Houston Aeros @ Rockford IceHogs ... 12-19

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AHL/Game Stats -
http://stats.theahl.com/stats/text-game-re...game_id=1005191 (http://stats.theahl.com/stats/text-game-report.php?game_id=1005191)

Houston Aeros 4 (SO) at Rockford IceHogs 3 - Status: Final SO

Dec 19, 2008 - Rockford MetroCentre

1st Period:
Scoring - 1. Rockford, E. Brophey (5) (N. Hjalmarsson, M. Blunden) 3:45
2. Rockford, M. Radja (7) (P. Kontiola, N. Hjalmarsson) 11:10 PP
Penalties - T. Mojzis Hou (hooking) 9:23, M. Love Hou (roughing) 14:04, J. Sharrow Rfd (holding) 15:51

2nd Period:
Scoring - No Scoring
Penalties - P. Albers Hou (tripping) 5:47, M. Blunden Rfd (interference) 8:38, N. Hjalmarsson Rfd (cross-checking) 10:08, C. Stoner Hou (interference) 12:38

3rd Period:
Scoring - 3. Houston, J. Ryznar (1) (J. Deitsch) 5:03
4. Houston, B. Rogers (1) (J. Schultz, M. Rosa) 6:43
5. Rockford, P. Kontiola (8) (M. Radja, P. MacArthur) 7:16
6. Houston, M. Rosa (6) (J. Schultz, M. Noreau) 15:31
Penalties - No Penalties

OT Period:
Scoring - No Scoring
Penalties - No Penalties

Shootout:
Round 1 - RFD - Tim Brent - Yes
Round 1 - HOU - Corey Locke - No
Round 2 - RFD - Pascal Pelletier - No
Round 2 - HOU - Jesse Schultz - No
Round 3 - RFD - Petri Kontiola - No
Round 3 - HOU - Morten Madsen - Yes
Round 4 - RFD - Bryan Bickell - No
Round 4 - HOU - Jason Deitsch - No
Round 5 - RFD - Pete MacArthur - No
Round 5 - HOU - Marco Rosa - Yes

HOU Shots: 5 9 9 0 1 TOTAL: 24
RFD Shots: 9 11 7 3 0 TOTAL: 30

Power Play Conversion:
Houston Aeros 0-3
Rockford IceHogs 1-4

Goaltenders:
Houston Aeros -
Schaefer 7-8-1 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 64:39 SV: 27 GA: 3 [W]
Rockford IceHogs -
Crawford 8-3-1 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 64:36 SV: 20 GA: 3 [SOL]

Attendance: 2648

Referee I: Chris Ciamaga (41)
LINESMAN I: Bryan Pancich (85)
LINESMAN II: Al Stensland (98)

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IceHogs Website -
http://www.icehogs.com/news/index.html?article_id=924

HOGS FALL 4-3 TO HOUSTON IN SHOOTOUT

12/19/2008

Houston has earned at least one point in all 11 division games this season

Rockford, Ill.- An early start by the Rockford IceHogs was matched by a strong finish from the Houston Aeros. Three third period goals and two in the shootout earned the Aeros a win over the IceHogs at the Rockford MetroCentre on Friday night.

Three goals and a Tim Brent shootout score was not enough for the Hogs to come away with the two points. Houston came on strong in the third period after being down 2-0 and carried the momentum into the overtime and shootout. Points are becoming increasingly important in the West Division as six teams are within three points of the lead.

"I've only missed the playoffs one time in my life," Rockford captain Tim Brent said. "And it's games like this that you remember on April 12 when you're packing your bags. We have to realize that now and put an end to giving points away."

Houston's Marco Rosa won the game with a fifth-round score in the shootout breaking a 1-1 tie. Late in the third period, Rosa tied the game at three a piece as he sent a shot past the pads of Rockford goaltender Corey Crawford after a Jesse Schultz breakaway attempt was denied. The goal was scored at 13:31 and was also assisted from Maxim Noreau.

Earlier in the third period, Houston goals by Jason Ryznar and Brandon Rogers threatened the IceHogs with a third frame tie. The goals came at 5:03 and 6:43 respectively and knotted the game up at 2-2. Moments later, Petri Kontiola briefly broke the tie with a marker of his own at 7:16. Mike Radja and Pete MacArthur were credited with the helpers.

