Aeros go for fourth straight today in San Antonio

April 3, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
• With just two weeks and a day left in the AHL's regular season, the Aeros are tied for third place with Cincinnati at 81 points, but just one up on fifth-place Grand Rapids. The Ducks earned a 3-1 home win over Chicago last night, while Grand Rapids held off Utah 4-3 in a shootout. Beginning last night, Houston plays six of its last nine games against San Antonio and Utah, the two teams not in playoff contention in the West. Cincinnati is at home to face Utah today. Grand Rapids, meanwhile, is in Hamilton today to kick off a five-game road trip.
• Houston is 6-1-2-0 against San Antonio this season, outscoring the Rampage 34-15 in the process. The Aeros have only two regulation losses in the last 20 meetings (12-2-4-2). Houston's last two wins have come by a combined 15-1 score, and the Aeros have goals from 12 different players in that span. The biggest Aero of them all in the series is Mikko Koivu. Koivu has 13 points, including eight goals, in nine games versus the Rampage. Koivu has the game-winner in each of the last two meetings. Pierre-Marc Bouchard has eight assists in seven games against San Antonio.
• Through the season's first 65 games, the Aeros allowed only 41 third-period goals, but in the last seven games, they've given up nine while scoring six. Houston is still second in the AHL with its 50 third-period goals allowed. Only Hartford (43) is better. In their last 16 wins, the Aeros have outscored their opponents in the third by a huge 21-4 margin, but Houston is 3-14-2-2 in its last 21 games when allowing a third-period goal.
• The Aeros have scored the first goal in a season-high four straight games, after going nine of 10 games allowing the first goal. The Aeros are 12-22-4-4 when allowing the first goal, but 23-4-2-1 when scoring it.
• Houston has won three straight to tie its season-high, and it finished its five-game homestand unbeaten in regulation at 4-0-0-1. This marks the Aeros' fifth three-game winning streak of the season, but they haven't yet been able to extend it to four. Houston and Utah are the only two AHL teams without at least a single four-game winning streak this season. Last night's win pushed Houston to a season-best nine games over the .500 mark (35-26-6-5). The Aeros last won four in a row during a season-best, six-game streak 12/5-12/17/03, and they were last unbeaten in regulation in five straight games during a 3-0-4-0 run 12/20/03-1/2/04. During its current three-game streak, Houston has outscored its opponents 5-0 in the first period and 6-1 in the second.

Aeros at Rampage (Aeros are 21-5-5-2 all-time, 7-3-4-2 at San Antonio)
• Tonight is the 34th all-time meeting between the teams - 17th in San Antonio.
• San Antonio has been held to two or fewer goals in 15 of its last 16 games against the Aeros.
• Each of Houston's last five losses in San Antonio have come by one goal, including three in OT.
• The Aeros have points in 10 of their last 11 trips to SBC Center (5-1-3-2).
• The teams have gone to overtime in nine of 33 meetings. The Aeros are 1-4-3 against San Antonio in the extra session and 1-0 in the shootout.
• While Houston's plus-21 PPG (60-39) ratio is among the tops in the AHL, San Antonio is minus-32 (71-39).
• The Aeros have outshot San Antonio in seven of the teams' nine meetings this season.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston begins an important five-game, seven-day road trip tonight, and the Aeros are 0-2-0-1 away from Toyota Center since whipping Utah 5-1 on 3/16...Houston, which is playing game two of a stretch of seven games in nine nights, is 1-4-1-1 in its last seven road games...Pierre-Marc Bouchard (12-38=50) leads the Aeros in scoring and has 31 points (7-24=31) in his last 34 games...Mikko Koivu has 46 points (18-18=46) in his first season in North America...Bouchard got his team-best 14th multiple game last night while matching a team season-high with three assists, while Koivu is next on the list with 13...Koivu has four, three-point games, and no other teammate has more than two...Veteran Ray Giroux (11-19=30) anchors a well-balanced blueline along with 20-year-old prospect Brent Burns (9-14=23)...Mike Smith is 18-15-3 with a 2.42 gaa and five shutouts, while Josh Harding is 17-16-2 with four shutouts and a 2.05 gaa to rank eighth in the AHL but first in the Western Conference.

Scouting the Rampage
San Antonio, the AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, has lost eight of nine, scoring one goal or fewer in each game in that span...San Antonio is 3-15-1-1 since winning three straight 1/30-2/4...Since late February, San Antonio has loaned out more than 500 games of NHL experience to other AHL teams...The team has scored five goals in its last seven games and 12 in its last 12...The Rampage's leading active scorer who has been with the team all season is Ryan Jardine (12-17=29)...Lukas Krajicek leads the way among the blueliners with 23 points (2-21=23)...Last night the Aeros got their first look at Anthony Stewart, Florida's No. 1 pick in 2003 and a World Junior star...Travis Scott is 17-25-4 with a 2.36 gaa but missed last night's game with an injury, while Patrick DesRochers is 8-17-1 with a 3.03 gaa.

