Aeros happy to be back home

Published on February 16, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Week in review: HOU 2, CHI 2 (OT); MIL 4, HOU 3; GR 3, HOU 0

Houston wrapped up a season-long five-game road trip with a winless 0-4-1-0 mark, and now get home for eight of the next 12 games.
The Aeros enter the week with 49 points, in fifth place in the West Division. The top five teams qualify for the playoffs, but the No. 4 and 5 teams play in a three-game qualifying series at the higher seed.
West Standings, 2/16
Grand Rapids 72
Milwaukee 65
Chicago 62
Cincinnati 50
Houston 49
San Antonio 46
Utah 41
The week began with the lone point of the road trip, as the Aeros tied Chicago 2-2 at Allstate Arena Wednesday.
Kyle Wanvig scored twice, including the game-tying goal with 9:35 left in regulation, while Johan Holmqvist turned aside 30 shots for the Aeros.
Former Aero Brendan Yarema scored a shorthanded goal and Zdenek Blatny added a marker for the Wolves, who got 37 saves from rookie Michael Garnett.
Friday, rookie Brandon Segal snapped a tie with 10:13 left in regulation and former Aero Curtis Murphy scored later in the third for the eventual game-winner, and the red-hot Milwaukee Admirals held on for a 4-3 victory over Houston at Bradley Center.
Dan Cavanaugh, Mark Cullen and Chris Heid each scored and Holmqvist finished with 24 saves for the Aeros.
Saturday, Joey MacDonald made 35 saves for his second consecutive shutout and third straight at home and Jiri Hudler, Ryan Barnes and Kevin Miller provided the goals, as the Grand Rapids Griffins beat the Aeros 3-0 at Van Andel Arena in the first of three meetings between the teams over a five-day span.
Holmqvist made 22 saves for the Aeros, who are winless in six straight on the road.

Coming attractions:

MON, HOU vs. GR, 7:00 p.m.
Share a Name with a President Discount. "Save a Lincoln" on corner seats ($15, instead of $20), if your last name matches any U.S. President.
This marks the Griffins' first trip to Houston since escaping with a 5-4 double overtime win in Game 5 of last season's Western Conference Quarterfinals. The Aeros and division-leading Griffins will play at Toyota Center five times in the final eight weeks of the season.

WED, HOU vs. GR, 11:00 a.m.
Chronicle in Education/Seniors Day.
Schoolkids will pack Toyota Center for this special 11 a.m. start time. Also, senior mall walkers 55 and over can get an $8 ticket and can walk the concourse beginning at 9 a.m.

FRI, HOU vs. MIL, 7:00 p.m.
Mardi Gras Beads (to be thrown into crowd throughout game)
The Aeros will look to snap a six-game winless streak (0-5-0-1) against the Admirals. Houston is 1-5-0-1 this season against Milwaukee, with the lone win coming on Opening Night, October 17.

SAT, HOU at CHI, 7:00 p.m.
The Aeros are winless in their last seven trips to Allstate Arena (0-4-1-2), although they did rally for a 2-2 tie there last Wednesday night.

SUN, HOU at UTA, 4:05 p.m.
Houston makes its final trip of the 2003-04 season to the E Center. The Aeros swept a pair of home games from the Grizzlies earlier this month.

Aeros in fifth place – Fifth-place Houston has 49 points, one fewer than Cincinnati in the West Division. Cincinnati, which will have five games in hand after the Aeros play tonight, lost 3-1 at home to Milwaukee yesterday. Houston has sixth-place San Antonio (46 points) in the rearview mirror. The Rampage, on its month-long rodeo road trip, snapped a two-game skid, 2-1 at Worcester yesterday. San Antonio, which is at red-hot Syracuse (six straight wins) tonight, has seven games in hand on the Aeros. Houston's highest position this season was third on December 30.

