Chops comeback bid falls short in wild 7-6 loss to Aeros

February 14, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Iowa Chops News Release


Two Chops comebacks fell short on Saturday night in front of a wild crowd of 7,377 fans as the Houston Aeros swept the weekend series in Des Moines with a narrow 7-6 win over the Iowa Chops. If you were at the game Saturday night, you weren't surprised with how the game started off. You could tell these guys wanted to beat each other into oblivion, and Chops' captain Ajay Baines made the message known early on, when he tangled with Houston's Brandon Rogers, only 29 seconds into the game. Fans were given plenty of reasons to cheer in the 1st period, with the two fights and two goals the Chops put up one by Eric Boguniecki as he whacked the puck out of mid-air to bring the Chops to within 2-1, and the other by Eric Regan who scored his first goal of his professional career with a wristshot that beat Nolan Schaefer to tie the game at 2-2. However, the Chops also had moments of frustration, especially during their own penalty kills, where they went 0-2 on the kill. The Aeros had the game in their hands early on, and played keep-away with the Chops, leaving them without a shot for the first ten minutes of the game.

The penalty problems only persisted in the 2nd period for the Chops, as the Aeros managed to score their third power play goal in as many chances. The Chops weren't about to be defeated, however, and racked up two unanswered goals of their own, including a goal on their only power play opportunity by Drew Miller and an even-strength tally by Charlie Kronschabel. The key to this game was staying out of the penalty box, as both teams were 100% with the extra man through two periods.

The third period held the same fate for the Chops' penalty kill unit, as the Aeros bolted down their 4th power play goal of the game on as many opportunities, but not until they faced serious resistance from the Chops. The momentum scale went back and forth for both teams all period, slowly building up to the hair-raising last minute efforts of the Chops. The Chops tied the game again at 5-5 as Ryan Dingle's wrist shot found the back of the net early in the 3rd period, but two more goals from Houston on Iowa's David LeNeVeu saw the Chops trail 7-5 with 2:56 remaining. The Chops pulled LeNeveu for the extra man opportunity, and at 1:12, T.J. Trevelyan ripped one past Nolan Schaefer for the Chops' 6th goal, sending the pace of the game into a fever pitch. The crowd was on their feet for the last seconds of the game, hoping for the tying goal, but it wasn't meant to be, as the Aeros kept in it and overpowered the Chops 7-6. Houston's power play unit went a perfect 4 for 4, while the Chops were 1 for 3.

The Chops will be back on the ice Monday night, when they face off against the Lake Erie Monsters at 7:05 p.m.



American Hockey League Stories from February 14, 2009


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