Aeros can match 2003-04 win total in San Antonio tonight

Published on March 3, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· Aeros second-year winger Matt Foy is riding the best stretch of his young career. Foy has five goals in a four-game goal streak and six points (5-1=6) in a five-game point streak, both career-highs. His four-game goal streak is the longest active streak in the league, and he is tied with Mikko Koivu's team season-high four-game goal streak, set 1/16-1/23. Kyle Wanvig and Jeff Hoggan both picked up five-game goal streaks in the 2003-04 season. Foy has a flare for the dramatic as well, as nine of his 11 goals have either tied the game or given the Aeros the lead. Foy notched the game-winner in last night's 2-0 win over San Antonio, giving him 11 goals to tie his total in his rookie 2003-04 season. He took a team-high five shots last night, and he's scored his five goals over the four-game stretch on just 11 shots. The Aeros are 7-1-2-0 when Foy scores a goal, and 12-5-2-0 when he gets a point. The success of linemates Mark Cullen and Marc Cavosie are equally important to the Aeros, who are 16-4-2-0 when Cullen has a point and 9-3-0-1 when Cavosie has one.
· A victory tonight would be the first time in team history that the Aeros have defeated the same opponent in three consecutive games on the schedule. This marks the eighth time in the Aeros' four seasons in the AHL that they've played the same team three straight times in the regular season, and the second time in three weeks (Chicago). Since joining the league in 2001-02, the Aeros are 5-2-1 in game one, 5-2-1 in game two but only 2-5-0 in game three when playing a team three straight times. Three times alone since joining the AHL, the Aeros won the first two games but lost the third.
· Mike Smith made 21 saves last night for his fifth shutout, tying him for the second most by an Aero in a single season. He joins Frederic Chabot (seven) and Ryan Bach (five) as the lone Aeros netminders with five shutouts in a season, and his five overall trail only Chabot (18) and Derek Gustafson (six) for the most in team history. Smith and netmate Josh Harding have helped the Aeros to nine shutouts, two better than their previous franchise best, and a seventh-place AHL ranking with 2.46 goals allowed per game. Only Manchester (11) and Norfolk (10) have more shutouts this season.
· After failing to win in their last four attempts to get to six games over the .500 mark, the Aeros reached that plateau last night. Houston's 27 wins are just one shy of its total from the 2003-04 season, when the Aeros finished 28-34-14-4. A victory tonight would not only match that win total, but it would be Houston's fifth three-game winning streak of the season. The Aeros have yet to string together four consecutive wins. Houston could also close within two points of third-place Cincinnati with a win tonight. The Aeros, who have four games in hand on the Ducks heading into tonight, haven't been that close to third since 1/21.
· Aeros defenseman Ray Giroux continued his hot play last night with a PPG, his 75th pro goal. The veteran has seven points (2-5=7) in his last nine games and 10 points (3-7=10) in his last 12 games. Houston is 7-1-0-0 when Giroux scores a goal, and 15-3-2-1 when he notches at least one point.

Aeros at Rampage (Aeros are 19-5-4-2 all-time, Aeros are 7-3-3-2 at San Antonio)
· Tonight is the 31st all-time meeting between the teams - 16th in San Antonio.
· San Antonio has scored two goals or fewer in 13 straight meetings with Houston.
· Houston is 4-1-1-0 this season against the Rampage, winning the last four meetings. The Aeros have only two regulation losses in the last 18 meetings (11-2-3-2).
· The teams have gone to overtime in eight of 30 meetings. The Aeros are 1-3-3 against San Antonio in the extra session and 1-0 in shootout.
· Houston has points in nine of its last 10 games (5-1-2-2) at SBC Center.
· The Aeros have won back-to-back games in San Antonio for the first time since their first two trips there, 11/3/02 and 12/26/02.
· A win tonight would be the Aeros' fifth straight over the Rampage, tied for their franchise mark for consecutive wins against San Antonio, set in the first five games of the series 10/26-12/26/02.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston has points in 15 of its last 20 games (10-5-3-2) for a .625 winning percentage in that span, and also has only two regulation losses in its last 10 games (5-2-2-1)...The Aeros have points in all but one of their last seven road games (3-1-2-1)...Pierre-Marc Bouchard (10-27=37) and Stephane Veilleux (15-21=37) are atop the team's scoring lead...Bouchard has 18 points (5-13=18) in his last 18 games...Veteran Ray Giroux (8-16=24) anchors a well-balanced blueline that includes five players in double digits in points...Mike Smith is 15-13-2 with a 2.40 gaa and five shutouts, while Josh Harding is 12-12-1 with a 2.07 gaa.

Scouting the Rampage
San Antonio, the AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, is 1-7-1-1 in its last 10 games...The team is playing at home for just the second time in 15 games...San Antonio has scored one goal or less in eight of its last 10 games...San Antonio, which has played an AHL-high 63 games, plays 13 of its last 17 games at home...Three of the Rampage's four remaining road games are in Houston...Stephen Weiss leads the Rampage with 38 points (15-23=38), ahead of defenseman Joel Kwiatkowski (11-19=30)...Travis Scott is 16-22-4 with a 2.46 gaa, while Patrick DesRochers is 7-13-1 with a 2.70 gaa.