Houston has won three of four at home – The Aeros have won two straight and three of four at home since snapping a season-high six-game home winless streak January 24. Houston started off its first season in Toyota Center just 2-6-1-1 but has improved to 11-8-5-2 at its new home. In the last 16 Toyota Center games, the Aeros have just two regulation losses and are 9-2-4-1.

Road struggles - Houston is winless in six straight on the road (0-5-1-0) and is 1-9-4-0 in its last 14 road games. Fortunately for the Aeros, eight of the next 12 games are at home.

Houston has two wins when allowing more than one goal - The Aeros are an unbeaten in regulation 16-0-3-1 when allowing one goal or fewer this season, and December 17 and January 30 were their only wins (2-25-7-2) when yielding two or more.

First goal is important - The Aeros are 4-20-4-2 when allowing the game's first goal, including a winless 0-13-3-0 mark on the road. By rallying for a 2-2 tie last Wednesday in Chicago, Houston picked up just its third road point when allowing the first goal. When scoring the first goal, however, the Aeros are 14-5-5-1. The fact that the Aeros have been struggling lately is no surprise then, since Houston has allowed the first goal in 11 of its last 12 games, with February 3 against Utah the only exception.

Hendrickson closes in on 200 points, 100 goals and assists – Aeros centerman Darby Hendrickson has 196 points (98g, 98a) in his 621-game pro career. Hendrickson is two goals and two assists shy of 100 in his pro career in both those categories. Hendrickson played in his 100th AHL game December 27. He has 71 points (34g, 37a) in 123 career AHL contests. Hendrickson, who spent eight full seasons in the NHL, played in his 600th pro game December 30.

Veilleux's point streak snapped – Aeros winger Stephane Veilleux had points in a career-best six straight games (3+4=7) February 3-13, but was held without a point Saturday in Grand Rapids.

Veilleux has 12 points (6+6=12) overall in the last 16 games.
Veilleux was just the second Aero with a three-game goal streak this season (February 3-6), joining Kyle Wanvig, who posted a five-game streak earlier this season.
The winger is the only Aero to have played in each of Houston's first 56 games, and he carries a consecutive game played streak of 62 games, dating back to last season. Saturday, Veilleux played in his 200th pro game.
Veilleux is tied for the AHL lead with a franchise record tying four shorthanded goals. The only other Aero with four was Mario Chitaroni in 1994-95.
The Quebec native is nearing his career high in goals, assists and points. Veilleux has 33 points (12+21=33) in just 56 games, while he posted 35 points (13+22=35) in his rookie season of 2001-02.
Aeros winless in five – The Aeros are winless in five games (0-4-1-0) since back-to-back wins over Utah February 3-5. Houston has four wins in its last 24 games (4-11-8-1) but also only 12 regulation losses in the last 34 games (13-12-8-1).

We had missed the excitement – After going into overtime in eight of 10 games December 27-January 17, the Aeros settled 11 straight in regulation until last Wednesday, when they skated to a 2-2 tie with Chicago. The Aeros, winless at 0-3-10 in overtime, are one of just two AHL teams without an extra session win. Utah is the other, with an 0-3-4 mark. The Aeros went 8-3-7 in overtime last season, second in the league in extra session wins (Chicago, 11). Houston's 13 overtime games this season are halfway to the franchise record of 26 shootout games in the 1998-99 season.

Player of the week RW Dan Cavanaugh -
Cavanaugh posted a goal and an assist in three games last week...Picked up an assist in Wednesday's 2-2 tie at Chicago...Scored 10th goal of season in Friday's 4-3 loss in Milwaukee...Three-game point streak, snapped Saturday, tied his second longest of the season, trailing only a six-game run from December 1-13...Cavanaugh has 28 points (10+18=28), trailing only Stephane Veilleux (12+21=33) for the team lead...His 10 goals are tied for fourth on the team.

Cavanaugh this week...
2/11 at CHI 0-1-1, E
2/13 at MIL 1-0-1, E
2/14 at GR 0-0-0, -1
Totals - 3gp, 1-1-2, -1

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American Hockey League Stories from February 16, 2004


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