Aeros Gameday

Published on March 7, 2007 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Eight things you need to know

- After last week becoming just the fifth player in team history to play in 300 games, Houston veteran D Curtis Murphy is also closing in on becoming just the fourth player - and first blueliner - in team history to reach 200 points in his career. Murphy enters play tonight with 199 points (55-144=199) in 301 career games. Murphy, who has not missed a game in his four seasons with the Aeros, ranks tied for 10th among AHL defensemen with 31 points (6-25=31). Murphy, though, is still looking for his first PPG of the season. Murphy is the Aeros' all-time AHL leader with 22 PPG, but hasn't scored one in the last 70 regular- and post-season games, dating back to 4/15/06 at Chicago. Teammate D Erik Reitz will soon join Murphy on the 300-games played list. He is current at 296.

- Houston is 0-8-2-1 in its last 11 road games since defeating Iowa 3-1 on 1/12. The 11-game slide is a new franchise record. Houston was 0-7-2-0 from 1/31-2/26/04. The Aeros' five straight road regulation losses have also tied a team record, established earlier this season. Houston's winless slide is tied with Portland for the longest run in the AHL this season. The last team to go winless in 12 straight road games in a single season was Springfield, winless in 16 games from 12/31/04-4/3/05.

- The Aeros are 0-6-0-1 in their last seven games overall, their longest winless streak since going 0-5-2-1 from 3/17-3/31. The Aeros are 0-8-2-1 in their last 11 games in the month of March, dating back to last season. Houston has lost four straight games in regulation for the first time since 11/28-12/3/03. Only twice in team history have the Aeros dropped five or more games in regulation in a row. Houston's franchise record is six, set from 9/30-10/15/95 to begin the season, and the Aeros lost five in a row in their inaugural season 12/28/94-1/6/95.

- The Aeros have not held a scoring advantage in the third period in 11 of their last 14 games. In their last three games, the Aeros have been outscored 7-1 in the final 20 minutes, and in their last 10 games, it has been a 17-4 deficit. Houston has been outscored 66-51 in the third period this season.

- Slow starts are one of the main causes of the Aeros' recent woes. The Aeros have allowed the game's first goal in six of their last seven games, and haven't led after one period in any of those seven games. Not surprisingly, Houston is winless (0-6-0-1) in that stretch.

- Houston is 8-12-3-6 in one-goal games, but just 2-9-3-2 in its last 16 such games. The Aeros have only two non shootout one-goal wins, the last coming 3-2 at Iowa 11/9. Houston's 12 regulation losses and 21 total non-wins in one-goal games are the most in the AHL. Chicago is 9-4-2-5 in one-goal games but has an AHL-high 16 wins by four or more goals. No other team has more than eight such victories.

- Aeros RW Matt Foy has team-best and career-highs in goals (24) and points (44). Foy's goal last Saturday was his 62nd all-time with the Aeros, tying him with Brian Wiseman for fifth place on the franchise's all-time list. Only Kirby Law has more goals (68) among the Aeros' AHL players. Eighteen of Foy's 24 goals this season have come at Toyota Center. Foy also has a flare for the dramatic - 11 of his 24 goals have come in the third period. Foy has 382 career PIM to move into 10th place on the team's all-time list, becoming the second player player to be ranked in the top 10 of the Aeros' all-time lists in both points and PIM. Foy is seventh with 133 points. Mike Yeo is also in the top 10 on both lists, ranking tied for 10th in points and fourth in PIM's. Foy's 108 PIM this season are six behind D Erik Reitz for the team lead. Foy is looking to become the first Aero in team history to lead the team in both scoring and PIM.

- Houston veteran C Jason Morgan assisted on RW Matt Foy's goal Saturday night, Morgan's seventh point (2-5=7) in a 10-game stretch. Since being held without a point in the season's first eight games, and then missing just shy of two months due to a call-up and an injury, Morgan has posted 15 points (7-8=15) in 30 games. Morgan enters tonight's game just two points shy of 300 in his pro career. Morgan has 298 points (96-202=298) in 613 games throughout his NHL, AHL and IHL travels.

Aeros at Wolves (Aeros are 41-30-14-4 all-time, Aeros are 17-19-6-2 at Chicago)

- Tonight is the 90th all-time meeting between the Wolves and Aeros - 45th in Chicago. Houston has played Chicago more times than any other team.

- The teams once played 14 OT/SO games out of 20 from 1/9/03-2/12/05, so it's rather remarkable they have played just two OT/SO games in the last 19 meetings.

- The Aeros are just 5-10-3-2 in their last 20 all-time trips to Chicago, but have wins in each of their last two visits.

- An Aeros victory tonight would be their third at Allstate Arena this season. It would mark the first time they've won three times in Chicago in a single season since 2001-02, but they needed six games (3-2-1-0) to do.

Scouting the Aeros

The Aeros (21-31-3-6) have 51 points, seven points behind sixth-place San Antonio with five games in hand...Houston begins March by playing nine of 10 games on the road starting with this four-game road trip which ends tonight...The Aeros play host to Peoria on Saturday before heading out for a five-game road trip through the North Division...Team scoring leader RW Matt Foy has 44 points (24-20=44)...Next are veteran D Curtis Murphy (6-25=31), LW Mattias Weinhandl (13-16=29) and rookie LW Benoit Pouliot (17-12=29)...G Josh Harding is 17-16-4 with a 2.48 gaa and a .920 save pct., but is on recall to NHL Minnesota...The Aeros are 3-16-2-2 this season in games in which Harding does not appear...D Dieter Kochan is 2-11-1 with a 3.37 gaa and a .895 save pct...G Miroslav Kopriva is 2-2-1 with a 3.15 gaa and a .915 save pct...G Tony Quesada is 0-5-0 with a 4.59 gaa and a .879 save pct. and was reassigned to CHL Austin this morning.

