Aeros Gameday
March 20, 2007 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release
Nine things you need to know
- After going without a point in his first two games with Houston, RW Aaron Voros has posted a point in three straight games. Voros scored his first goal as an Aero Friday in Toronto, and then extended the point streak to three with an assist on C Jason Morgan's tally Saturday. Voros, who wasn't in the lineup Sunday, was acquired from New Jersey 3/1 for a seventh-round pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Voros has 20 points (10-10=20) in 44 combined games with Houston and Lowell this season.
- Houston's veteran C Jason Morgan scored Houston's lone goal Saturday in Syracuse. The tally was his 299th professional point (97-202=299) in 618 games in the NHL, AHL and IHL. Morgan is also closing in on 500 career AHL games. He has 271 points (89-182=271) in 492 career AHL contests.
- Friday, Aeros D Curtis Murphy missed his first game ever as an Aero - 348 games counting the regular- and post-seasons. Murphy also missed Saturday and Sunday's games. He had played in 282 straight regular-season games overall since missing the 2003-04 season opener to attend Dan Snyder's funeral. Murphy, who did not play Saturday either, had missed just one of his prior 521 games.
- Aeros RW Joey Tetarenko scored his second regular-season goal of his Aeros career Sunday, in his 84th game. Tetarenko has four points (1-3=4) in 29 games this season, his most since totaling seven (1-6=7) in 57 games in 2003-04 with Lowell. Tetarenko has two points (1-1=2), is a plus-two and has 22 PIM's in his last three games.
- Tonight's game features Manitoba's top-ranked penalty kill unit (89.8 percent). The Moose is 2.5 percent higher on the PK than any other AHL team. Houston's power play, meanwhile, is 26th in the AHL at 13.9 percent. The Aeros are 4-for-55 (7.3 percent) on the power play in their last 12 games. Manitoba is a perfect 15-of-15 on the PK in the last four games. The Aeros went 0-for-9 on the power play versus the Moose in the teams' two December meetings.
- Houston is 0-12-2-1 in its last 15 road games since defeating Iowa 3-1 on 1/12. The 15-game slide is a new franchise record. Houston was 0-7-2-0 from 1/31-2/26/04. The Aeros' nine straight road regulation losses are also a new team record, eclipsing the old record of five, set earlier this season, and the streak is tied with Binghamton for the AHL season-high. Houston's 15-game winless slide is the longest in a single season since Springfield went winless in 16 games from 12/31/04-4/3/05.
- Houston is 9-13-3-6 in one-goal games, and just 3-10-3-2 in its last 18 such games. The Aeros have only two non shootout one-goal wins, the last coming 3-2 at Iowa 11/9. Manitoba is 14-3-7-4 in one-goal games - the three regulation losses in one-goal games are the fewest in the AHL.
- Slow starts are one of the main causes of the Aeros' recent woes. The Aeros have allowed the game's first goal in 10 of their last 12 games, and haven't led after one period in any of those 12 games. Not surprisingly, Houston is just 1-10-0-1 in that stretch. The Aeros have failed to even score a first-period goal in seven of their last eight games, and in their last five games, they have yielded nine first-period goals.
- The Aeros have not held a scoring advantage in the third period in 16 of their last 19 games. In their last eight games, the Aeros have been outscored 10-1 in the final 20 minutes, and in their last 15 games, it has been a 20-4 deficit. Houston has been outscored 69-51 in the third period this season.
Aeros at Moose (Aeros are 37-22-10-1 overall, Aeros are 18-11-5-0 at Manitoba)
- Houston is just 5-9-1-1 in the last 16 overall meetings, and 3-7-0-1 in the last 11.
- The Aeros have lost three of their four games in MTS Centre.
- Since the teams joined the AHL, Houston is 12-12-1-1 against Manitoba, including a 5-6-1-0 road mark.
- Houston and Manitoba once played five straight OT/SO games in the IHL; in their 26 AHL meetings, just two games have gone into extra time.
- The teams split two games at Toyota Center in December.
Scouting the Aeros
The Aeros (22-35-3-6) begin March by playing nine of 10 games on the road, with tonight's tilt the fourth of a five-game road trip through the North Division...Team scoring leader RW Matt Foy has 45 points (24-21=45)...Next are veteran D Curtis Murphy (7-26=33), rookie LW Benoit Pouliot (18-14=32), rookie RW Danny Irmen (16-15=31) and LW Mattias Weinhandl (13-16=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 4-20-2-2 this season in games in which Harding does not appear...D Dieter Kochan is 3-13-1 with a 3.20 gaa and a .902 save pct...G Tony Quesada is 0-5-0 with a 4.50 gaa and a .874 save pct.
