Aeros home tonight, Saturday for giveaway nights

Published on February 4, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· Perhaps the most tired cliche in all of hockey is that the two-goal lead is the worst in the game. That has proved to be correct in the last week for the Aeros. Each of their last three games have been decided 3-2, and in each game, the loser has run out to a 2-0 lead. Houston is 1-1-1-0 in those three games after Chicago rallied in the third period and overtime for a 3-2 win Wednesday.
· Aeros centerman Pierre-Marc Bouchard has tied his season-high with a four-game point streak. The diminutive Bouchard has seven points (3-4=7) in that span, including three multiple-point games and four straight games with an assist.
· Houston captain Kirby Law, who has three assists in the last two games, has five points (1-4=5) in his last five games and nine points (4-5=9) in his last nine games.
· Houston is an amazing 10-2-1-0 when getting outshot, or the shots are even. The Aeros, meanwhile, are just 10-15-2-2 when outshooting an opponent. Aeros goalies don't mind work - they are only 3-10-1 when seeing 23 shots or less, but 17-10-1 when seeing 24 or more. The Aeros are ranked second in the AHL in shots per game at 34.33.
· Milwaukee netminder Brian Finley has 11 wins versus Houston, tied with Allan Bester (11-1-2) for the most ever. Finley is 10-5-1 with a 2.44 gaa versus Houston and has won 11 of his last 14 decisions against the Aeros. Milwaukee's Simon Gamache has 29 points (13-16=29) in 25 career games versus the Aeros. Since 2002-03, Gamache has points in 14 of his 21 games against Houston, and his teams are 12-1-1-0 when he has a point, 9-1-1-0 when he scores a goal but 1-4-2-0 when he's held off the scoresheet.

Admirals at Aeros (Aeros are 28-30-6-1 overall, Aeros are 15-14-4-1 at Houston)
· Houston and Milwaukee, the last two Calder Cup champions, meet for the 66th time tonight - 35th in Houston.
· The Aeros are 2-10-1-1 in their last 14 games against the Admirals, but both those wins have come this season, when Houston sports a 2-3-0-0 mark.
· Houston's 7-0 home win 1/11 snapped a six-game home winless streak against Milwaukee (0-5-0-1). The Admirals had won the first six meetings at Toyota Center by a combined 26-10 margin, and they recovered to win 3-2 in Houston 1/25.
· Houston snapped an 0-7-1-1 winless streak versus Milwaukee with a 5-2 win at Bradley Center 11/13 behind a goal and an assist from Marius Holtet, snapping the Admirals' 17-game regulation unbeaten streak.

Scouting the Aeros Houston has only one regulation loss in its last six games (3-1-1-1) after losing four of five...Stephane Veilleux (14-14=28) is the Aeros' leading scorer, just ahead of Pierre-Marc Bouchard (8-16=26)...Houston has 20 players with at least one goal...Nineteen-year-old Brent Burns (7-17=17) anchors a well-balanced blueline that includes four players with 13 points or more...Mike Smith is 14-11-1 with a 2.43 gaa, while Josh Harding (6-8-1, 2.07 gaa) returned to the ice on Saturday from a 17-game absence due to a concussion he received on November 28.

Scouting the Admirals Milwaukee, which rolled over Cincinnati 5-1 at home last night behind four PPG, can match a season-high with its fifth straight win tonight...Last night's game was the first for the Admirals since a seven-game, 10-day road trip that went from Texas to Newfoundland...Tonight's game is Milwaukee's fourth in five nights...Simon Gamache is third in the AHL in scoring with 65 points (22-43=65), while Andrew Hutchinson paces all AHL blueliners with 35 points (9-26=35)...Brian Finley is 24-11-2 with a 2.16 gaa, while Seamus Kotyk is 7-4-0 with a 3.08 gaa.

2004-05 meetings (Sixth of 10 meetings, Aeros are 2-3-0-0 overall, Aeros are 1-2-0-0 at Houston) November 13: Houston 5 at Milwaukee 2 December 29: Milwaukee 4 at Houston 1 January 8: Houston 0 at Milwaukee 2 January 11: Milwaukee 0 at Houston 7 January 25: Milwaukee 3 at Houston 2 Tonight: Milwaukee at Houston February 5: Milwaukee at Houston February 10: Houston at Milwaukee March 10: Houston at Milwaukee April 5: Houston at Milwaukee

Last game Brad Larsen completed a natural hat trick just after a power play expired with 43 seconds left in overtime, as the Chicago Wolves rallied from two goals down for a 3-2 victory over the Houston Aeros at Allstate Arena. Josh Harding, in his second game back since missing more than two months with a concussion, made 33 saves, and Brent Burns and Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored 1:41 apart in the second period for Houston.

