Aeros fly north for set in Manitoba

March 19, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· An Aeros victory tonight, combined with a Cincinnati loss in Cleveland, would move them into sole possession of third place in the West. Houston, which has a game in hand on Cincinnati, has 72 points compared to 73 for the Ducks. Cincinnati is off tomorrow. Grand Rapids, which is seven points behind Houston with two games in hand, travels to Chicago today before playing host to Edmonton tomorrow. Houston hasn't had a share of third place since 12/6, and it was last in sole possession of that spot 12/4.
· Tonight's most intriguing matchup will likely come in the third period. Houston has yielded 41 third-period goals, one better than Hartford for the league lead. Manitoba, meanwhile, has outscored its opponents by a whopping 76-49 count in the final 20 minutes. Manitoba's 76 goals in the third are tops in the league.
· In a disturbing trend, the Aeros have allowed the game's first goal in six of seven contests. The Aeros are 11-20-4-4 when allowing the first goal, but 20-4-2-0 when scoring it. Houston has scored first just 26 times in 65 games, only one off the lowest total in the AHL. Houston has trailed at some point in 13 of its 31 victories. The Aeros are 7-11-5-3 when trailing on the road
· Aeros fourth-year winger Kyle Wanvig is picking a perfect time to hit full stride. Wanvig has six points (3-3=6) in his last four games and seven (3-4=7) over the last five, including a pair of three-point contests. Wanvig had two goals, including the game-winner, and an assist in Wednesday's 5-1 win over the Grizzlies. Houston's leading scorer in 2003-04 with 25 goals and 41 points, Wanvig now has 10 scores and 24 points this season. Wanvig's GWG Wednesday was his 15th with the Aeros, moving him past Brian Wiseman and into second place on the team's all-time list. Mark Freer holds down the top spot with 21.
· Aeros centerman/winger Pierre-Marc Bouchard continued his power play mastery Wednesday with two more assists on the man advantage. Bouchard, who leads the team with 44 points (10-34=44), has tallied 24 of those points (5-19=24) on the power play. Bouchard has been on the ice for six of his team's last seven PPG. Bouchard is first on the Aeros with 12 multiple-point games, and his team has only one regulation loss (7-1-3-1) when he has two points or more.

Aeros at Moose (Aeros are 35-17-10-0 all-time, Aeros are 17-8-5-0 at Manitoba/Denver)
· Tonight is the 63rd all-time meeting between the teams, but it marks the Aeros' first trip to the brand-new MTS Centre.
· The teams split four games in 2003-04, with each team going 1-1-0-0 on the other team's ice.
· The Aeros are 9-8-1-0 against the Moose, including a 4-3-1-0 mark in Manitoba, since moving to the AHL in 2001-02.
· Since the Moose moved from Minnesota to Winnipeg, Houston is 27-15-8-0 against the team.
· The teams went to overtime/shootout 18 times in 44 IHL games, but just once in 18 AHL contests.
· The Aeros split two games in their last visit to Winnipeg January 30-31, dealing the Moose a 5-2 defeat but then falling 7-2.
· Houston has lost three straight regulation games against Manitoba for the first time in team history. The only other time the Aeros were winless in three straight was an 0-1-2 stretch 11/3-12/21/00.
· The Aeros had an all-time record of 12-7-5-0 at Winnipeg Arena.
· Houston rookie goalie Josh Harding finished his junior hockey career at nearby Brandon.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston has points in 21 of its last 29 games (14-8-4-3) since getting swept from Manitoba 1/14 and 1/16...Pierre-Marc Bouchard (10-34=44) leads the Aeros in scoring and has 25 points (5-20=25) in his last 27 games...Veteran Ray Giroux (9-18=27) anchors a well-balanced blueline and is a team-best plus-six...Mike Smith is 16-15-3 with a 2.38 gaa and five shutouts, while Josh Harding is 15-14-1 with four shutouts and a 2.00 gaa to rank tied for sixth in the AHL.

Scouting the Moose
Manitoba, the AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, won 5-2 in Milwaukee on Thursday to snap a four-game winless streak (0-2-2-0), but it is 2-6-2-1 since February 23 to fall into a second-place tie with St. John's in the North Division...Manitoba has two games in hand on the Maple Leafs...Peter Sarno paces the Moose with 67 points (13-54=67), while talented rookie Kevin Bieksa leads the blueliners with 30 points (8-22=30) and is plus-19, second best on the team and easily tops among all AHL rookies...Alex Auld is 21-13-4 with a 2.49 gaa and beat the Aeros twice in January, while veteran Wade Flaherty, who backstopped Milwaukee to the 2004 Calder Cup title, is 15-8-3 with a 2.31 gaa.

