The Houston Aeros came into Hamilton on Friday night with only one win on the road in four games. Head coach Kevin Constantine didn’t let the stats faze him, as the Aeros beat the first place Hamilton Bulldogs 3-1.

“We took a long time to get going,” Coach Constantine said. “I was worried in the first period as the shots were 14-5 then suddenly it was 17-15 for us. We finally got going even though we looked tired. Didn’t know if we could hang on but we did.”

The Aeros have their penalty kill to thank for their win tonight, as they killed 5 of 6 penalties and a key one in the final minutes. “At first I was worried, they had a lot of chances, but (Bryan) Lundbohm and (Barry)Brust stepped it up and killed a key penalty for us at the end.” Constantine said of the penalty kill.

The Aeros have a good chance of going far in the playoffs this season as they have all the components necessary to do so. Their defense is filled with AHL veterans, as Justin Faulk is the only defensemen on the team without any AHL experience. Furthermore, Clayton Stoner seems to be finally coming into his own and Jon Insana’s veteran presence will help solidify this defense. Coach Constantine had this to say about his defense; “We thought we started better defensively then last year, but we’re not there yet. Our defense is a combination of team play and our goaltenders and we’re not where we need to be yet.”

Corey Locke and Marco Rosa have led the Aeros to getting 38 goals in 11 games, second only to the Hamilton Bulldogs in the Western Conference. They are expected to lead the offensive attack as they will center a solid group of wingers consisting of Jesse Shultz, John Lammers, Ryan Hamilton and Peter Olvecky. “Our offense is better then last year” Coach Constantine said of his 2008-2009 Aeros, and if their able to keep the goals going even without their top scorer Krys Kolanos who is in Minnesota after scoring 7 goals in 7 games. Then the Aeros won’t have a problem continuing their early season success.

Finally the big question in Houston is how well will the goalies perform. Barry Brust played great against the Bulldogs stopping 25 out of 26 shots earning the second star, but had a 4.30 goals against average going into the game. Brust played in 43 games last year and posted a 24-16-3 record. Nolan Shaefer will split time with Brust, but will need to gain some consistency in his game in order to secure the number one spot.

In other news in the Western Conference the Chicago Wolves extended their winning streak to three games defeating the Providence Bruins 4-1. Grand Rapids beat Lake Erie 5-1. Binghamton’s new acquisition Drew Fata scored his first goal as a Senator to help them beat Syracuse 4-1. Norfolk beat Rockford 5-2, Manitoba beat Rochester 5-1 and Iowa killed Quad City 6-2. Milwaukee edged out the San Antonio Rampage 2-1.