Houston 3, Grand Rapids 2

(2010 February 6th at Van Andel Arena)

Aeros storm back from 2-0 shortage

Francis Pare and Jeremy Williams put the Griffins up 2-0 35 seconds into the second period, but Petr Kalus ended the shutout late in the frame from Cody Almond, who would tie the game 6:41 into the third while Mattias Ritola was sitting for boarding. Pete Zingoni picked off a Griffs pass and took it 120 feet to blast it by Tom McCullom for what would be the game winner. The Griffs didn't help themselves by Andreas Lilja's slashing penalty with 2:59 left, but it got more active, with a Houston bench mixup that caused a delay of game penalty that was served by Matt Kassian at the same time the Griffins' Doug Janik was high-sticking. Barry Brust saved 20 of 22 shots for his fourth win in five starts. The two teams get six days off before the Friday-Saturday doubleheader at Toyota Center, with the Aeros still four points away from a playoff spot as the 2009-10 season approaches the two-third mark.


HOUSTON          0   1   2   =   3
GRAND RAPIDS     1   1   0   =   2

First Period:
1. Grand Rapids, Pare 10 (McGrath, Kindl), 7:11.
Penalties:
None called.

Second Period:
2. Grand Rapids, Williams 17 (Rissmiller, Newbury), 0:35.
3. Houston, Kalus 10 (Almond), 17:24.
Penalties:
Sifers, Hou (holding), 4:13
Lilja, GR (delay of game), 7:46

Third Period:
4. Houston, Almond 6 (Milroy, DiSalvatore), 6:41 (pp).
5. Houston, Zingoni 6 (unassisted), 12:24.
Penalties:
* Ritola, GR (boarding), 5:35
Lilja, GR (slashing), 17:01
Janik, GR (high sticking), 19:01
Houston bench, served by Kassian (delay of game), 19:01

Penalty Totals: Houston 2 for 4 minutes, Grand Rapids 4 for 8 minutes.

Shots on goal: Houston 11-11-11 = 33, Grand Rapids 8-7-7 = 22.

Power Play: Houston 1 of 4, Grand Rapids 0 of 1.
Goalies: Houston, Brust 4-1-0 (22 shots, 20 saves). Grand Rapids, McCollum 7-11-0 (33 shots, 30 saves).
Attendance: 7,034.
Referee: Shaun Davis.
Linesmen: Jared Hoffmeyer, Jim Scarpace.