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Aeros host Rampage on Jersey Ornament Night

December 3, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· Aeros winger Stephane Veilleux scored two goals last night to became the 19th player in team history to reach the 100-point plateau. Veilleux now has 101 points, tied with Shawn Carter and Curtis Murphy for 17th on the team’s all-time list. Mark Cullen is one point ahead with 102 points, tied for 15th with Michael Maurice.
· Houston, which is tied for fourth in the AHL on the power play at 20.2 percent, is 6-for-17 (35.3 percent) in its last three games. The Aeros, who had a franchise-record-trying four PPG 11/20 in Syracuse, are 10-for-13 (32.3 percent) over their last six games and 14-for-50 (28.0 percent) in their last 10 games, a span that has seen them outscore their opponents 14-7 on their respective man advantages.
· The Aeros are 1-2-0-0 to begin a season-long eight-game homestand. Houston, 4-5-0-0 at home, now has a 13-day break until its next game, 12/16 vs. Norfolk. It’s the longest stretch between games since 12/31/95-1/15/96. The Aeros are in a span where they play 13 of 16 games and 20 of 25 at Toyota Center.
· Houston was outscored 2-1 in the first period last night, pushing its league-high in first-period goals allowed to 27. The Aeros have, however, scored 28 times in the opening 20 minutes, two off Manchester’s league-best total of 30.
· Last night Houston allowed just 19 shots and fell to 0-3-0-0 when allowing 21 shots or less. The Aeros are only 6-9-1-1 when outshooting an opponent, but 6-1-0-0 when getting outshot or the shots are tied.

Rampage at Aeros (Aeros lead all-time series 15-5-3-2, Aeros are 10-2-0-0 at Houston)
· Tonight is the 26th all-time meeting between the teams - 13th in Houston.
· The Aeros have just two losses in 12 home meetings (10-2-0-0) with the Rampage.
· The Aeros lost in regulation only once to San Antonio last season (7-1-2-2), but dropped a 2-1 decision at SBC Center 10/15. Houston has never lost back-to-back meetings with the Rampage, although it was 0-1-2 over a three-game span 12/27/03-1/17/04.
· The teams have gone to overtime in six of 25 meetings, and the Aeros are 1-2-3 against San Antonio. Houston’s lone OT victory came 5-4 on 11/23/03, at SBC Center.
· Houston has won the last three home meetings with San Antonio by a combined margin of 11-4 since a 6-3 loss 1/16/04.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston is 11-7-0-1 in its last 19 games but has dropped three of four...Mark Cullen (6-11=17) is the AerosÂ’ leading scorer, just ahead of Pierre-Marc Bouchard (5-11=16) and Stephane Veilleux (8-8=16), who has the team lead with eight goals...Houston has 18 players with at least one goal...Nineteen-year-old Brent Burns (4-8=12) and Erik Reitz (0-9=9) anchor the blueline...Mike Smith is 7-4-0 with a 2.95 gaa, while Kyle Kettles (0-0-0, 0.00 gaa) will back him up with Josh Harding (5-7-1, 2.01 gaa) out with a concussion.

Scouting the Rampage
San Antonio has only one win in its last six games (1-3-0-2) and most recently dropped a 5-2 home decision to Chicago Sunday...Centerman Stephen Weiss, one of a trio of Rampage top 10 overall picks, leads the team in scoring with 12 points (3-9=12), one point ahead of Gregory Campbell (4-7=11)...Lukas Krajicek has nine points (1-8=9), best among Rampage defensemen...Travis Scott is 4-6-2 with a 2.17 gaa, while Patrick DesRochers is 3-4-0 with a 2.53 gaa.

2004-05 meetings (Second of 12 meetings, Aeros are 0-1-0-0 overall, First meeting in Houston)
October 15: Houston 1 at San Antonio 2
TONIGHT: San Antonio at Houston
December 23: San Antonio at Houston
January 21: Houston at San Antonio
February 27: Houston at San Antonio
March 2: San Antonio at Houston
March 3: Houston at San Antonio
March 12: San Antonio at Houston
April 2: San Antonio at Houston
April 3: Houston at San Antonio
April 9: Houston at San Antonio
April 10: San Antonio at Houston

ThursdayÂ’s game
Ryan Miller made 40 saves and Geoff Peters was credited with the game-winning goal midway through the second period, as the Rochester Americans beat the Houston Aeros 3-2 despite being outshot 42-19. Michael Ryan and Thomas Vanek also scored and Derek Roy chipped in two assists for Rochester, which has won five straight road games and won for the first time ever against Houston (1-4-3-0). Stephane Veilleux recorded his third career two-goal game for Houston.

