Aeros Game Day

December 5, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Mighty Ducks at Aeros (Aeros lead all-time series 5-2-1-0, 3-0-1-0 at Houston)

Houston looks to remain unbeaten all-time at home against Cincinnati when the teams hook up tonight at Toyota Center. Since joining the American Hockey League in 2001-02, the Aeros are 3-0-1-0 at home against the Mighty Ducks. Overall, Houston sports a 5-2-1-0 mark versus Cincinnati. Last season, the teams met four times, with Houston sweeping the season series. The Aeros won their two home games in the series by a combined 9-4 margin December 28 and 30. Houston scored at least four goals in each of the four meetings last season. The teams will meet seven more times in 2003-04.

2003-04 meetings (First of eight meetings)

December 5: Cincinnati at Houston January 27: Cincinnati at Houston

December 19: Houston at Cincinnati April 1: Cincinnati at Houston

December 20: Houston at Cincinnati April 2: Cincinnati at Houston

January 2: Houston at Cincinnati April 9: Houston at Cincinnati

Last game – David Gove snapped a tie with 5:08 left in regulation and Mike Smith turned aside 25 shots, as the Utah Grizzlies beat the Houston Aeros 3-1 at the "E" Center, sending the Aeros to their eighth straight game without a win, a new franchise record. Jarrod Skalde added a power-play goal and Zenon Konopka scored 64 seconds after Gove as Utah snapped a three-game home winless streak. Dan Cavanaugh had made it a 1-1 game 9:12 into the third for Houston, which fell to 0-6-1-1 in its last eight. Johan Holmqvist made 25 saves for the Aeros, who went 0-for-8 on the power play and are 3-for-58 in the last nine games with the man advantage.

Scouting the Aeros – Houston is a winless 0-6-1-1 in its last eight after a 3-1 road loss to Utah on Wednesday. The Aeros will look to get back on the winning track at Toyota Center, where they are 2-6-1-1 and haven't won since November 2. Rickard Wallin has 15 points (8g, 7a) to lead the Aeros, but has gone without a point in four straight games. Dan Cavanaugh's two-game point streak has moved him into second place on the scoring list with 13 points (6g, 7a). Kyle Wanvig (6g, 6a) is third on the team with 12 points, but is also pointless in four straight games. Houston's leading defenseman is Jason Marshall, returned to the team by the Minnesota Wild last Saturday. Marshall has eight points (2g, 6a) in 18 games. Fellow blueliner Erik Reitz has seven points (1g, 6a) in 21 games. Travis Roche has pitched in four points (2g, 2a) in 10 games since being reassigned from Minnesota in mid-November. All of Roche's points came during a four-game point streak November 22-28. Last year's Calder Cup Most Valuable Player, goalie Johan Holmqvist, has started 19 of the team's first 22 games, going 5-12-2 with a 3.24 goals against average. His backup is second-year netminder Kyle Kettles, who is 0-3-0 with a 3.65 goals against average.

Eight-game winless streak is new franchise mark – The Aeros' 3-1 loss in Utah on Wednesday stretched their winless streak to eight games (0-6-1-1), a new franchise record. Houston twice previously went seven games without a win, both times when the team played in the International Hockey League – most recently an 0-6-1 stretch from March 1-20, 1996. Houston's AHL team-high winless streak had been six games. The Aeros' six-game AHL slide came from December 6-20 of last season. Houston's last win came on November 19, a 3-1 decision in Grand Rapids. On the road, the Aeros are winless in six straight (0-4-1-1), tying a franchise record. Houston also went through a six-game road winless streak (0-4-1-1) from February 19-March 11 of last season. The Aeros are also 0-4-0-1 in their last five games at the Toyota Center. Houston's last win in its new arena was a 2-1 victory over Manitoba on November 2. Houston's last six-game home winless slide was from January 2-21, 2001 (0-5-1), and its franchise record for such a streak is eight, from December 5-31, 1995.

Aeros notch even strength goal – Aeros right wing Dan Cavanaugh scored 9:12 into the third period Wednesday in Utah, snapping the team's streak of 224 minutes, 56 seconds without an even-strength goal. The Aeros had one power play goal and one shorthanded goal in that stretch, which spanned back to Chris Dyment's goal at 4:16 of the first period last Friday in Syracuse. Since Travis Roche's power-play goal gave the Aeros a 4-0 lead midway through the first period of that game against the Crunch, the Aeros have been outscored 15-2.

Scouting the Mighty Ducks – Cincinnati tries for just its second win in seven games tonight, having dropped its last two by a combined 6-2 margin. The Mighty Ducks, who will play the game without leading scorer Tony Martensson, come into the game off a 2-0 home loss to Grand Rapids, as they fired 35 shots at the Griffins' Marc Lemothe, but none got by him. Cincinnati's Ilya Bryzgalov made 22 saves in the contest and has allowed just five goals in his last three games – but only one win to show for it. Cincinnati's top two scorers are both Sweden natives. Martensson has team bests of 17 points and 13 assists, but he is currently with the parent Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Michel Holmqvist has 14 points (7g, 7a) to lead active Cincinnati players. The Mighty Ducks blueline is manned by former Minnesota Wild defenseman (three games played with the Wild) Chris Armstrong, whose 12 points and 10 assists lead the corps. Bryzgalov is 8-8-1 with a 1.76 goals against average and four shutouts, vastly improved from last season's 12-26-9, 2.82 goals against average campaign. Bryzgalov was Cincinnati's second-round pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. The Russian's backup is Eddy Ferhi, who is 1-2-2 with a 2.74 goals against average in this, his rookie season out of Sacred Heart University.

