Knights Shoot Past Aeros, 5-4

March 23, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Abbotsford Heat News Release


Omaha, NE - Mark Giordano scored on his second time through in the shootout to help the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights beat the Houston Aeros 5-4 on Thursday night at the Civic Auditorium. The Knights twice came back a one-goal deficit to force overtime and then the shootout.

Kirby Law opened the scoring, beating Brent Krahn with a wrist shot from the slot to put Houston up 1-0.

The Knights tied the game on their first powerplay. Ajay Baines tipped in a shot from Steve Bancroft for his tenth goal of the year, his sixth since joining the Knights.

Omaha then took the lead on a powerplay in the last minute of the period. Tomi Maki spotted Giordano alone in the slot, and Giordano beat goalie Miroslav Kopriva with a hard snap shot to give the Knights a 2-1 lead after one.

The Aeros stormed the Knights in the second period, eventually taking the lead. Matt Foy tipped in a shot by Patrick O'Sullivan, and Peter Olvecky converted a feed from O'Sullivan to make it 3-2 Houston.

Before the period was over, the Knights had tied it. Maki stole a pass at the Omaha blue line, raced down the left wing and beat Kopriva with a blast over his left shoulder.

Houston would retake the lead midway through the third period. Roman Voloshenko tapped home a pass from Bryan Lundbohm at 10:34.

The Knights had the answer just 3:19 later. Derek Couture threw the puck in front to Cam Cunning who rammed home his first professional goal to make it 4-4. Cunning was playing his first game with the Knights since rejoining the team from his Canadian junior team.

Both teams had a powerplay in the overtime but could not convert. In the shootout, Maki scored in the first round to give the Knights the edge, but Roman Voloshenko would even it up in the third round. It went to a sixth round before Giordano, on his second attempt, beat Kopriva for the deciding goal, his second shootout winner of the season.

Krahn stopped 34 shots in regulation and overtime and went five of six in the shootout to earn his 24th win of the year.

Five of the seven games in the season series have been decided by one goal. The Aeros have won twice in a shootout and another in overtime. This was the Knights' first shootout win against Houston. They have now won the last two meetings overall.

The Knights are now 33-26-2-8. They have opened up an eight point lead on the Iowa Stars for the last playoff spot in the West Division. The Stars have two games in hand. The Knights finish the week on Saturday when they'll welcome the Peoria Rivermen for a 7:00 p.m. start. That game is also Military Appreciation Night presented by Nextel. Complimentary tickets to the game are available at Nextel stores in Omaha, Bellevue and Lincoln and at Nextel's offices on 143rd Street in Omaha. Nextel will set up a phone bank so that families can call loved ones around the globe. The Red Cross will offer its Vidi-Connect services so that families can send video greetings as well.

Tickets for all home games are on sale at the Civic Auditorium box office, Monday through Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., on Sunday from noon through game time and at all Ticketmaster outlets. Tickets may be purchased by calling 422-1212 or at Ticketmaster.com.



American Hockey League Stories from March 23, 2006


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