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Aeros continue homestand today versus Moose

January 16, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


It's Family Day! Get four tickets, four pucks, $20 in Toyota Bucks and free parking, all for just $59! Visit www.aeros.com/themenights to order. Username is Family, password is Aeros. Jimmy Neutron will be in attendance, plus plan on staying after the game to take your picture in the penalty box. Cameras not provided.

Click here for tickets. Also, the Aeros will continue to take donations for the tsunami victims throughout January at the Aeros Charities table behind Section 108.

Aeros Game Day

Five things you need to know
• Aeros goalie Mike Smith has appeared in 14 straight games - 12 starts - including one game where he replaced the injured Josh Harding with five seconds remaining 11/28. Smith's 14-game run is one off Frederic Chabot's franchise record, set 12/8/99-1/21/00. Smith has a 1.42 gaa over his last five games, with a 2-3-0 record. He is 5-6-0 with a no decision in relief since Harding got injured, but he sports an impressive 2.02 gaa in that span to lower it from 2.94 to 2.44.
• Manitoba is 15-2-2-1 on the road and has won four straight away from its new MTS Centre home. It is well on its way to bettering Grand Rapids' 2002-03 AHL record of 26 road wins. The Moose has at least a point in 13 (11-0-1-1) consecutive games away from Winnipeg and hasn't lost in regulation on the road since 10/26 at St. John's.
• Houston is just 9-13-2-1 when outshooting an opponent, but it is 8-2-0-0 when getting outshot or the shots are even. Aeros goalies don't mind work - they are only 2-8-0 when seeing 23 shots or less, but 15-9-1 when seeing 24 or more. The Aeros have allowed 21 or fewer in each of the last three games, but they have won only one. Houston has outshot its opponents 95-37 over the last two games, and 124-55 over the last three.
• Kirby Law enters this game having played in 498 professional games, including NHL, AHL and IHL. His two power play goals in Friday's game moved him to 298 (143=155=298) career AHL points in 421 games.
• The Moose has outscored its opponents 52-28 in the third period, easily the best margin in the AHL. While Manitoba's 52 third-period goals are the most in the AHL, Houston has yielded just 24 - second in the league - and five of those tallies have been empty-net goals. The Moose's 52 third-period goals are one more than the Aeros have scored in the second and third combined.

Moose at Aeros (Aeros are 35-16-10-0 all-time, Aeros are 18-8-5-0 at Houston)
• Tonight is the 62nd all-time meeting between the teams, 32nd in Houston.
• The teams split four games in 2003-04, with each team going 1-1-0 on the other team's ice.
• The Aeros are 9-7-1-0 against the Moose, including a 5-4-0-0 mark at home, since moving to the AHL in 2001-02.
• Since the Moose moved from Minnesota to Winnipeg, Houston is 27-14-8-0 against the team.
• The teams went to overtime/shootout 18 times in 44 IHL games, but just once in 17 AHL contests.
• Houston has won three of the last five home meetings.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston is 1-2-0-0 on a five-game homestand that wraps up Wednesday against Edmonton...Stephane Veilleux (13-10=23) is the Aeros' leading scorer, just ahead of Rickard Wallin (6-15=21)...Veilleux has 13 goals, three more than any other Aero...Houston has 19 players with at least one goal...Nineteen-year-old Brent Burns (5-8=13), Erik Reitz (0-12=12) and Zbynek Michalek (2-9=11) anchor the blueline...Mike Smith is 12-9-0 with a 2.44 gaa, while Josh Harding (5-7-1, 2.01 gaa) has missed the last 12 games with a concussion...Smith has appeared in 14 straight games - 12 starts - one shy of Frederic Chabot's franchise record.

Scouting the Moose
Manitoba has won four straight and seven of eight, plus three straight road games...The team has the best record in the Western Conference and is third overall in the AHL with 55 points...Manitoba's potent offense is led by Jason King (21-20=41) and Peter Sarno (6-35=41), while Ryan Kesler (18-17=35) and Lee Goren (19-15=34) give the Moose further depth...Veteran Nolan Baumgartner (5-17=22) is the team's leading defensive scorer...Alex Auld is 14-4-1 with a 2.22 gaa, while Wade Flaherty, who backstopped Milwaukee to the Calder Cup in the spring, is 12-6-1 with a 2.29 gaa.

