Aeros Game Day, March 18: Aeros Vs. OKC
March 18, 2012 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release
The Houston Aeros (31-20-3-9, 74 pts.) close out a six-game homestand on Sunday (5:05 p.m. CST) against the OKC Barons (39-17-4-4, 86 pts.) at Toyota Center.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
---The Aeros hold the No. 4 spot in the eight-team Western Conference playoff race. OKC holds the No. 1 spot in the Western Conference.
---The Aeros have won three straight and four of the last five games.
--- Eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs: the three division winners will be seeded first through third in order of points, and the next five teams in order of points will be seeded fourth through eighth.
THIS WEEK'S GAMES
Tuesday (March 13) --- vs. ABB (4-1 W)
Friday (March 16) --- vs. RFD (4-3 W)
Saturday (March 17) --- vs. ABB (1-0 SOW)
Sunday (March 18) --- vs. OKC (5:05 p.m. CST)
LAST GAME
Joe Fallon made 32 saves in regulation and stopped all six shots in the shootout, and David McIntyre had the lone shootout goal as the Houston Aeros defeated the Abbotsford Heat 1-0 in a shootout Saturday at Toyota Center.
AEROS BROADCASTS
Radio: 1070 KNTH-AM
Listen online: www.aeros.com
Watch online: www.ahllive.com
Listen on Smartphone including BlackBerry: Download the TuneIn Radio App; search Houston, then KNTH.
LIVE SCORING AND STATS
The AHL provides live scoring and stats via the GameCenter tab at www.theahl.com.
AEROS/BARONS HEAD-TO-HEAD
This is the seventh of eight meetings this season... HOU is 0-3-0-3 against the Barons (0-1-0-2 at home, 0-2-0-1 on the road) ... HOU PP is 3/34... OKC PP is 9/23... All-time HOU is 9-4-0-3 (4-2-0-2 home, 5-2-0-1 road).
RECENT AEROS TRANSACTIONS
---March 12: F Josh Lunden released from PTO
---March 12: D Jamie Fritsch signed PTO
---March 5: F Josh Lunden signed PTO
AEROS INJURIES
Jeff Penner has missed the last 24 games... Mike McKenzie has missed the last 21 games... Darcy Kuemper has missed the last seven games.
AEROS MILESTONES
---Jon DiSalvatore's 20th goal (on March 5) was his 69th as an Aero, placing him first in franchise history (AHL only, 4th AHL/IHL). His 41st game on Jan. 21 at TEX was his 200th as an Aero, placing him 10th all-time in Aeros (AHL) history.
---Jeff Taffe notched his 400th AHL point with an assist on Jon DiSalvatore's goal on Jan. 8 at SA. Taffe had two assists while skating in his 500th AHL game on Jan. 21 at TEX.
---Drew Bagnall played in his 300th AHL game at TEX on Jan. 21.
AEROS PLAYER NOTES
--- Justin Fontaine has points in six of his last seven (4-5=9) and points in 11 of the last 13 games (5-12=17). Fontaine also has five multi-point games in the last 12 and ten multi-point games total this season.
---Jeff Taffe has three goals in the last five games, points in three of the last five games (3-6=9) and six of the last nine games (5-8=13).
---David McIntyre registered his sixth two-point game of the season on March 16.
---Jon DiSalvatore has points in four of five games (4-1=5); points in nine of the last 11 games (10-5=15); and 12 of the last 15 (11-7=18).
---Chad Rau has an assist in two of the last five games and points in five of his last nine games (3-7=10).
---Chay Genoway has assists in four of five games.
---The Aeros have been involved in 92 transactions since Jan. 1 involving 34 different players. Overall the Aeros have been involved in 158 transactions since the start of the season.
---A total of 48 different players have seen game action for Houston this season. That's a new team record, eclipsing the previous record of 43 (set last season).
---Roster players by season (01-02/36, 02-03/35, 03-04/41, 04-05/31, 05-06/35, 06-07/26, 07-08/32, 08-09/42, 09-10/38, 10-11/43).
TEAM NOTABLES
---Houston has earned at least a point in 20 of the 36 games (11-16-3-6) in which they have allowed the first goal. They are 19-4-0-3 when scoring first.
---The Aeros netted two power play goals in the same period for the first time since scoring twice in the middle period against San Antonio on Jan. 8
---Out of 31 wins this season, 28 have come when the Aeros allow three or fewer goals and 22 have come when scoring four or more.
---Houston has played 32 games that have been decided by one goal (13-7-3-9).
---The Aeros edged Grand Rapids 3-2 on Jan. 11 for their first shootout victory of the season.
--- The attendance of 13,390 on Feb. 5 was the largest crowd for the Aeros since moving to Toyota Center in the 2002-03 season. It was the largest Aeros crowd since 13,342 on Jan. 16, 2004. The crowd of 11,373 was the second largest crowd for the Aeros this season.
AEROS GOALIES
FALLON --- Signed PTO on March 3... Appeared in 47 games with Las Vegas of the ECHL this season, posting a 30-10-1-3 record along with a 2.39 GAA and .912 SV%... Led the ECHL in wins (26) and minutes played (2739) and was tied for second in shutouts (3) when signed by HOU... Made 32 saves and stopped all six SO attempts in 1-0 win vs. ABB on March 17.
KEETLEY--- Signed PTO on March 5... Is 12-18-1-2 on the season with a 2.97 goals-against average (GAA) and a .910 SV% with Bakersfield (ECHL)... In his last nine decisions, posted a 6-2-0-1 record with a 2.30 GAA and a .926 SV%.
POWER PLAY
Is 3/12 in the last three games... Went 8/38 in games 51-60 (21.1 %)... Went 8/43 in games 41-50 (18.6%)... Went 7/38 (18.4%) in games 31-40... Went 5/37 (13.5%) in games 21-30... Went 20/106 (18/9%) in games 1-20... Set a season-high going 3/5 in a 4-2 win at SAN on Oct. 28... Tied the 3/5 mark on March 10 vs. GR.
PENALTY KILL
Opponents are 1/11 on the PP in the last three games... Stopped 6/34 in games 51-60 (82.4%)... Stopped 30/39 (76.9 %) in games 41-50... Stopped 28/36 (77.7%) in games 31-40... Stopped 20/27 (74.0%) in games 21-30... Stopped 80/97 (82.4%) in games 1-20.
AEROS PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
4 - BAGH-nawl
7 - FRED-haym
8 - MED-vekh
13 - FOO-koh
14 - deh-SAL-vuh-tohr
20 - ROWH (like now)
22 - TAYF
26 - MACK-in-tyre
27 - mick-MILL-uhn
34 - KEET-lee
35 - KEHM-puhr
39 - GEHN-oh-way
61 - KOO-muh
Torchetti --- TOHR-cheh-TEE
Van Ryn --- VAN-RIGHN
LaPlante --- luh-PLAHNT
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American Hockey League Stories from March 18, 2012
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