"They had to bring some urgency that we didn't match because we were up by two," Brent said. "They had a little bit of hope in the back of their mind. If we get another one there and put them in the coffin, it's probably a different story."

In the first period, Hogs' forward Evan Brophey put Rockford ahead when he slapped in a rebound off of a Niklas Hjalmarsson drive at 3:45 past Nolan Schaefer . Hjalmarsson and Mike Blunden were credited with the assists.

Hogs' forward Mike Radja would add a second goal in the first period to give the IceHogs a 2-0 advantage going into the second.

Coming into tonight's game, Radja led the AHL in shooting percentage, scoring six goals off of 19 shots taken this season. The Yorkville, Illinois native added to his league-leading shooting percentage, with a goal on four shots. The power-play marker was helped by Petri Kontiola and Hjalmarsson at 11:10 in the first period. It was Hjalmarsson's first-multi-point game of the season.

Corey Crawford finished with 20 saves and is now 5-0-1 in his last six starts. It was the first time since Nov. 22 that Crawford had allowed more than two goals. Nolan Schaefer finished with 27 saves in his first start since Dec. 2.

Rockford was 1-for-4 on the power play, while fending off three Houston power plays.

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Aeros Website -
http://www.aeros.com/news/News/index.html?article_id=1986

HOUSTON DEFEATS ICEHOGS IN SHOOTOUT, 4-3

12/19/2008

From: Patrick Armstrong, Director of Communications
Scott Henninger, Communications Manager

AEROS WIN FIRST SHOOTOUT OF SEASON,
4-3 OVER ROCKFORD ICEHOGS

ROCKFORD, IL. – The Houston Aeros fell behind 2-0 early but mounted a comeback for a 4-3 shootout win in Rockford, Friday night. Houston’s Marco Rosa netted the game-tying and shootout-winning goals to bring the Aeros (14-10-1-4) into a three way tie for fourth in the West Division. Houston stays in Rockford for a 7 p.m. contest tomorrow night at the Rockford MetroCentre. Tune in to Joe O’Donnell on 1070-AM KNTH or online at AHL LIVE to catch the action.

GAME SUMMARY:
The home team jumped on the board quickly with an even strength goal by Evan Brophey only 3:45 into the game for his first point against the Aeros, fifth goal of the season. Rockford had two power-play chances in the period and capitalized on the first with only 13 seconds remaining with an extra attacker. Mike Radja netted the power-play goal at 11:10 in the period for the second goal on Aeros’ netminder Nolan Schaefer for a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

The second period was held scoreless with the Aeros being out-shot 11-9 compared to the first period’s 9-5. Each team had two power-play chances in the period but neither could convert.

Houston made a push in the first half of the third period when Jason Ryznar tallied his first goal of the season on an even strength marker at 5:03 with Jason Deitsch adding the helper. Brandon Rogers followed with his first marker of the season to tie the game at two apiece only 1:40 after Ryznar’s goal. Rockford’s Petri Kontiola took the lead back for the IceHogs 33 seconds later at 7:16 in the final frame. Rosa tied the game back up for the Aeros at 15:31 to force a 3-3 overtime.

The five-minute extra session was held scoreless with Rockford recording three shots to zero from the Aeros. Rockford scored on their first shootout attempt but couldn’t get another past Schaefer with the remaining four shooters. Morten Madsen netted the puck as Houston’s third shooter and Rosa tallied the shootout-winning goal in the Aeros’ fifth and final attempt for the 4-3 victory.

GAME NOTES:
- The win extended the Aeros’ undefeated streak against the West Division to 13 games with a record of 11-0-1-1, dating back to last season. Houston is 9-0-1-1 against the West this season.
- Houston’s overall point streak is now at seven games (4-0-0-3) for the best current streak in the Western Conference. Only Philadelphia owns a better streak (7-0-0-0) in the league.
- Corey Locke’s point streak was snapped at six games with 11 points (5-6=11) when he couldn't reach the score sheet Friday. The streak was the longest for the Aeros this season.
- Prior to Friday's win the Aeros were 0-4 in the shootout. Houston, now 1-4 in shootouts this season, finished the 2007-08 campaign with an 8-4 record in shootouts.

