Aeros debut Third Jerseys on CD Holder Night

Published on March 4, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· Hartford's Jason LaBarbera has shut out the Aeros in the teams' last three meetings, and the shutout streak is at 211:55 dating back to Hnat Domenichelli's power play goal 1/22/03. LaBarbera is 5-1-0 with a 1.77 goals against average in his career versus the Aeros. LaBarbera, Marc Lamothe and Joey MacDonald are the only goalies with three career shutouts versus the Aeros. LaBarbera outdueled Aeros rookie standout Josh Harding in a 1-0 shootout win 11/1 in Hartford, making 35 saves to Harding's 27.
· Houston is an impressive 5-1-1-0 when playing the third game in three nights, including a 2-1-0-0 mark at home. The Aeros have only a pair of "three-in-threes" left after tonight.
· After failing to win in their last four attempts to get to six games over the .500 mark, the Aeros reached that plateau Thursday 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 match that win total. The Aeros are two games over .500 at home (14-12-1-1), tied for their season-high. Houston could also close within one point of third-place Cincinnati with a win tonight and a Ducks home loss to Chicago. The Aeros have three games in hand on Cincinnati.
· Houston's overtime woes continued last night, when San Antonio's Joel Kwiatkowski scored a PPG with 23 seconds left. The Aeros dropped to 2-6 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 five straight. Houston's six OT losses have tied the 2001-02 franchise record, and the Aeros are also tied for the AHL lead with Albany with six OT losses. The good news for Houston is that after its five previous extra session losses, it has rebounded for a 4-1-0-0 mark, including four straight wins. In each of Houston's last two OT losses, it has been done in by a PPG.
· Goals should be at a premium with both teams ranking in the top eight of the league in team defense, but the third-period should be particularly stingy. Hartford and Houston are tied with Rochester for the top spot in the AHL with just 38 third-period goals allowed. Houston's end result is usually dependent on its third-period play. In its 27 wins, Houston has allowed just 11 third-period goals, but in the remainder of its 30 games, it has yielded 27. The Aeros are 2-10-2-1 in their last 15 games when allowing a third-period goal.

Wolf Pack at Aeros (Aeros are 4-3-0-2 overall, Aeros are 2-1-0-1 at Houston)
· The teams meet for the 10th time today - fifth in Houston.
· Houston is 0-1-1-1 in the last three meetings, getting shut out in each game.
· In the first meeting of the season, Jason LaBarbera made 35 saves plus four in the shootout, as the Wolf Pack beat the Aeros 1-0 in a morning game at Hartford Civic Center. Chad Wiseman's goal in the shootout went down as the game-winner. Josh Harding was the tough-luck loser with 27 saves.
· In the last meeting in Houston 1/8/04, Ken Gernander scored the game's lone goal with 12 seconds left in overtime and Jason LaBarbera (31 saves) outdueled Johan Holmqvist (28).
· Five of the previous nine meetings have resulted in one team being shut out.
· Hartford is the first team to shut out the Aeros in three straight games.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston has points in 16 of its last 21 games (10-5-4-2) for a .619 winning percentage in that span, and also has only two regulation losses in its last 11 games (5-2-3-1)...The Aeros have points in four straight games (2-0-2-0) since surrendering a one-goal lead late in regulation to Cincinnati last Friday...Pierre-Marc Bouchard (10-29=39) leads the Aeros in scoring by two points over fellow Quebec native Stephane Veilleux (15-21=37)...Bouchard has 20 points (5-15=20) in his last 19 games...Veteran Ray Giroux (8-16=24) anchors a well-balanced blueline that includes five players in double digits in points...Mike Smith is 15-14-2 with a 2.45 gaa and five shutouts, while Josh Harding is 12-12-1 with a 2.07 gaa.

Scouting the Wolf Pack
Hartford, the AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers, can move into a tie with Manchester atop the entire Eastern Conference with a victory tonight...The Wolf Pack has lost in regulation only twice in the last eight games (5-2-1-0), but seven of those eight games were at home...Hartford has lost four of five on the road...Dominic Moore leads Hartford with 41 points (14-27=41), while Jeff Hamilton has 40 points (17-23=40) in only 40 games...Jamie Lundmark has five of his team's nine goals over the last five games...Former Aero Lawrence Nycholat, who also played four seasons of junior for Aeros head coach Todd McLellan, paces the blueline with 36 points (5-31=36)...Reigning AHL MVP Jason LaBarbera is 24-11-1 with a 1.94 gaa, while Steve Valiquette is 13-9-1 and leads the AHL with a 1.83 gaa...Valiquette and LaBarbera rank first and second, respectively, in the AHL in gaa.

