Lindsay was prone with his back to the net when he hooked the puck behind him and past Johan Holmqvist.
Lindsay, a Stanley Cup finalist with Florida in 1996, was then whistled for boarding at 16:43, setting up Wanvig's power play winner, a fluttering shot that trickled over the head of Bulldogs goaltender Ty Conklin. Dan Cavanaugh finished the scoring into an empty net with 10.1 seconds remaining.
The series shifts back to Hamilton for game 6, and if necessary, game 7.