2004-05 meetings (Aeros are 0-2-0-0 overall, First meeting at Manitoba)
January 14: Manitoba 3 at Houston 2 (SO)
January 16: Manitoba 3 at Houston 1
Tonight: Houston at Manitoba
Tomorrow: Houston at Manitoba

Last Game
Jamie Storr finished with 34 saves and Utah scored on all three of its shootout attempts against former Grizzly Mike Smith, as Utah outlasted the Houston Aeros 2-1 at The "E" Center. Jakub Koreis scored his third goal of the season - all against Houston - as Utah won for the second time in three games and avenged a 5-1 loss to the Aeros on Wednesday. Storr also won a 2-1 shootout against Smith last month in West Valley City. Smith stopped 30 shots, including a second-period penalty shot, for the Aeros, which got a third-period goal from Marc Cavosie.

Quick Hits
· In its 31 wins, Houston has allowed just 11 third-period goals, but in the remainder of its 34 games, it has yielded 30. The Aeros are 2-12-2-1 in their last 17 games when allowing a third-period goal. Houston has yielded 41 third-period goals, one better than Hartford for the league lead.
· Marc Cavosie scored 1:53 into the third period last night. For the second straight game but for only the third road game all season, Houston scored a goal in the first two minutes of a period. The Aeros have scored a goal in a period's first two minutes on nine occasions overall, and they are 6-2-0-1 in those contests.
· Aeros defenseman Ray Giroux had an assist Wednesday, so it's no surprise the Aeros were victorious. Houston is 8-1-0-0 when Giroux scores a goal, 12-2-2-1 when he picks up an assist and 18-3-2-1 when he has a point of any kind.
· Manitoba's 16 home wins are only one off the lowest total (Cleveland) in the North Division. Manitoba plays 10 of its remaining 15 games at the brand-new MTS Centre.
· Houston picked up its 16th point (5-19-3-3) when trailing after two periods last night. Only Hershey, at 19 (9-24-1-0), has more points in that situation.
· Moose goalie Alex Auld is 10-6-2 with a 2.10 gaa at home, but 11-7-2 with a 2.82 gaa on the road. Veteran Wade Flaherty is nearly the polar opposite. Flaherty is 9-3-2 with a 1.71 gaa on the road, but 6-5-1 with a 2.97 at home.
· The Aeros are 14-11-5-3 on the road. Only four teams have fewer regulation road losses than Houston. Manitoba is one of those four teams, having gone 20-9-2-4 away from Winnipeg.

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 10-7-0 with a 1.99 gaa.
· Harding, the second youngest goalie in the AHL behind WBS' Marc-Andre Fleury, has four shutouts. No other Aeros rookie goalie had more than one shutout.
· Harding is 15-11-1 with a 1.94 since an 0-3-0 start to his pro campaign.
· Harding is tied for sixth in the league in gaa (2.00), and second among rookies. Lowell's Cam Ward is at 1.93.
· Harding has allowed 26 goals in the first period, but only 15 in the second and 16 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 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 7-4-2 with a 2.45 gaa on the road but 9-11-1 with a better 2.34 gaa at Toyota Center. Each of Smith's five shutouts have come at home.
· Smith is 1-0-1 with a no decision and a 0.73 gaa in three games this week to lower his gaa to 2.38, now good for 17th in the AHL.

PP unit tied for fifth
· The Aeros are tied for fifth in the league on the power play at 17.6 percent.
· Houston is 6-for-22 (27.3 percent) with the man advantage in the last four games, including a pair of games with three PPG.
· In their last 48 games, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 46-25 on the power play.
· Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 57-35 on the power play.
· Houston is 21-12-5-1 when scoring a PPG and 10-12-1-3 when not scoring a PPG.
· Manitoba is 14th in the AHL on the penalty kill at 84.5 percent.

Houston tied for third on PK
· Houston is tied for third in the league on the penalty kill at 87.9 percent. The Aeros have yielded a league-low 35 PPG.
· Following a 46-of-48 kill streak 2/4-2/23, the Aeros have allowed 11 goals on 59 chances (81.4 percent kill rate) over their last 13 games.
· Houston is 21-13-2-3 when not allowing a PPG and 10-11-4-1 when allowing a PPG.
· Manitoba is fourth in the league on the man advantage at 17.7 percent.



American Hockey League Stories from March 19, 2005


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