Aeros, Griffins battle at Xcel Energy Center tonight

March 7, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· Tonight marks the Aeros' second ever game at Xcel Energy Center, home of the parent club Minnesota Wild. Houston dropped a 3-1 decision to the Milwaukee Admirals 12/8/02. Rickard Wallin tallied the lone Aeros goal, as Houston lost despite outshooting the Admirals 29-18. Current Aeros who have played for the Wild are Wallin, Brent Burns, Zbynek Michalek, Stephane Veilleux, Kyle Wanvig, Christoph Brandner (injured) and Pierre-Marc Bouchard. Wallin, Burns, Michalek, Veilleux and Bouchard were on the ice for the last NHL game at Xcel Energy Center, a 3-0 Wild shutout win over the St. Louis Blues last 4/4.
· This is the 21st AHL game this season in an NHL arena, and the designated "home" teams are 13-6-1-0 in the previous 20.
· Tonight's game is a homecoming for Houston's Mark Cullen and Grand Rapids' Travis Richards. Both players hail from the "State of Hockey". Cullen is from Moorhead, and Richards is from Crystal. Aeros forward Junior Lessard, meanwhile, won the Hobey Baker Award last season at Minnesota-Duluth.
· Grand Rapids goalie Joey MacDonald sports the sixth-best gaa versus the Aeros since the team joined the AHL. MacDonald is 8-6-0 with a 1.94 gaa and three shutouts versus Houston. He trails current Aeros goalie Mike Smith (1.92) for the top five. MacDonald is one of three goalies with three career shutouts versus the Aeros.
· There could be a goalie's duel brewing tonight. Grand Rapids' Joey MacDonald is 3-1-0 with a 1.23 gaa versus Houston this season, while counterpart Josh Harding is 2-2-0 with a 1.50 gaa against the Griffins. The duo has faced each other three times, splitting 1-0 decisions before MacDonald made 37 saves in a 3-1 win 2/9. MacDonald has made 83 saves in the last two games alone.

Griffins at Aeros (Aeros are 22-23-7-1 overall, Aeros are 12-8-5-1 at home)
· Tonight is the 54th all-time meeting between the teams.
· The Aeros are 2-2-0-1 this season against the Griffins. The first four meetings were all decided by one goal, and the fifth game was tied with two minutes left before Grand Rapids scored twice for a 3-1 win.
· Houston is winless in the last three meetings (0-2-0-1), its longest stretch without a win in the series since losing four straight 1/28-3/23/03.
· The Aeros are 7-5-0-1 in the last 13 meetings after a 1-6-0-0 and 2-7-1-0 stretch.
· Since joining the AHL, Houston is 15-14-6-2 against Grand Rapids.
· In the last meeting, 2/9 in Grand Rapids, Darryl Bootland's second goal of the game snapped a tie with 1:43 left in regulation and Joey MacDonald turned aside 37 shots in a 3-1 Griffins win.
· The Griffins have scored the first goal in four of the teams' first five meetings this season. They've won three of those four games, with the lone exception being Houston's 4-3 OT win 11/5. Grand Rapids has outscored the Aeros 7-2 in the first two periods of their meetings this season, but Houston holds a 7-1 advantage in the third period plus overtime.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston is unbeaten in regulation in a season-high five straight games (3-0-2-0) and has points in 17 of its last 22 games (11-5-4-2) for a .634 winning percentage in that span...The Aeros, who have matched their 2003-04 win total in 58 games, are seven games over the .500 mark for the first time since the final day of the 2002-03 regular season...Pierre-Marc Bouchard (10-30=40) leads the Aeros in scoring by two points over fellow Quebec native Stephane Veilleux (15-23=38)...Bouchard has 21 points (5-16=21) in his last 20 games...Veteran Ray Giroux (9-16=25) anchors a well-balanced blueline that includes five players in double digits in points...Mike Smith is 15-14-2 with a 2.45 gaa and five shutouts, while Josh Harding is 13-12-1 with a 2.03 gaa.

Scouting the Griffins
Grand Rapids, the AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings, play Houston for the first time since the firing of Danton Cole, who was replaced by assistant Greg Ireland...The Griffins are 5-4-1-0 since the firing, although they were unbeaten in regulation in their last five (4-0-1-0) prior to getting shut out 1-0 in Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon...All-Star defenseman Niklas Kronwall leads Grand Rapids in scoring with 39 points (11-28=39), with rookie Eric Himelfarb second with 31 (14-17=31)...All-Star goalie Joey MacDonald is 23-23-1 with a 2.24 gaa.