Quick Hits
· The Aeros have allowed 28 third-period goals, tied with Rochester for fewest in the AHL. No other team has yielded fewer than 32. Houston allowed two third-period goals Wednesday for the first time since 11/26.
· Aeros captain Kirby Law enters tonight's game with 999 career PIM's in 505 games.
· Houston defenseman Brent Burns has a goal in each of his last two games, the first Aeros blueliner to accomplish that feat this season. Travis Roche was the only Aeros d-man with goals in consecutive games in 2003-04. Curtis Murphy's six-game streak 12/30/02-1/10/03 is the last time a blueliner had a goal in more than two straight games for the Aeros.
· The Aeros have held Simon Gamache off the scoresheet in three of five meetings this season, but he has six points (1-5=6) in the other two games.
· Amazingly, the Ads will play their 30th road game tonight, meaning they have only 10 left in the final 2 1/2 months of the season.
· Houston has outscored Milwaukee 6-1 in the first period of the teams' five meetings this season.

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 recorded his third shutout of the run and fourth overall 1/19, making 39 saves in a 2-0 win over Edmonton. It marked the third-highest save total for an Aeros goalie in a shutout, trailing only Chabot's 43 and Josh Harding's 40. Smith is one of five Aeros goalies ever with four shutouts in a season.
· Smith is 14-7-1 when allowing zero or one goal in the first period, but he's 0-4-0 with a no decision when yielding two or more.
· Smith is 3-1 in his AHL career in OT and 3-1 in shootouts, and he went 3-1 in shootouts with ECHL Lexington in 2002-03.
· The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder is 6-1-0 with a 2.37 gaa on the road but 8-10-1 with a 2.46 gaa at Toyota Center.
· In 19 home games, Smith has allowed 36 goals in the first two periods but just seven in the third.

Harding back
· Aeros 20-year-old rookie goalie Josh Harding missed 17 games due to a concussion, but he returned back to stop the final 17 shots sent his way last Saturday versus Chicago.
· Harding is 6-5-1 with a 1.84 gaa since an 0-3-0 start to his pro campaign.

PP unit sixth
· The Aeros are sixth in the league on the power play at 18.6 percent.
· Houston is 6-for-26 (23.1 percent) in the last five games on the man advantage after an 0-for-9 stretch. In their last 25 games, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 31-14 on the power play.
· The Aeros are 16-10-3-1 when scoring a PPG and 4-7-0-1 when not scoring a PPG.
· Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 42-23 on the power play.
· The Aeros have allowed seven shorthanded goals, the last by Norfolk's Quintin Laing 12/18.
· Milwaukee is 10th in the AHL on the penalty kill at 85.5 percent.
· The Admirals have allowed seven PPG on 35 chances over their last six games, just an 80.0 percent kill rate.

Houston tied for fourth on PK
· Houston is tied for fourth in the league on the penalty kill at 88.1 percent.
· Houston has killed off 66-of-73 shorthanded chances in the last 16 games (90.4 percent).
· The Aeros have killed off 132-of-146 (90.4 percent) of their shorthanded chances over the last 32 games.
· Houston is 13-9-1-1 when not allowing a PPG and 7-8-2-1 when allowing a PPG.
· The Aeros are tied for eighth in the AHL with six SHG, all by different players. Only Lowell and Manchester also have six different players with a SHG.
· Milwaukee is third in the AHL on the power play at 21.5 percent.
· The Admirals are 10-for-26 (38.5 percent) with the man advantage over their last four games.

First and last two minutes are crucial Houston has scored 15 goals in the first or last two minutes of a period this season, including three goals Saturday. The Aeros' opponents, meanwhile, have 22 goals in this crucial time. Houston is 1-7-0 this season when allowing a goal in the opening two minutes of a period.

Aeros/Admirals connections
· Houston's Stephane Veilleux and the Admirals' Simon Gamache were two of the leading scorers for QMJHL Val d'Or from 1999-2001.
· Houston defenseman Erik Reitz played two seasons (1999-2001) with Milwaukee goalie Brian Finley at OHL Barrie. Finley was the 1999-2000 team MVP, while Reitz won the award in 2000-01.
· Milwaukee's Dan Hamhuis and Houston's Derek Boogaard were teammates for two seasons with WHL Prince George in 1999-2000 and 2000-01.
· Houston's Junior Lessard (2004) and Milwaukee's Tony Hrkac (1987) each won the Hobey Baker Award for being college hockey's top player, albeit 17 years apart. Hrkac and Houston's Todd Reirden were teammates with the Atlanta Thrashers in 2001-02.
· Milwaukee's Cam Severson played parts of two junior seasons for Houston head coach Todd McLellan in Swift Current. Severson was also teammates with Houston's Todd Reirden for the past two seasons in Cincinnati.
· Houston's captain Kirby Law was teammates with Milwaukee's Brad Tiley from 2000-2003 at AHL Philadelphia.
· Milwaukee's Jeremy Yablonski and Houston's Kyle Wanvig were junior teammates in WHL Kootenay in 1998-99.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 4, 2005


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