Aeros host Ducks to kick off five-game week

Published on March 14, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· The Aeros have won four straight home games to establish a new season-high. The last Houston stretch longer than its current one was a six-game home winning streak 12/5-12/26/03. Only Portland (eight) and St. John's (five) have current runs longer than the Aeros. Cincinnati has been much improved on the road, picking up points in four straight (3-0-0-1).
· Houston and Cincinnati meet tonight with a share of third place on the line. The Ducks have 71 points, two more than the Aeros, who have two games in hand on Cincinnati. A regulation win tonight would move Houston into a tie for third for the first time since 12/6. The Ducks, meanwhile, have held sole possession of third since 1/22, a day after they were tied with Grand Rapids with 42 points.
· The Aeros snapped out of an 0-for-22 power play funk by scoring on three straight man advantages in Saturday's 8-0 win over San Antonio. Tonight the Aeros, who rank seventh in the league on the power play at 17.5 percent, go up against a Cincinnati team that ranks 11th on the penalty kill at 85.3 percent. However, the Ducks have been shorthanded 375 times - 103 more than Houston and second most in the AHL to Chicago (384).
· Aeros rookie netminder Josh Harding is 15-13-1, but he ranks third in the league in gaa (1.92) and could easily have a much better record. In the 13 starts that Harding hasn't won (one of his losses came in relief), the Aeros have scored more than two goals just once - 10/20 in a 5-4 OT loss at Chicago. Harding, who leads all AHL rookies in gaa, is 4-1-0 with a 1.18 gaa in his last five starts. The third period is the most important for Harding, who has won 10 straight games when keeping the opponent off the board in the final 20 minutes. Tonight could be an interesting matchup for Harding, who is 8-2-0 with a 1.63 gaa at home. Cincinnati counterpart Frederic Cassivi is 4-11-1 with a 3.08 gaa on the road.
· In Saturday's 8-0 home win over San Antonio, Houston tied its franchise record for goals, the seventh time it has put up an eight-spot. Aeros head coach Todd McLellan remembers the last time oh so well. He was IHL Cleveland's head coach in an 8-3 Aeros win over the Lumberjacks 4/6/01. The Aeros' only other eight-goal win was 11/28/98, in an 8-0 win at Las Vegas, and it came in similar circumstances, after two straight losses. They can only hope this eight-goal victory kicks off a stretch like the last one did. After that win over the Thunder, the eventual Turner Cup champion Aeros won five straight, and unleashed a 21-3-2 run.

Ducks at Aeros (Aeros are 8-5-5-1 overall, Aeros are 5-1-3-0 at Houston)
· Houston is 1-1-1-0 this season versus the Ducks, most recently dropping a pair of last-second games in Cincinnati, including a 4-3 OT loss on Chris Kunitz' game-winner with one second left 2/26. The Aeros won the lone Toyota Center meeting, a 3-1 opening night victory 10/16.
· The Aeros went 2-3-3-0 in the 2003-04 regular season against Cincinnati, and the Ducks swept the Aeros in two games in Houston in the West Division Qualifying Round.
· Cincinnati has just one regulation win in the regular season in Houston. The Aeros are 5-1-3-0 at home versus the Ducks, but they were swept in a two-game playoff series last season.
· Counting the 2004 post-season, the Aeros are 1-5-4-0 in the last 10 meetings with Cincinnati.
· The teams have played seven overtime games in 21 chances, including four of the last eight meetings.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston has won four straight at home and has points in 19 of its last 26 games (13-7-4-2) overall for a .615 winning percentage in that span...Pierre-Marc Bouchard (10-32=42) leads the Aeros in scoring...Bouchard has 23 points (5-18=23) in his last 24 games...Veteran Ray Giroux (9-17=26) anchors a well-balanced blueline and is a team-best plus-six...Mike Smith is 15-15-2 with a 2.53 gaa and five shutouts, while Josh Harding is 15-13-1 with four shutouts and a 1.92 gaa to rank third in the AHL.

Scouting the Ducks
Cincinnati has just a pair of one-goal regulation losses in its last 10 games (7-2-0-1), with four of its seven wins in that span coming via the shutout...The Ducks, just 12-18-2-1 on the road, have points in four straight (3-0-0-1) away from Cincinnati Gardens...Cincinnati rallied to force overtime, but fell 2-1 in a shootout at last-place Utah on Saturday...The Ducks are led by young guns like Joffrey Lupul (16-22=38) and Michael Holmqvist (12-24=36)...Kurtis Foster is the team's top defensive scorer (14-17=31) and leads all AHL blueliners in goals...Veteran Frederic Cassivi has taken over the No. 1 goalie position with a 16-15-1 mark and a 2.23 gaa...Ilya Bryzgalov's record is better at 15-11-1, but his gaa is 2.68.