Scouting the Wolves

Chicago (36-20-2-5), AHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers, has seen its West Division lead whittled to a single point over Omaha, which has three games in hand...The Wolves snapped a four-game losing skid with a 3-2 win over San Antonio on Sunday, making Chicago 1-3-0-0 on its eight-game homestand...RW Darren Haydar has a league-leading 93 points (32-61=93) in only 50 games, while rookie LW Brett Sterling is second with 77 points (44-33=77)...Sterling leads all AHL players in goals (44) and PPG (19)...C Jason Krog is back with the Wolves, and had his 26-game point streak snapped Sunday...Still, Krog has 54 points (21-33=54) in just 27 games...Rookie D Nathan Oystrick is second among all AHL blueliners with 41 points (12-29=41), while reigning Eddie Shore winner and veteran D Andy Delmore (14-17=31) joined the Wolves last month in a trade...G Fred Brathwaite is 18-11-4 with a 2.75 gaa and a .902 save pct., but he has lost four straight starts while allowing 17 goals...G Michael Garnett is 17-11-1 with a 3.08 gaa and a .897 save pct...Garnett has won two of his last three decisions, allowing just three goals.

2006-07 meetings (8th of 8 meetings, Aeros are 3-4-0-0 overall, Aeros are 2-1-0-0 at Chicago)

November 1 Chicago 4 at Houston 2

November 25 Houston 3 at Chicago 7

December 22 Chicago 7 at Houston 5

December 27 Houston 4 at Chicago 3 (SO)

January 3 Houston 5 at Chicago 3

February 17 Chicago 1 at Houston 4

February 18 Chicago 8 at Houston 0

Tonight Houston at Chicago

Quick Hits

- Ten of the Aeros' 21 victories have been in come-from-behind fashion, including five of their last eight. On 2/1 against Milwaukee, the Aeros trailed 2-1 with seven minutes remaining, but won 3-2 in a shootout. The Aeros have trailed in 20 of their last 22 games.

- The Aeros are winless (0-19-1-4) when allowing four goals or more.

- Houston is 0-3 in OT and 6-6 in shootouts. The Aeros' 12 shootouts are a league-high. Chicago is 4-2 in OT but just 1-5 in shootouts.

- The Aeros are 19-9-1-4 when scoring three or more times. Houston is just 2-22-2-2 when scoring two or fewer goals.

- C Bryan Lundbohm has a hand in six (2-4=6) of the Aeros' 13 SHG. Lundbohm, RW Joel Ward, RW Danny Irmen, D Erik Reitz and D Curtis Murphy each have two SHG this season. This is the first time since 2000-01 that the Aeros have five players with at least two SHG. The Aeros' 13 SHG are two shy of the team record, set in 1994-95.

- Houston has allowed 194 goals in 61 games for a 3.18 team gaa. The Aeros are on pace to allow 254 goals - the most since yielding a franchise-record 328 in 1995-96, the only season in team history they didn't make the playoffs.

Sunday's game

Jon DiSalvatore, Jamie Rivers and Peter Ferraro each posted a goal and an assist in Peoria's four-goal second period, and Chris Beckford-Tseu made 29 saves, as the Rivermen routed the Houston Aeros 4-1 at Carver Arena. Michal Birner also scored for Peoria. Bryan Lundbohm scored a goal and Dieter Kochan made 14 saves in two periods for Houston.

Power play update

- Houston is tied for 25th in the AHL with the man advantage at 14.0 percent.

- The Aeros are 1-for-29 (3.4 percent) on the power play in their last seven games.

- Chicago is 19th in the AHL on the penalty kill at 81.2 percent.

- The Wolves have allowed nine goals on 32 shorthanded chances (71.9 percent PK rate) in their last five games.

- Houston is 10-for-48 (20.8 percent) on the power play against Chicago this season.

Penalty kill update

- Houston is eighth in the AHL on the PK at 85.0 percent.

- Opponents are 15-for-75 (20.0 percent) on the man advantage in the last 11 games, and have scored at least one PPG in seven straight games.

- Chicago is third in the AHL on the power play at 20.7 percent.

- The Wolves are 5-for-17 (19.4 percent) with the man advantage in their last three games.

- Chicago is 9-for-55 (16.4 percent) on the power play against Houston this season, including 9-for-43 (20.9 percent) in the last six meetings after going 0-for-12 in the first.

Aeros/Wolves connections

- Chicago features former Aeros C Cory Larose, who tallied 120 points (50-70=120) in 136 games from 2001-03. Larose was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for Jay Henderson late in the 2002-2003 season. Larose's 50 goals place him 13th on the Aeros' all-time (IHL/AHL) list, while he is tied for 13th in points.

- Aeros assistant coach Matt Shaw was an assistant coach under John Anderson in Chicago in 1998-99.

- Aeros G Dieter Kochan was released from a PTO in October by Chicago, a day before signing with Houston. Kochan spent parts of two seasons in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization alongside Chicago C Steve Martins.

- Chicago D Jim Fahey played alongside Aeros D Shawn Belle last season in AHL Iowa.

- Wolves RW Darren Haydar played in Milwaukee from 2002-06. He was teammates with Aeros D Curtis Murphy and Aeros C Bryan Lundbohm. The Admirals were Calder Cup champs in 2004. Haydar and Aeros RW Joel Ward each hail from Toronto, Ont.

- Aeros G Josh Harding and Chicago D Nathan Oystrick each hail from Regina, Sask. Oystrick and Aeros G Dieter Kochan each attended Northern Michigan University, albeit six years apart.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 7, 2007


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