2004-05 meetings (Seventh of 12 meetings, Aeros are 4-1-1-0 overall, Aeros are 2-1-0-0 at San Antonio)
October 15: Houston 1 at San Antonio 2
December 3: San Antonio 2 at Houston 1 (OT)
December 23: San Antonio 2 at Houston 5
January 21: Houston 4 at San Antonio 2
Sunday: Houston 3 at San Antonio 2 (SO)
Last Night: San Antonio 0 at Houston 2
Tonight: 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

Last Game
Matt Foy scored his fifth goal in four games and Mike Smith made 21 saves for his fifth shutout, as the Houston Aeros defeated San Antonio 2-0 at Toyota Center for their second win over the Rampage in four days. Ray Giroux tacked on a power play goal for Houston.

Quick Hits
· The Aeros have scored the game's first goal in four of five games after allowing it in seven straight contests. The Aeros, who have trailed at some point in 12 of their last 16 games, are 9-17-3-3 when allowing the first goal, but 18-4-2-0 when scoring it. Houston has scored first just 24 times in 56 games.
· Houston's end result is usually dependent on its third-period play . The Aeros have allowed 38 third-period goals, tied for the league lead. In its 27 wins, Houston has allowed just 11 third-period goals, but in the remainder of its 29 games, it has yielded 27. The Aeros are 2-10-2-1 in their last 15 games when allowing a third-period goal.
· San Antonio has allowed a league-high 63 first-period goals, and its minus-20 first-period margin is third worst in the AHL. The Rampage is minus-17 in the third period (57-40).
· Sixteen of the Rampage's 23 wins have come by one goal. The Rampage is 16-7-3-5 in one-goal games, but just 7-25-0-0 in games decided by two or more.
· 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 has outshot San Antonio in five of six meetings this season, including a whopping 72-43 margin over the last two games. The Aeros lead the league in shots per game (33.93) and is eighth in shots against (28.39), while San Antonio is 27th in shots (25.98) and 21st in shots against (31.00).

Harding back in a big way
· Aeros 20-year-old rookie goalie Josh Harding missed 17 games due to a concussion, but he has returned strong, going 7-5-0 with a 2.12 gaa.
· Harding, the second youngest goalie in the AHL behind WBS' Marc-Andre Fleury, has three shutouts, as Wednesday's game didn't go down as an individual shutout. No other Aeros rookie goalie had more than one shutout.
· Harding is 12-9-1 with a 1.95 gaa since an 0-3-0 start to his pro campaign.
· Harding is tied for eighth in the league in gaa (2.07), and trails only Lowell's Cam Ward among rookies (1.95).
· The rookie has a quartet of two-game winning streaks, but he's still looking for his first three-game run.
· Harding has allowed 22 goals in the first period, but only 13 in the second and 15 in the third.

Smith establishes franchise mark
· Aeros goalie Mike Smith appeared in 19 straight games - 17 of the appearances starts - from 11/26-1/25. Smith's 19-game run was a new franchise record, eclipsing Frederic Chabot's old mark of 15, set 12/8/99-1/21/00.
· Smith, who shut out San Antonio last night, snapped a five-start losing streak (0-3-2) to win for the first time since 1/21, at San Antonio. He joins Frederic Chabot (seven) and Ryan Bach (five) as the lone Aeros netminders with five shutouts in a season, and his five overall trail only Chabot (18) and Derek Gustafson (six) for the most in team history.
· The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder is 6-2-1 with a 2.37 gaa on the road but 9-11-1 with a 2.42 gaa at Toyota Center. Each of Smith's five shutouts have come at home.

PP unit sixth
· The Aeros are sixth in the league on the power play at 17.9 percent.
· Houston is 3-for-21 (14.3 percent) with the man advantage over its last six games.
· In their last 39 games, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 39-19 on the power play.
· Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 50-29 on the power play.
· Houston is 19-12-4-1 when scoring a PPG and 8-9-1-2 when not scoring a PPG.
· The line of Mikko Koivu, Stephane Veilleux and Kyle Wanvig has been on the ice for six of the Aeros' last seven PPG.
· The Aeros have allowed seven shorthanded goals, but none since Norfolk's Quintin Laing 12/18.
· San Antonio ranks 26th in the league on the penalty kill at 80.7 percent.
· The Rampage has killed off 20-of-25 (80.0 percent) of its shorthanded chances over the last six games.

Houston third on PK
· Houston is third in the league on the penalty kill at 88.3 percent after leading the AHL for much of the past month.
· Following a 46-of-48 kill streak 2/4-2/23, the Aeros have allowed five goals on 20 chances (75.0 percent kill rate) over their last four games.
· The Aeros have killed off 180-of-200 (90.0 percent) of their shorthanded chances over the last 46 games.
· Houston is 17-13-2-2 when not allowing a PPG and 9-9-3-1 when allowing a PPG.
· San Antonio is 25th in the league on the power play at 13.6 percent.
· The Rampage is 3-for-16 (18.8 percent) on the power play in the last six games.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 3, 2005


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