2004-05 meetings (Fourth of 6 meetings, Aeros are 1-1-1-0 overall, Aeros are 1-0-0-0 at Houston)
October 16: Cincinnati 1 at Houston 3
February 25: Houston 2 at Cincinnati 3
February 26: Houston 3 at Cincinnati 4 (OT)
Tonight: Cincinnati at Houston
March 30: Cincinnati at Houston
April 8: Houston at Cincinnati

Last Game
Mikko Koivu celebrated his 22nd birthday with two goals and an assist and Josh Harding made 24 saves for his fourth shutout, as the Houston Aeros tied their franchise record for goals and winning margin with an 8-0 victory over the San Antonio Rampage at Toyota Center. Linemates Rickard Wallin and Kyle Wanvig each finished with a goal and two assists for Houston, which snapped a two-game skid and moved within two points of third-place Cincinnati, which lost 2-1 in a shootout in Utah. Wanvig, Mark Cullen, Marius Holtet and Zbynek Michalek each tallied a goal in a four-score second period, and Junior Lessard also scored.

Quick Hits
· The Aeros scored first on Saturday against San Antonio after allowing the game's first goal in three straight contests. The Aeros are 11-19-4-3 when allowing the first goal, but 19-4-2-0 when scoring it. Houston has scored first just 26 times in 62 games.
· The Aeros won another game Saturday when keeping their opponent off the board in the third period. In its 30 wins, Houston has allowed just 11 third-period goals, but in the remainder of its 32 games, it has yielded 30. The Aeros are 2-12-2-1 in their last 17 games when allowing a third-period goal. Houston has yielded 41 third-period goals, tied with Hartford for the best in the AHL. Cincinnati, meanwhile, is minus-10 in the third period (59-49).
· Cincinnati has a league-high 531minor penalties - a whopping 148 more than the Aeros. As a result, the Ducks have been shorthanded 375 times - second most in the AHL.
· Houston ranks fourth in the league in shots (33.26), but tonight it goes against a stifling Cincinnati defense ranked sixth in shots against (27.94).
· The Ducks have 19 one-goal victories (19-9-1-4), fourth-best in the AHL. The Aeros, meanwhile, are 13-9-6-3 in such games.
· Houston's John Erskine has a penalty in each of his last six games, the second longest active run in the AHL.
· Cincinnati's 18 regulation road losses are third most in the Western Conference behind Utah and San Antonio, both with 22, and fifth most in the AHL.
· Aeros defenseman Chris Heid turns 22 today, while Patrick Traverse turns 31. They can only hope to celebrate their birthdays in a similar way to Mikko Koivu, who put up three points Saturday on his 22nd birthday. Seven Aeros have celebrated a birthday in the first 14 days of March.

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 10-6-0 with a 1.85 gaa.
· 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 is 15-10-1 with a 1.84 since an 0-3-0 start to his pro campaign.
· Harding is third in the league in gaa (1.92), and tops among rookies (Lowell's Cam Ward is at 1.93). Harding's .931 save percentage is tied for third in the AHL.
· Harding has allowed 23 goals in the first period, but only 15 in the second and 16 in the third.
· Harding is 4-1-0 with a 1.18 gaa in his last five 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 6-4-1 with a 2.70 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 seventh
· The Aeros are seventh in the league on the power play at 17.5 percent.
· Houston snapped out of an 0-for-22 man advantage funk with a 3-for-7 performance Saturday versus San Antonio.
· In their last 45 games, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 43-23 on the power play.
· Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 54-33 on the power play.
· Houston is 20-12-5-1 when scoring a PPG and 10-11-1-2 when not scoring a PPG.
· Cincinnati is 11th in the league on the penalty kill at 85.3 percent.
· The Ducks have killed off 96.2 percent (25-of-26) of their shorthanded chances over the last five games.

Houston tied for third on PK
· Houston is tied for third in the league on the penalty kill at 87.9 percent, including 91.9 percent at Toyota Center.
· Following a 46-of-48 kill streak 2/4-2/23, the Aeros have allowed nine goals on 44 chances (79.6 percent kill rate) over their last 10 games.
· Houston is 21-13-2-2 when not allowing a PPG and 9-10-4-1 when allowing a PPG.
· Cincinnati is 20th in the AHL on the power play at 14.5 percent. On the road, the Ducks click at only a 11.3 percent clip, tied for 26th in the league.
· The Ducks are 3-for-30 (10.0 percent) on the power play over their last five games.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 14, 2005


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