2004-05 meetings (Second of 2 meetings, Aeros are 0-0-0-1 overall, First meeting at Houston)
November 1: Houston 0 at Hartford 1 (SO)
Tonight: Hartford at Houston

Last Game
Joel Kwiatkowski scored a power play goal with 23 seconds left in overtime, as the San Antonio Rampage saw a late two-goal lead disappear, but then recovered for a 4-3 win over the Houston Aeros at SBC Center. Zbynek Michalek forced overtime with 34 seconds left after Brent Burns got the Aeros within one with a power play goal with 3:14 remaining. Last night marked the second time in six days that the Aeros have lost an overtime game on a power play goal in the final 23 seconds after rallying from a multiple-goal deficit.

Quick Hits
· Houston's Derek Boogaard moved into a second place tie with Trent Cull and Steve Jaques last night with his 44th fighting major with the Aeros. Mike Yeo is the all-time leader with 51. Boogaard has 438 PIM's overall, one behind Gord Kruppke for sixth on the franchise's all-time list, and two behind current teammate Kyle Wanvig for fifth.
· Aeros centerman Rickard Wallin needs one more point to become the 21st player in team history to record 100 points.
· The Aeros have scored the game's first goal in four of six games after allowing it in seven straight contests. The Aeros, who have trailed at some point in 13 of their last 17 games, are 9-17-4-3 when allowing the first goal, but 18-4-2-0 when scoring it. Houston has scored first just 24 times in 57 games.
· Aeros winger Matt Foy saw his four-game goal streak and five-game point streak snapped last night.
· Hartford sports a 25-5-1-1 home mark, but it is only 12-13-1-1 on the road.
· The Wolf Pack leads the AHL in PIM's/game with 30.51. Hartford's 120 major penalties are 15 more than any other team.
· Hartford is a perfect 4-0-0-0 versus the West Division, while Houston is 0-2-0-1 against the Atlantic.
· The Pack enjoys a 58-38 third-period goal margin, tops in the league. Rochester is plus-19. Hartford has scored just 17 third-period goals on the road, compared to 41 at home.
· Hartford leads the league in defense, allowing 2.08 goals per game. Houston is eighth at 2.48 gpg.
· The Wolf Pack is 13 games over .500 in one-goal games (18-5-2-2), second to Rochester's 14 games over that plateau (17-3-3-5).
· The Pack's Trevor Gillies has a penalty in seven straight games, with 45 PIM's in that run. Gillies and Houston's Derek Boogaard fought 11/1.
· Jason LaBarbera's goals against average on the road (2.56) is more than a full goal higher than it is at home (1.50). The reigning AHL MVP is 17-4-0 in the friendly confines of Hartford Civic Center, but just 7-7-1 on the road.

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. 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).
· 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 Wednesday 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 6-3-1 with a 2.50 gaa on the road but 9-11-1 with a better 2.42 gaa at Toyota Center. All of Smith's five shutouts have come at home.

PP unit tied for fifth
· The Aeros are tied for fifth in the league on the power play at 18.0 percent.
· Houston is 4-for-24 (16.7 percent) with the man advantage over its last seven games.
· In their last 40 games, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 40-21 on the power play.
· Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 51-31 on the power play.
· Houston is 19-12-5-1 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 eight PPG.
· The Aeros have allowed seven shorthanded goals, but none since Norfolk's Quintin Laing 12/18.
· Hartford ranks second in the AHL on the penalty kill at 88.5 percent, but it is tied for 15th on the road at 83.2 percent.
· The Wolf Pack has killed off an impressive 34-of-36 (94.4 percent) of its shorthanded chances in the last six games.

Houston down to sixth on PK
· Houston is sixth in the league on the penalty kill at 87.7 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 seven goals on 24 chances (70.8 percent kill rate) over their last five games.
· Houston is 17-13-2-2 when not allowing a PPG and 9-9-4-1 when allowing a PPG.
· Hartford is eighth in the league on the power play at 16.6 percent.
· The Wolf Pack is 2-for-26 (7.3 percent) on the power play in the last five games.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 4, 2005


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