2004-05 meetings (Sixth of 8 meetings, Aeros are 2-2-0-1 overall)
November 5: Houston 4 at Grand Rapids 3 (OT)
November 6: Houston 1 at Grand Rapids 0
November 12: Houston 0 at Grand Rapids 1
January 23: Grand Rapids 3 at Houston 4 (SO)
February 9: Houston 1 at Grand Rapids 3
Tonight: Grand Rapids vs. Houston (at Saint Paul, Minn.)
March 25: Grand Rapids at Houston
March 27: Grand Rapids at Houston

Last Game
Josh Harding made 15 of his 30 saves in the third period and Kirby Law snapped a tie late in the second and added an empty netter, as the Houston Aeros debuted their red Third Jerseys in style with a thrilling 3-1 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack at Toyota Center.

Quick Hits
· Houston's Derek Boogaard moved into a second place tie with Trent Cull and Steve Jaques last Thursday with his 44th fighting major with the Aeros. Mike Yeo is the all-time leader with 51. Boogaard has 438 PIM's overall, one behind Gord Kruppke for sixth on the franchise's all-time list, and two behind current teammate Kyle Wanvig for fifth.
· The Aeros have scored the game's first goal in five of seven games after allowing it in seven straight contests. The Aeros are 9-17-4-3 when allowing the first goal, but 19-4-2-0 when scoring it. Houston has scored first just 25 times in 58 games.
· By outscoring Hartford 1-0 in the third period Friday, the Aeros took over the AHL lead in goals allowed in the third period with 38. In its 28 wins, Houston has allowed just 11 third-period goals, but in the remainder of its 30 games, it has yielded 27. The Aeros are 2-10-2-1 in their last 15 games when allowing a third-period goal. Tonight could be a good matchup for Houston, since the Griffins have scored an AHL-low 33 first-period goals.

Rally cats - Houston got another point when trailing after two periods last Thursday in a 3-2 shootout loss to San Antonio. The Aeros are 5-16-3-2 in such situations, and their 15 points trail only Hershey's 18 for the top spot in the AHL. That's remarkable since Houston was winless (0-28-7-1) last season when trailing after 40 minutes.

Wallin the next at the century mark - Rickard Wallin has 99 points (35-64=99) in his three-year Aeros career. With his next point, he'll be the team's 21st member of the 100-point club. Wallin would be the fourth Aero to reach the century mark this season, joining Stephane Veilleux, Mark Cullen and Kyle Wanvig. Dan Cavanaugh has 92 points.

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 8-5-0 with a 2.04 gaa.
· Harding, the second youngest goalie in the AHL behind WBS' Marc-Andre Fleury, has three shutouts. No other Aeros rookie goalie had more than one shutout.
· Harding is 13-9-1 with a 1.90 gaa since an 0-3-0 start to his pro campaign.
· Harding is tied for sixth in the league in gaa (2.03), and trails only Lowell's Cam Ward among rookies (1.95).
· Harding has allowed 22 goals in the first period, but only 14 in the second and 15 in the third.
· Harding has won his last two starts. This is the fifth time this season he's won two straight, but he's looking for his first three-game winning streak. Harding's save percentage in the first period is .915, but he buckles down in the second (.947) and third (.941).

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 6-3-1 with a 2.50 gaa on the road but 9-11-1 with a better 2.42 gaa at Toyota Center. Each of Smith's five shutouts have come at home.

PP unit tied for fifth
· The Aeros are tied for fifth in the league on the power play at 17.8 percent.
· Houston is 4-for-28 (14.3 percent) with the man advantage over its last eight games.
· In their last 41 games, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 40-22 on the power play.
· Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 51-32 on the power play.
· Houston is 19-12-5-1 when scoring a PPG and 9-9-1-2 when not scoring a PPG.
· The line of Mikko Koivu, Stephane Veilleux and Kyle Wanvig has been on the ice for six of the Aeros' last eight PPG.
· The Aeros have allowed seven shorthanded goals, but none since Norfolk's Quintin Laing 12/18.
· Grand Rapids ranks 15th in the league on the penalty kill at 84.3 percent.
· The Griffins have killed off 17-of-22 shorthanded chances over their last five games, and yesterday against Milwaukee was the first time they didn't allow a PPG in 13 games.

Houston down to sixth on PK
· Houston is sixth in the league on the penalty kill at 87.5 percent after leading the AHL for much of the past month.
· Following a 46-of-48 kill streak 2/4-2/23, the Aeros have allowed eight goals on 27 chances (70.4 percent kill rate) over their last six games.
· Houston is 19-12-2-2 when not allowing a PPG and 9-9-4-1 when allowing a PPG.
· Grand Rapids is 24th in the AHL on the power play at 13.6 percent.
· The Griffins haven't scored on 24 power play opportunities over their last four games.



American Hockey League Stories from March 7, 2005


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