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Rockford Newspaper -
http://www.rrstar.com/sports/pros/x1135113...hootout-victory (http://www.rrstar.com/sports/pros/x1135113457/Aeros-outlast-IceHogs-in-shootout-victory)

Aeros Outlast IceHogs In Shootout Victory

By Brenda Young-RRSTAR.COM

Posted Dec 19, 2008

ROCKFORD — For two periods, the Rockford IceHogs seemed headed for an improbable home victory that would keep them ahead of their West Division foe, the Houston Aeros, on Friday.

But that quickly turned into misery for the IceHogs, who gave up three goals in the third period as the Aeros went on to a 4-3 shootout win before 2,648 fans at the MetroCentre.

Aeros center Marco Rosa scored both the tying goal in regulation and fired the game-winner to help pull Houston even in the West and ended the IceHogs’ five-game home winning streak.

“We weren’t very solid as a team in the final 20 minutes,” IceHogs coach Bill Peters said. “We didn’t play very intelligently and we didn’t play hard. We have got to find a way to play hard tomorrow and get a victory.”

Rockford (15-10-0-2) will play Houston (14-10-1-4) at 7:05 tonight at the MetroCentre.

“It’s a loss for us, but we got to come back and show them what we are made of,” IceHogs center Petri Kontiola said.

Kontiola gave the IceHogs a 3-2 lead in the third period, after the Aeros’ Jason Ryznar and Brandon Rogers scored within a minute apart to tie the score at 2-2.

The IceHogs’ lead wasn’t safe as Rosa tied the score at 3-3 on a breakaway goal with 4:29 left in regulation to force overtime.

“It felt like we lost our confidence,” IceHogs goalie Corey Crawford said. We were making passes, but the puck was bouncing all over the place.”

Crawford, who saw his five-game win streak end, made 20 saves. The IceHogs got goals from center Evan Brophey and forward Mike Radja early in the first period.

Brophey scored his fifth goal at 16:15 of the second period. Brophey got the pass from Mike Blunden and converted just inside the line to beat a Houston defender.

The IceHogs took a quick 2-0 lead when Radja scored off a rebound, jamming the puck past Nolan Schaefer.

Schaefer stopped 27 shots for the Aeros, who had lost a 2-1 shootout game against the Milwaukee Admirals on Wednesday.

“This is a huge win for us,” said Rosa, who recorded his eighth goal of the season. “We lost a shootout against Milwaukee and were disappointed. So we really wanted to come back and not let it happen again.”

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Houston Newspaper -
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports...os/6174627.html (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/hki/aeros/6174627.html)

Aeros Claim First Shootout Win Of Season

Schaefer makes 4 saves as Rosa, Madsen score

Chronicle News Services

Dec. 19, 2008

ROCKFORD, Ill. — After losing their first four shootouts of the season, the Aeros finally proved victorious in a 4-3, come-from-behind win over the Rockford IceHogs in front of 2,648 fans Friday night at the Rockford MetroCentre.

Morten Madsen and Marco Rosa beat IceHogs goalie Corey Crawford in the shootout, and goalie Nolan Schaefer stopped four of five attempts to give the Aeros (14-10-1-4) an extra point.

But for much of the game, it looked like Rockford was going to win the first of back-to-back games against the Aeros.

The Aeros rallied with three goals in the third period to force overtime after being outscored 2-0 in the first 45 minutes of the game.

Jason Ryznar and Brandon Rogers each scored their first goals of the season early in the third to tie the game, but the IceHogs regained the lead when Petri Kontiola beat Schaefer 33 seconds later.

But the Aeros got the equalizer from Rosa with 4:29 left in regulation.

After taking passes from Jesse Schultz and Max Noreau, Rosa beat Crawford to score his sixth goal of the season.

Evan Brophy opened the scoring just 3:45 into the game, getting a shot past Schaefer who made his first start since Dec. 2 in a 5-3 loss to Manitoba.

Schaefer relieved Barry Brust for the shootout Wednesday night in Milwaukee, but Brust has taken over as the team’s No. 1 goalie and will likely get the starts both tonight against Rockford and Sunday afternoon against Peoria.

In the 12th minute, Mike Radja tipped a shot by Kontiola to give the IceHogs a goal on their first power-play chance of the game.