Barons: OKC continues to roll, whips Houston to extend first-place lead

They've generally built their record on tight games characterized by solid goaltending and timely scoring.

Friday night against Houston, the Barons had a bit of room to breath in the final moments and pulled off a 5-2 win over the Aeros in front of 3,905 at the Cox Center.

The win assures the Barons (28-11-2-3) of the top record in the league going into the All-Star break. And Oklahoma City still has one game left before the break, 7 p.m. Saturday against the Texas Stars in the Cox Center.

The Barons, playing with a bolstered lineup Friday night, led throughout, although a pair of Houston goals late in the third period made things interesting.

Earlier in the week, the Barons received Taylor Chorney, Teemu Hartikainen and Magnus Paajarvi from the Edmonton Oilers for at least this weekend's games.

They paid off, as Hartikainen scored a goal and Chorney assisted on a pair to help stake Oklahoma City to a 4-0 lead.

“Coming back from Edmonton, I wanted to make sure that I had picked up where I left off,” Chorney said. “It was fun to get back out there and get back in a win, it was great.”

With just two power-play chances and six penalty kills, Paajarvi's ice time was cut down a bit, but Barons coach Todd Nelson praised his effort.

Nelson was a bit less enthused with the way the third period went, with the Barons being outscored 2-1 and outshot 15-2.