Quick Hits
· Houston is 7-4-1-1 in one-goal games, two behind Grand Rapids (9-3-1-0) for the league lead in one-goal victories. The Aeros were 8-6-0-4 in such games last season.
· San Antonio has been held to two goals or fewer in eight of its last nine games and has won just three of them.
· Houston has scored more goals in the first period at home (14) than it has in the other three periods plus overtime combined (13).
· San Antonio ranks 27th in the AHL in shots (25.89), while Houston is first (33.58). The Rampage has outshot five opponents, the third lowest total in the league.
· The Aeros are 8-3-0-0 when playing the second or third game of back-to-back situations. Last season, Houston was 11-13-6-2 in those situations.
· Last night marked just the second time in nine home games that the Aeros trailed after one period.

“Wanny” heating up
· Aeros winger Kyle Wanvig has three points (1-2=3) in his last five games and broke out of a 14-game goal-less streak Sunday against Utah.
· Wanvig’s goal Sunday was his 48th in an Aeros uniform. He’s two shy of becoming the 11th member of the Aeros 50-goal club. He would be just the second to accomplish the feat since the Aeros moved to the AHL - Cory Larose had 50 even.
· Wanvig has 49 pro goals overall, including one with the Minnesota Wild.

Smith has won six of nine
· Aeros goalie Mike Smith has won six of his last nine decisions, although he’s dropped two straight for the first time all season (0-2-0, 3.55 gaa).
· Smith is 7-1-0 when allowing zero or one goal in the first period, but he’s 0-3-0 with a no decision when yielding two or more.
· Smith’s four straight wins 10/24-11/13 tied his career high, set 11/28-12/7/03.
· Smith has never lost an overtime or regulation game in his AHL career. He’s 3-0 in OT and 2-0 in shootouts.
· The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder is 4-0-0 with a 2.77 gaa on the road but 3-4-0 with a 3.06 gaa at home.

PP unit clicks again
· Houston, which is tied for fourth in the AHL on the power play at 20.2 percent, is 6-for-17 (35.3 percent) in its last three games. The Aeros, who had a franchise-record-trying four PPG 11/20 in Syracuse, are 10-for-13 (32.3 percent) over their last six games and 14-for-50 (28.0 percent) in their last 10 games, a span that has seen them outscore their opponents 14-7 on their respective man advantages.
· The Aeros are 9-6-1-0 when scoring a PPG and 3-4-0-1 when not scoring a PPG.
· Houston has 13 players with at least one PPG, tops in the AHL.
· Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 25-14 on the power play.
· The Aeros have allowed six shorthanded goals, the last by Utah’s Randall Gelech’s 11/26. That total has them tied with Manchester for last in the league.
· San Antonio is 15th in the AHL on the penalty kill at 84.9 percent, but is an impressive fifth at 88.7 percent away from SBC Center.
· The Rampage has killed off 20-of-23 (87.0 percent) of its shorthanded chances over the last five games.

Houston tied for eighth on the PK
· Other than a 2-for-4 power play performance by Milwaukee 11/13, Houston has been rock solid to move into a tie for eighth in the AHL at 86.8 percent.
· The Aeros have killed off 66-of-73 (90.4 percent) shorthanded chances over the last 14 games.
· Houston is 6-5-0-1 when not allowing a PPG and 6-5-1-0 when allowing a PPG.
· The Aeros are tied for fourth in the AHL with four SHG.
· San Antonio ranks 27th on the power play at just 9.8 percent, but it is tied for 23rd on the road also at 9.8 percent.
· The Rampage hasn’t scored a power play goal in its last five games dating back to 11/13 in Grand Rapids, going 0-for-16 in that stretch.

First and last two minutes are crucial
Houston has scored just five goals in the first or last two minutes of a period this season. The AerosÂ’ opponents, meanwhile, have 17 goals in this crucial time. Houston is 1-5-0 this season when allowing a goal in the opening two minutes of a period.

Aeros/Rampage connections
· San Antonio's Joel Kwiatkowski and Houston's Patrick Traverse were traded for each other in 2001 (Kwiatkowski went from Anaheim to Ottawa for Traverse).
· Houston's John Erskine and San Antonio's Serge Payer, Ryan Jardine and Eric Beaudoin were teammates in Utah in 2001-02.
· Houston's Brent Burns was a teammate of San Antonio's Kamil Kreps in 2002-03 with OHL Brampton.
· San Antonio's Victor Uchevatov was a teammate of Houston's Ray Giroux in Albany from 2001-03.
· Houston's Kyle Kettles was the goalie on a WHL Medicine Hat team that featured San Antonio's Jay Bouwmeester from 1999-2001.

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