Aeros celebrate Happy Hour, Texas Independence Day against Rampage

March 2, 2005 - 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 four goals in a three-game goal streak and five points (4-1=5) in a four-game point streak, both career-highs. Foy, who also notched the deciding shootout goal Sunday, is one off Mikko Koivu's team season-high four-game goal streak, set 1/16-1/23. Foy has a flare for the dramatic as well, as eight of his 10 goals have either tied the game or given the Aeros the lead. Foy and Pierre-Marc Bouchard (2-2=4) each have active four-game point streaks.
· Tonight's game is the second of three straight meetings between the teams. 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 two weeks (Chicago). Since joining the league in 2001-02, the Aeros are 5-2-1 in game one, 4-2-1 in game two and 2-5-0 in game three when playing a team three straight times. Since joining the AHL, Houston has never swept a three-game regular-season set from the same opponent. Three times, the Aeros won the first two games but lost the third.
· Eight of the Aeros' last nine games have been decided by one goal, and they've gone 3-2-2-1 in those games. Houston had been on the losing end of four straight one-goal games until a 3-2 shootout win in San Antonio on Sunday. Overall, the Aeros are 13-9-5-3 in one-goal games, having picked up a point in 21 of 30 chances.
· Houston's overtime woes continued Saturday, when Cincinnati's Chris Kunitz scored a power-play goal with less than one second left in the extra session. The Aeros dropped to 2-5 in overtime this season after going winless in 18 attempts in 2003-04, when they tied 14 games and lost four more in the extra five minutes. After winning two of their first three OT games this season, the Aeros have lost four straight. Houston is 5-3, meanwhile, in the shootout. Thanks to their problems in overtime, the Aeros have been outscored 13-3 in 4-on-4 situations in 2004-05.
· The Aeros' penalty killers will be happy to see Toyota Center again. Houston allowed five PPG in three games over the weekend to drop from first in the league to tied for third, but it has killed off 26 straight chances at home since Grand Rapids went 1-for-1 on 1/23.

Rampage at Aeros (Aeros are 18-5-4-2 all-time, Aeros are 11-2-1-0 at Houston)
· Tonight is the 30th all-time meeting between the teams - 15th Houston.
· San Antonio has scored two goals or fewer in 12 straight meetings with Houston, including exactly two goals in each of the last six games.
· Houston is 3-1-1-0 this season against the Rampage, winning the last two meetings. The Aeros have only two regulation losses in the last 17 meetings (10-2-3-2).
· The teams have gone to overtime in eight of 29 meetings. The Aeros are 1-3-3 against San Antonio in the extra session and 1-0 in shootout.
· Houston is unbeaten in regulation in the last five home meetings (4-0-1-0). The Rampage last earned a regulation win in Houston on 1/16/04, a 6-3 decision. San Antonio only has two regulation wins in Houston in its three years.
· A win tonight would be the Aeros' fourth straight over the Rampage, one off their franchise mark for consecutive wins against San Antonio, set in the first five games 10/26-12/26/02.
· The Aeros and Rampage played four times in the pre-season, then on Opening Night 10/15 for five meetings in 15 days. Over the next 134 days, the teams met only three times. Now, they play three times in five days, starting last Sunday. Houston plays eight of its final 25 games in a 50-day stretch versus San Antonio.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston has points in 14 of its last 19 games (9-5-3-2) for a .605 winning percentage in that span..Pierre-Marc Bouchard (10-27=37) is atop the team's scoring race for the first time since he was injured 11/20 and missed more than a month of action...He's one point ahead of Stephane Veilleux (15-21=36)...Bouchard has 18 points (5-13=18) in his last 17 games...Veteran Ray Giroux (7-16=23) anchors a well-balanced blueline that includes five players in double digits in points...Mike Smith is 14-13-2 with a 2.48 gaa, 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 1-6-1-1 in its last nine games...The Rampage played one home game following a 12-game, 29-day road trip but is back on the road again tonight...San Antonio has scored one goal or less in seven of its last nine games...San Antonio, which has played an AHL-high 62 games, plays 13 of its last 18 games at home...Four of the Rampage's five 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 16-21-4 with a 2.47 gaa, while Patrick DesRochers is 7-13-1 with a 2.70 gaa.

2004-05 meetings (Sixth of 12 meetings, Aeros are 2-1-1-0 overall, Aeros are 1-1-0-0 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)
Tonight: San Antonio at Houston
Tomorrow: 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 fourth goal in three games, then notched the deciding shootout tally, as the Houston Aeros defeated the San Antonio Rampage 3-2 at SBC Center. Josh Harding made 20 saves and Rickard Wallin also scored for Houston. Brent Cullaton and Joel Kwiatkowski each scored and Travis Scott stopped 32 shots for San Antonio.

Quick Hits
· Aeros defenseman Ray Giroux has six points (1-5=6) in his last eight games and nine points (2-7=9) in his last 11 games.
· The Aeros have scored the game's first goal in three of four games after allowing it in seven straight contests. The Aeros, who have trailed at some point in 12 of their last 15 games, are 9-17-3-3 when allowing the first goal, but 17-4-2-0 when scoring it. Houston has scored first just 23 times in 55 games. Houston has scored a first-period goal in just four of its last 14 games.
· Houston's end result is usually dependent on its third-period play . The Aeros have allowed 37 third-period goals, just one off the league lead, but last Friday night they allowed two in the final 2:44 to fall to 2-6-0-0 when yielding two or more in the last 20 minutes. In its 26 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.
· Houston's two-penalty-minute game in San Antonio on Sunday was its first since 12/27/03, also at SBC Center.
· 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 7-24-0-0 in games decided by two or more. Nine of San Antonio's 11 road wins are by one goal.
· San Antonio is allowing 2.94 goals per road game and scoring only 1.86 in such contests.
· 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).

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 (1.98).
· 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 is 0-3-2 in his last five starts, a new career-mark for a winless streak. His gaa in that span is 2.90. Smith was previously winless in three straight games on two occasions, once this season.
· Smith is one of five Aeros goalies ever with four shutouts in a season.
· The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder is 6-2-1 with a 2.37 gaa on the road but 8-11-1 with a 2.55 gaa at Toyota Center.

PP unit sixth
· The Aeros are sixth in the league on the power play at 17.8 percent.
· Houston is 2-for-16 (12.5 percent) with the man advantage over its last five games.
· In their last 38 games, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 38-19 on the power play.
· Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 49-29 on the power play.
· Houston is 18-12-4-1 when scoring a PPG and 8-9-1-2 when not scoring a 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 80.8 percent.
· The Rampage are 3-for-13 (23.1 percent) on the power play in their last five games.

Houston tied for third on PK
· Houston is tied for third in the league on the penalty kill at 88.2 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 17 chances (29.4 percent kill rate) over their last three games.
· The Aeros have killed off 177-of-197 (89.8 percent) of their shorthanded chances over the last 45 games.
· Houston is 16-13-2-2 when not allowing a PPG and 9-9-3-1 when allowing a PPG.
· San Antonio is tied for 23rd in the league on the power play at 13.8 percent.
· The Rampage have killed off 16-of-20 (80.0 percent) of its shorthanded chances over the last five games.



American Hockey League Stories from March 2, 2005


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