2004-05 meetings (10th of 12 meetings, Aeros are 6-1-2-0 overall, Aeros are 2-1-1-0 at San Antonio)
October 15: Houston 1 at San Antonio 2
December 3: San Antonio 2 at Houston 1 (OT)
December 23: San Antonio 2 at Houston 5
January 21: Houston 4 at San Antonio 2
February 27: Houston 3 at San Antonio 2 (SO)
March 2: San Antonio 0 at Houston 2
March 3: Houston 3 at San Antonio 4 (OT)
March 12: San Antonio 0 at Houston 8
Last Night: San Antonio 1 at Houston 7
Tonight: Houston at San Antonio
April 9: Houston at San Antonio
April 10: San Antonio at Houston

Quick Hits
• Aeros head coach Todd McLellan will try to become the second coach in Aeros history with 150 points tonight. McLellan is 149-127-36 in his four seasons with the Aeros. Dave Tippett went 165-85-36 in 3 1/2 seasons with Houston from 1995-1999.
• In its 35 wins, Houston has allowed just 14 third-period goals, but in the remainder of its 37 games, it has yielded 36.
• The Aeros have scored five goals in their last seven losses (0-5-0-2), but 32 in their last six wins.
• Eighteen of the Rampage's 25 wins have come by one goal. The Rampage is 18-10-3-5 in one-goal games, but just 7-30-0-0 in games decided by two or more.
• The Aeros' five-game unbeaten in regulation streak has been aided by an offense that has outscored its opponents 21-6 in that span, not counting one shootout goal. Houston's Kirby Law has a goal in three straight games, and five points (4-1=5) in his last five games. Two Aeros have four-game goal streaks this season - Mikko Koivu and Matt Foy. Kyle Wanvig has strung together a three-game point streak (1-3=4) for the first time this season, while Koivu has totaled five points (1-4=5) in the last two games. In the five-game run, Pierre-Marc Bouchard has seven points (2-5=7), with a point in four of the games. Rookie winger Marius Holtet, who tied a season-high with two points (1-1=2) last night, has points in back-to-back games for the first time in his young pro career.
• Seventeen of the Aeros' 18 skaters were on the ice for at least one goal last night.

Last Game
Mikko Koivu tallied a goal and two assists, Pierre-Marc Bouchard supplied three helpers and Josh Harding made 30 saves, as the Houston Aeros defeated the San Antonio Rampage 7-1 at Toyota Center. Rickard Wallin, Kirby Law, Dan Cavanaugh, David Bararuk and Marius Holtet each added goals for Houston. Phil Osaer, just up from ECHL Texas, made 34 stops and Juraj Kolnik scored for San Antonio.

Harding back in a big way
• Aeros 20-year-old rookie goalie Josh Harding missed 17 games due to a concussion, but he has returned strong, going 12-9-1.
• Harding is eighth in the league in gaa (2.05), but he leads the Western Conference. Harding is second among rookies to Lowell's Cam Ward (1.99).
• Harding, the second youngest goalie in the AHL behind WBS' Marc-Andre Fleury, has four shutouts. No other Aeros rookie goalie had more than one shutout.
• Harding has allowed 28 goals in the first period, but only 20 in the second and 20 in the third. He's allowed only five third-period goals in 15 Toyota Center appearances.
• Harding is 9-3-1 with a 1.73 gaa at home, but 7-13-1 with a 2.25 gaa on the road. He is 1-4-0 in his last five road starts.
• Harding is 2-0-0 with a 1.00 gaa and a .970 save pct. in his last two starts.

Smith establishes franchise mark
• Aeros goalie Mike Smith appeared in 19 straight games - 17 of the appearances starts - from 11/26-1/25. Smith's 19-game run was a new franchise record, eclipsing Frederic Chabot's old mark of 15, set 12/8/99-1/21/00.
• Smith joins Frederic Chabot (seven) and Ryan Bach (five) as the lone Aeros netminders with five shutouts in a season, and his five overall trail only Chabot (18) and Derek Gustafson (six) for the most in team history.
• The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder is 7-4-2 with a 2.60 gaa on the road but 11-11-1 with a better 2.31 gaa at Toyota Center. Each of Smith's five shutouts have come at home.
• In his last four Toyota Center appearances, including a no decision in relief, Smith is 3-0-0 with a 1.09 gaa. He is unbeaten in regulation in his last four starts overall, going 3-0-1 with a 1.47 gaa. Smith's recent run has improved his record to 18-15-3 with a 2.42 gaa and a .913 save percentage. After going winless (0-2-1) with a 2.89 gaa in February, Smith went 4-2-1 with a 2.21 gaa in March, his second lowest gaa of any month this season.

PP unit eighth
• The Aeros are eighth in the league on the power play at 16.9 percent.
• Houston is 3-for-38 (7.9 percent) on the man advantage over its last eight games after scoring six times in three games.
• Houston's Pierre-Marc Bouchard has been on the ice for six of his team's last seven PPG, and eight of the last 10.
• In their last 55 games, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 49-29 on the power play.
• Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 60-39 on the power play.
• Houston is 23-12-5-2 when scoring a PPG and 12-14-1-3 when not scoring a PPG.
• San Antonio is 25th in the AHL on the penalty kill at 80.9 percent.
• The Rampage has killed off 33-of-40 shorthanded chances (82.5 percent) in the last seven games.
• Houston is 9-for-39 (23.1 percent) on the power play against San Antonio this season.

Houston third on PK
• Houston is third in the league on the penalty kill at 87.7 percent. The Aeros have yielded 39 PPG, two off the league lead.
• Following a 46-of-48 kill streak 2/4-2/23, the Aeros have allowed 15 goals on 87 chances (82.8 percent kill rate) over their last 20 games.
• Houston is 25-13-2-3 when not allowing a PPG and 10-13-4-2 when allowing a PPG.
• San Antonio is 25th in the league on the power play at 13.2 percent, having scored 39 PPG - second fewest in the AHL.
• The Rampage is 1-for-23 (4.3 percent) on the power play in the last seven games.



American Hockey League Stories from April 3, 2005


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