2004-05 meetings (Aeros are 0-1-0-0 overall, Aeros are 0-1-0-0 at Houston)
Friday: Manitoba 3 at Houston 2
Tonight: Manitoba at Houston
March 19: Houston at Manitoba
March 20: Houston at Manitoba

Last game
Josh Green broke a tie 5:58 into the third period and Alex Auld finished with 38 saves for his fifth straight win, as the Manitoba Moose beat the Houston Aeros 3-2 on Derek Boogaard Bobblehead Night at Toyota Center. Jeff Hereema and Brandon Nolan also scored for Manitoba, which won its fourth straight and improved to 15-2-2-1 on the road despite being outshot 40-21. Kirby Law, playing in his 498th professional game, scored a pair of power play goals and Mike Smith made 18 saves

Quick Hits
• Houston is averaging 5,057 fans through 17 home games, which is a 15.6 percent increase over the same time span in 2003-04.
• Tonight, Houston's Dan Cavanaugh will play in his 254th game with the team, moving past Trent Cull for fifth place on the team's all-time list.
• The Aeros are 2-5-0-0 to begin a stretch of nine straight games versus teams with records above the .500 mark. The teams have a combined .638 points percentage. The Aeros next play a team with a losing record 1/21 in San Antonio.
• Manitoba is 13-3-0-1 against non-North Division foes.
• When Moose goalie Wade Flaherty made his pro debut in the ECHL in 1989, Aeros netminders Josh Harding and Mike Smith were five and seven years old.
• Houston is just 1-5-0-0 against North Division opponents at home, with the lone win coming 11/7 against Syracuse.
• The Aeros enter tonight's game with 37 points, in sixth in the West, but they have three games in hand on Grand Rapids (third with 40), six in hand on Cincinnati (tied for fourth with 38) and a whopping seven games in hand on San Antonio, which is tied with Cincinnati.
• Houston and Grand Rapids are the lone AHL teams that are above .500 on the road, but not above that mark at home.

Smith holding them down
• Aeros goalie Mike Smith has appeared in 14 straight games - 12 starts - including one game where he replaced the injured Josh Harding with five seconds remaining 11/28. Smith's 14-game run is one off Frederic Chabot's franchise record, set 12/8/99-1/21/00.
• Smith has a 1.41 gaa over his last five games, with a 2-3-0 record.
• Smith is 5-6-0 with a no decision in relief since Harding got injured, but he sports an impressive 2.02 gaa in that span.
• Smith is 12-5-0 when allowing zero or one goal in the first period, but he's 0-4-0 with a no decision when yielding two or more.
• Smith's OT loss to San Antonio 12/3 was his first ever in the AHL post-regulation. He is now 3-1 in OT and 3-0 in shootouts, and he went 3-1 in shootouts with ECHL Lexington in 2002-03.
• His three shootout wins are two off Jason LaBarbera's league-best total of five.
• The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder is 5-1-0 with a 2.42 gaa on the road but 7-8-0 with a 2.45 gaa at Toyota Center.
• In 16 home games, Smith has allowed 28 goals in the first two periods but just six in the third.
• Smith has yielded only four third-period goals in 12 games played in December and January.

PP unit sixth
• The Aeros snapped out of a 1-for-17 funk by going 2-for-7 Friday against Manitoba. Houston is sixth in the league on the power play 18.8 percent. In their last 20 games, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 25-11 on the power play.
• The Aeros are 14-9-2-0 when scoring a PPG and 3-6-0-1 when not scoring a PPG.
• Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 36-20 on the power play.
• The Aeros have allowed seven shorthanded goals, the last by Norfolk's Quintin Laing 12/18. That total has them three behind Manchester's league-high 10 SHG allowed.
• Manitoba ranks seventh in the AHL on the penalty kill at 87.0 percent, but it's just 18th on the road at 83.0 percent.
• The Moose had killed off 12-of-14 (83.3 percent) of its shorthanded chances over a five-game span before allowing Houston two goals on seven chances Friday.

Houston fourth on PK
• Houston has killed off 45-of-49 shorthanded chances in the last 11 games (91.8 percent), and Milwaukee has three of the last four PPG versus Houston.
• The Aeros have killed off 111-of-122 (91.0 percent) of their shorthanded chances over the last 25 games.
• Houston is 11-7-1-1 when not allowing a PPG and 6-8-1-0 when allowing a PPG.
• The Aeros are tied for fifth in the AHL with six SHG, all by different players. Only Lowell and Manchester also have six different players with a SHG.
• Manitoba is fifth in the AHL on the power play at 19.0 percent, and it is a robust 21.6 percent away from Winnipeg, the best of any road AHL team.
• The Moose is 4-for-23 (17.4 percent) with the man advantage over the last six games.

First and last two minutes are crucial
Houston has scored just 10 goals in the first or last two minutes of a period this season. The Aeros' opponents, meanwhile, have 21 goals in this crucial time. Houston is 1-6-0 this season when allowing a goal in the opening two minutes of a period.

Aeros/Moose connections
• The Aeros' Mark Cullen played three seasons with Manitoba's Justin Morrison at Colorado College. Aeros assistant coach Matt Shaw played for Colorado College in 1988-89 and was an assistant coach there from 1990-92.
• Houston head coach Todd McLellan coached Manitoba's Tim Smith from 2000-2002, Nathan Smith from 1998-2000 in WHL Swift Current, Josh Green from 1996-1997.
• Aeros captain Kirby Law spent two seasons at AHL Philadelphia with Manitoba's Joe DiPenta.
• Houston's Ray Giroux and Manitoba's Josh Green were teammates in 1999-2000 with the New York Islanders and AHL Lowell.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 16, 2005


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