Better starts needed – Houston had been outscored 26-14 in the first period this season, the second worst differential of any AHL team. Only the St. John's Maple Leafs (28-14) have a worse first-period differential.

Get these guys on the scoresheet – Rickard Wallin, Stephane Veilleux and Kyle Wanvig each have at least one point in four of the team's five victories.

Penalty kill update –

Houston killed off its first 31 shorthanded chances this season. Since then, opponents are 13-for-84 (15.5 percent) on the power play. Opponents are 4-for-31 (12.9 percent) over the past four games and 1-for-15 (6.7 percent) in the last two, including a 10-for-10 penalty kill effort Monday against Milwaukee. Four of Houston's five victories have come when the team hasn't allowed a power play goal. The Aeros have allowed just two power play goals in 44 chances at Toyota Center (95.5 percent), tops in the AHL.

Power play update –

Houston enters tonight's game 12 of 137 on the power play (8.8 percent), last among 28 AHL teams.

The Aeros are 3-for-58 on the power play (5.2 percent) in the last nine games.

Houston hasn't scored on its last 30 man-advantage attempts, and has one goal in its last 40 attempts.

Three of the Aeros' 12 power-play tallies this season came in a 5-1 win over Cleveland on October 24.

Houston's 137 power plays are 15 more than any other team in the league has (Manchester, 122).

Home sweet home – The Aeros are in a stretch where they play just two of eight games away from Toyota Center. The only road game from now until December 19 is a week from tonight in Grand Rapids. Houston entertains Chicago on Sunday, then San Antonio next Saturday.

Boogaard at 299 career penalty minutes – Houston's Derek Boogaard picked up four penalty minutes on Wednesday against Utah, moving him to 299 career penalty minutes in just 49 games. Boogaard, who had 240 penalty minutes in 33 games with ECHL Louisiana in 2002-03, is averaging 6.1 PIM per game in his two-year pro career. Boogaard leads the Aeros with 60 penalty minutes in 16 games.

Cavanaugh has points in two straight – The Aeros' Dan Cavanaugh has a hand in each of the Aeros' last two goals. He assisted on Chris Bala's shorthanded score Monday, then tallied on a helper from newcomer Ed McGrane Wednesday. Cavanaugh's 13 points (6g, 7a) are second on the team, trailing Rickard Wallin's total of 15 (8g, 7a). Cavanaugh is halfway to last year's career-best total of 26 points.

Bryzgalov knows what he needs to do to win – Cincinnati's Ilya Bryzgalov has an 8-8-1 record this season, and half of his eight wins have come via the shutout. The netminder leads the AHL with four blankings. The Mighty Ducks themselves have been shut out three times this season. Cincinnati has won just one game when allowing more than two goals, and four of its nine overall wins have come via shutout.

Bryzgalov winless versus Aeros – Mighty Ducks netminder Ilya Bryzgalov has not fared well against Houston in his career. The Russia native is 0-4-0 with a 3.77 goals against average in four career games versus the Aeros.

Quick hits

The Aeros are a perfect 5-0-0-0 when allowing one goal this season, and 0-13-2-2 when yielding two or more.

Houston has led in just four of their last 15 games. The Aeros are 2-1-0-1 in those four contests.

The Aeros outshot only two times in their first 19 games. The Aeros have been outshot though in each of their last three contests.

Houston added center Ed McGrane prior to Wednesday's game. McGrane, a four-year standout at UMass-Lowell, has played 19 games with CHL Corpus Christi this season, totaling 21 points (14g, 7a). McGrane assisted on Dan Cavanaugh's goal Wednesday.

The Ducks and Aeros rank sixth and seventh, respectively, in the AHL in penalty minutes with totals of 20.73 and 20.59 PIM/game.

Houston president Tom Garrity served in the same capacity with Cincinnati prior to this season.

Cincinnati's Mike Mottau was a teammate of Houston goalie Johan Holmqvist for most of three seasons, from 2000-2003, in Hartford. Mottau also spent time in Saint John last season alongside current Aero Jan Vodrazka.

Mighty Duck Cam Severson played 65 games with Hartford in 2001-02, alongside Aeros netminder Johan Holmqvist.

Mighty Ducks defenseman Chris Armstrong spent one season in the Wild organization. He played 77 games with Cleveland in 2000-01, and also saw action in three games with Minnesota that season, his only three NHL games.

Cincinnati is tied for the AHL lead with five shorthanded goals.

The Mighty Ducks are outscoring their opponents 20-12 in the third period this season.

Cincinnati netminder Ilya Bryzgalov has a 2.23 goals against average on the road, nearly a full goal higher than his average at home (1.34)

The Mighty Ducks rank fifth in the AHL with a stingy 2.09 goals against average. Houston, meanwhile, is allowing 3.36 goals per game, 28th and last in the league.



American Hockey League Stories from December 5, 2003


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