Scouting the Moose
Manitoba (39-17-7-4), AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, is the hottest team in the AHL, having won eight in a row and 17 of 18...The Moose blanked Peoria 4-0 on Sunday, and has allowed two goals or fewer in each of the last eight games...Manitoba has also won nine straight home games dating back to 2/3...LW Jason Jaffray leads the Moose with 73 points (33-40=73), including 15 PPG...D Yannick Tremblay paces the blueline with 30 points (12-18=30) in just 36 games...G Drew MacIntyre is 20-8-2 with a 2.16 gaa and a .925 save pct...G Wade Flaherty is 17-9-2 with a 2.42 gaa and a .909 save pct., but suffered an injury last week...G Dov Grumet-Morris is 3-6-4 with a 2.46 gaa and a .920 save pct. in the AHL this season, but he shut out Peoria on Sunday.
2006-07 meetings (3rd of 4 meetings, Aeros are 1-1-0-0 overall, First meeting at Manitoba)
December 13 Manitoba 4 at Houston 1
December 16 Manitoba 1 at Houston 3
Tonight Houston at Manitoba
Tomorrow Houston at Manitoba
Sunday's game
Janis Sprukts and Drew Larman scored a goal apiece and Adam Dennis made 24 saves, as the Rochester Americans defeated the Houston Aeros 3-1 at Blue Cross Arena at War Memorial. Joey Tetarenko scored his first goal of the season and Dieter Kochan stopped 31 shots for Houston.
Quick Hits
- Ten of the Aeros' 22 victories have been in come-from-behind fashion. 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 24 of their last 26 games.
- The Aeros are winless (0-22-1-4) when allowing four goals or more.
- Houston is 0-3 in OT and 7-6 in shootouts. The Aeros' 13 shootouts are a league-high. Manitoba is 3-7 in OT and 2-4 in shootouts.
- The Aeros are 20-10-1-4 when scoring three or more times, but just 2-24-2-2 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 212 goals in 66 games for a 3.21 team gaa. The Aeros are on pace to allow 257 goals - the most since yielding a franchise-record 328 in 1995-96, the only season in team history they didn't make the playoffs.
- The Aeros have scored 169 goals in 66 games for an average of 2.56 gpg. That's on pace for 205 goals scored, which would trail only the 2003-04 campaign (197) for the fewest in team history.
Power play update
- Houston is 26th in the AHL with the man advantage at 13.9 percent.
- The Aeros are 4-for-55 (7.3 percent) on the power play in their last 12 games.
- Manitoba is first in the AHL on the penalty kill at 89.8 percent - 2.5 percent ahead of any other team.
- The Moose has killed off all 15 of its shorthanded chances in the last four games.
Penalty kill update
- Houston is ninth in the AHL on the PK at 84.3 percent.
- Opponents are 20-for-96 (20.8 percent) on the man advantage in the last 15 games.
- Manitoba is 14th in the AHL on the power play at 17.0 percent.
- The Moose is 4-for-25 (16.0 percent) with the man advantage in the last five games.
Aeros/Moose connections
- Manitoba head coach Scott Arniel was a member of the original IHL Aeros in 1994-95, and also in 1995-96. He was the team's second leading scorer in its first season, and posted 121 points (55-68=121) in 136 games in two seasons.
- Aeros D Curtis Murphy, C Bryan Lundbohm and Manitoba G Wade Flaherty were teammates on Milwaukee's 2004 Calder Cup winning team.
- Manitoba G Wade Flaherty and Houston RW Joey Tetarenko were teammates in the Florida Panthers organization in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons.
- Aeros D Maxime Fortunus played 25 games for Houston in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons, with two assists and six penalty minutes.
- Moose D Dustin Wood tallied seven points (1-6=7) and 48 PIM's in 64 games for Houston in 2005-06. He was loaned to Syracuse for LW Greg Mauldin in March.
- Manitoba RW Lee Goren attended the University of North Dakota, where he was Aeros C Bryan Lundbohm's teammate for two seasons, and Aeros D Curtis Murphy's for one.
American Hockey League Stories from March 20, 2007
- Iowa win moves Stars into playoff position - Iowa Chops
- Aeros', Moose streaks both over - Houston Aeros
- Rivermen Defeated by Iowa 2-1 on the Road - Peoria Rivermen
- Rivermen Coach's Show on Wednesday, March 21 - Peoria Rivermen
- Florida reassigns Adam Taylor to Rochester - Rochester Americans
- B-Sens announce members of fan advisory board - Binghamton Senators
- Monarchs "At Your Service" Nets $59,000 - Manchester Monarchs
- Caldwell Has Strong Weekend - Syracuse Crunch
- Dubinsky reassigned to Wolf Pack - Connecticut Whale
- Moose, Power 97 Team up for Third Annual "Cut for Cancer" - Manitoba Moose
- Blackhawks Recall Dustin Byfuglien from Admirals - Norfolk Admirals
- Penguins sign Mark Letestu to ATO - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Aeros Gameday - Houston Aeros
- Local Mascots To Do Battle At Sunday's Wolves Game - Chicago Wolves
- Smith released from PTO - Connecticut Whale
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