Houston Aeros Weekly
March 9, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release
The Houston Aeros are 9-2-0 in their last 11 games helping to boost them to second place in the West Division. Of Houston's remaining 17 games, 16 are against divisional opponents including four this week. The Quad City Flames come to town for a pair of games (Tuesday and Friday) before the Aeros visit San Antonio and return to Toyota Center to host Rockford for a three-in-three this weekend.
Quad City returns to Houston for the third time to finish off the season-series with games Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. and Friday at 7:35 p.m. The Flames currently sit five points out of the playoff picture with four points on the line in these two matchups. Houston has a record 2-3-0-1 against Quad City this season and has split the two games at Toyota Center. Marco Rosa netted two power-play goals for the Aeros in the last meeting en route to the teams 4-3 shootout win on February 28.
Houston will travel to San Antonio on Saturday for a 7:00 p.m. contest against the Rampage who the Aeros haven't seen since December 26. Houston won three straight contests to start the season before a 5-3 loss in the last meeting. Corey Locke has tallied three goals against the Rampage this season and leads Houston with 20 points (9 goals, 11 assists) in 10 career games against San Antonio.
The Aeros return home for a 4:05 p.m. Sunday contest against the Rockford IceHogs, who trail Houston by only one point in the division. The Aeros won both games at Rockford in December which included a 4-3 shootout win when Houston overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period. Rosa earned the game-tying and shootout-winning goals in that contest and netted the game winner the following night against the IceHogs. Rockford earned a 6-1 victory in the club's first visit to Toyota Center on February 27 and currently trail Houston by only one point in the West.
Just three points separate the Aeros in second place with 71 points and fifth place Peoria with 68. Iowa and Quad City are tied for sixth at 64 points and are still in the mix as the season nears the final month of play. Houston's four games this week has a total of eight points on the line and could juggle the West Division standings heading into the final four weeks of the regular season.
WEEK IN REVIEW
The Houston Aeros took sole possession of second place in the West Division with a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Wolves Saturday night at Toyota Center. Houston (31-23-1-8) has a record of 9-2-0-0 in their last 11 games and are 5-1-0-0 at home in that stretch. John Lammers, Krys Kolanos and Marco Rosa recorded Houston's goals in the final game against the Wolves this season.
Lammers earned two points with a goal and an assist for the Houston Aeros to help earn a 2-1 victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins Thursday night. The win, in front of 3,278 fans at Toyota Center, moved the Aeros into a three-way tie for second place in the West Division with Rockford and Chicago.
Aeros' goaltender Nolan Schaefer won a pair of games in net for the Aeros this week. He allowed just one goal in each of the games against the Griffins and Wolves respectively. On Thursday night, Schaefer stopped 23 of 24 against Grand Rapids and he finished with 30 saves on 31 shots against the Wolves Saturday night. He had a 1.00 GAA and .964 save percentage going 2-0-0 on the week. The Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan native also appeared in his 43rd game of the season tying a career high for appearances. He has already broken his career high for wins in a season now sitting at 22. His previous best for wins was 19 set last season with Houston.
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