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Aeros Gameday

March 21, 2007 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Ten things you need to know

- Aeros rookie LW Benoit Pouliot tallied a goal and an assist last night. Since going nine games without a point 2/18-3/10, and 13 games without a goal 2/6-3/10, Pouliot has posted five points (2-3=5) in his last four games. Pouliot ranks second on the Aeros roster in scoring with 34 points (19-15=34).

- Aeros C Bryan Lundbohm also had a goal and a helper last night. In his last 12 games, Lundbohm has eight points (3-5=8), while recording a minus rating just twice in that span. With 13 games left in the regular season, Lundbohm has 25 points (7-18=25) - closing in on his numbers from the 2005-06 season (9-21=30).

- Houston's veteran C Jason Morgan scored Houston's lone goal Saturday in Syracuse. Morgan has 299 points (97-202=299) in 619 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 493 career AHL contests.

- Aeros D Erik Reitz tallied a PPG last night versus the Moose. Reitz' sixth goal tied his career-high, set in 2002-03. His 29 points are a new career-best, bettering the 28 he had last season. Reitz has nine points (3-6=9) in 16 games since 2/8.

- 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, has missed four straight games now, had missed just one of his prior 521 games.

- Tonight's game features Manitoba's top-ranked penalty kill unit (89.7 percent). The Moose is 2.4 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 5-for-61 (8.2 percent) on the power play in their last 13 games. Manitoba is 20-of-21 (95.2 percent) on the PK in its last five games, despite allowing a PPG last night. The Aeros went 0-for-9 on the power play versus the Moose in the teams' two December meetings, but were 1-for-6 last night.

- Houston snapped its 15-game road winless slide (0-12-2-1) with its 3-1 win in Manitoba last night. It was the Aeros' first road win since defeating Iowa 3-1 on 1/12. The 15-game slide was a new franchise record. Houston was 0-7-2-0 from 1/31-2/26/04. The Aeros' nine straight road regulation losses were also a new team record, eclipsing the old record of five, set earlier this season, and the streak was tied with Binghamton for the AHL season-high. Houston's 15-game winless slide was 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 11 of their last 13 games, and last night led after one period for the first time in that span. Not surprisingly, Houston is just 2-10-0-1 in that stretch. The Aeros have failed to even score a first-period goal in seven of their last nine games.

- The Aeros have not held a scoring advantage in the third period in 17 of their last 20 games. In their last nine games, the Aeros have been outscored 11-2 in the final 20 minutes, and in their last 16 games, it has been a 21-5 deficit. Houston has been outscored 70-52 in the third period this season.

Aeros at Moose (Aeros are 38-22-10-1 overall, Aeros are 19-11-5-0 at Manitoba)

- Houston is just 6-9-1-1 in the last 17 overall meetings, and 4-7-0-1 in the last 12.

- The Aeros have lost three of their five games in MTS Centre.

- Since the teams joined the AHL, Houston is 13-12-1-1 against Manitoba, including a 6-6-1-0 road mark.

- Houston and Manitoba once played five straight OT/SO games in the IHL; in their 27 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 (23-35-3-6) begin March by playing nine of 10 games on the road, with tonight's tilt the team's final road game until 4/6...The Aeros begin a five-game homestand Friday against Rochester...Team scoring leader RW Matt Foy has 47 points (24-23=47)...Next are veteran rookie LW Benoit Pouliot (19-15=34), D Curtis Murphy (7-26=33), rookie RW Danny Irmen (16-15=31) and LW Mattias Weinhandl (13-17=30)...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 5-20-2-2 this season in games in which Harding does not appear...D Dieter Kochan is 3-13-1 with a 3.07 gaa and a .909 save pct...G Tony Quesada is 0-5-0 with a 4.50 gaa and a .874 save pct.

Scouting the Moose

Manitoba (39-18-7-4), AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, is the hottest team in the AHL despite last night's loss against Houston, having won eight of nine and 17 of 19...The Moose had allowed two goals or fewer in each of the last eight games prior to last night...Manitoba had 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 20-9-2 with a 2.18 gaa and a .923 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 (4th of 4 meetings, Aeros are 2-1-0-0 overall, Aeros are 1-0-0-0 at Manitoba)

December 13 Manitoba 4 at Houston 1

December 16 Manitoba 1 at Houston 3

Last Night Houston 3 at Manitoba 1

Tonight Houston at Manitoba

Tuesday's game

Dieter Kochan made 44 saves and Bryan Lundbohm and Benoit Pouliot posted a goal and an assist apiece, as the Houston Aeros snapped a 15-game road winless streak by stunning the red-hot Manitoba Moose, 3-1 at MTS Centre. Erik Reitz added a power play goal for Houston. Jannik Hansen scored a goal and Drew MacIntyre made 14 saves for Manitoba, which had won eight straight overall.

Quick Hits

- Ten of the Aeros' 23 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 27 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 21-10-1-4 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 213 goals in 67 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.

- The Aeros have scored 172 goals in 67 games for an average of 2.57 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 5-for-61 (8.2 percent) on the power play in their last 13 games.

- Manitoba is first in the AHL on the penalty kill at 89.7 percent - 2.4 percent ahead of any other team.

- The Moose has killed off 20-of-21 (95.2 percent) of its shorthanded chances in the last five games.

Penalty kill update

- Houston is eighth in the AHL on the PK at 84.6 percent.

- Opponents are 20-for-104 (19.2 percent) on the man advantage in the last 16 games, but the Aeros are a perfect 11-for-11 on the PK in the last two contests.

- Manitoba is 16th in the AHL on the power play at 16.6 percent.

- The Moose is 4-for-33 (12.1 percent) with the man advantage in the last six 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 21, 2007


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