Aeros host Griffins tonight on Cap night

Published on January 22, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· Aeros goalie Mike Smith has appeared in 17 straight games - 15 starts - including one game where he replaced the injured Josh Harding with five seconds remaining 11/28. Smith's 17-game run is a new franchise record, eclipsing Frederic Chabot's old mark of 15, set 12/8/99-1/21/00. Smith, one of five Aeros goalies ever with four shutouts in a season, is 7-7-0 since Harding got hurt, but he sports an impressive 2.01 gaa in that span. Harding backed up for the first time last night.
· Houston captain Kirby Law, who played in his 500th professional game Wednesday, is on the verge of another milestone, as he has 299 (144=155=298) career AHL points in 424 games.
· Grand Rapids goalie Joey MacDonald sports the sixth-best gaa versus the Aeros since the team joined the AHL. MacDonald is 6-6-0 with a 1.95 gaa and three shutouts versus Houston. MacDonald joins Jason LaBarbera as the lone netminders to shut the Aeros out more than two times in AHL play. This season, McDonald is 1-1-0 with a miniscule 0.50 gaa against Houston.
· Last night's win over San Antonio improved Houston to an amazing 10-2-0-0 when getting outshot, or the shots are even. The Aeros, meanwhile, are just 9-14-2-1 when outshooting an opponent. Aeros goalies don't mind work - they are only 2-9-0 when seeing 23 shots or less, but 17-9-1 when seeing 24 or more.
· Houston's Mikko Koivu had his team-best third two-goal game last night to stretch his point streak to a team season-high five games (5-2=7). He also has a three-game goal streak, with four goals in the span. That streak ties Stephane Veilleux for the longest on the Aeros this season.

Griffins at Aeros (Aeros are 22-22-7-0 overall, Aeros are 12-8-5-0 at Houston)
· Tonight is the 52nd all-time meeting between the teams - 26th in Houston.
· The Aeros won two of the first three meetings this season - all in Grand Rapids. Houston earned a 4-3 overtime win, then traded 1-0 decisions with the Griffins.
· Houston went 5-5-0 against Grand Rapids in 2003-04 and was the only AHL team with five wins against the Griffins.
· The Aeros are 7-4-0 in the last 11 meetings after a 1-6-0 and 2-7-1 stretch.
· Houston has won four of the last five meetings.
· Since joining the AHL, Houston is 15-14-6 against Grand Rapids, including a 7-5-4-0 home record.
· The Aeros' two straight home wins versus Grand Rapids are the most since a four-game run from 3/6/98-2/6/00.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston tries to match a season-high with a third straight win tonight...Stephane Veilleux (14-12=26) is the Aeros' leading scorer, just ahead of Rickard Wallin (6-16=22) and Mikko Koivu (11-10=21)...Houston has 19 players with at least one goal...Nineteen-year-old Brent Burns (5-9=14) anchors a well-balanced blueline that includes three players with 12 points...Mike Smith is 14-10-0 with a 2.39 gaa, while Josh Harding (5-7-1, 2.01 gaa) has missed the last 15 games with a concussion.

Scouting the Griffins
Grand Rapids was victorious for just the second time in 13 games last night (2-10-0-1), winning 6-3 over second-place Chicago...The Griffins' only other win since 12/15 is a 4-0 decision at Cleveland 1/9 in their last road games...Grand Rapids started off the year with five straight wins and was 11 games over .500 (18-7-1-0) 12/15...Offensively, the Griffins are led by defenseman Niklas Kronwall (10-22=32), who missed much of last season with a broken leg...Eric Manlow is second on the team with 25 points (15-10=25)...Joey MacDonald is 15-14-1 with a 2.18 gaa, while Drew MacIntyre is 5-4-0 with a 2.52 gaa.

2004-05 meetings (Fourth of 8 meetings, Aeros are 2-1-0-0 overall, First meeting at Houston)
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
Tonight: Grand Rapids at Houston
January 23: Grand Rapids at Houston
February 9: Houston at Grand Rapids
March 25: Grand Rapids at Houston
March 27: Grand Rapids at Houston

Last game
Mikko Koivu scored two goals, giving him four in his last three games, and Mike Smith made 28 saves, as the Houston Aeros held on for a 4-2 victory over the San Antonio Rampage at SBC Center. Ray Giroux and Kirby Law also scored and Stephane Veilleux tacked on two assists for Houston.

Quick Hits
· Starting last night, Houston plays 40 of its remaining 43 games against the West Division. The Aeros have a home game left versus Hartford 3/4, before traveling to Manitoba on 3/19-20. Currently, the Aeros have played 21 out-of-division games but only 17 within the West.
· Tonight the Aeros begin a stretch of seven straight games against Milwaukee, Chicago and Grand Rapids, the top three teams in the West. Houston just wrapped up a nine-game stretch against teams with records above .500, a streak that ended last night in San Antonio.
· The Aeros have allowed 25 third-period goals. Only Rochester (23) has been better defensively in the final 20 minutes.
· Houston begins a four-game homestand tonight. After tomorrow's game against the Griffins, Milwaukee comes to town Tuesday trying to avenge a 7-0 loss here earlier this month. Then, Chicago makes its first trip to Houston in more than three months next Saturday.
· Grand Rapids is 11-5-0-1 on the road, but just 9-12-1-0 at home.
· The Griffins have scored 23 third-period goals, second fewest in the AHL, while Houston has allowed just 25, second in the league.

Smith at franchise mark
· Aeros goalie Mike Smith has appeared in 17 straight games - 15 starts - including one game where he replaced the injured Josh Harding with five seconds remaining 11/28. Smith's 17-game run is 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 Wednesday, 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 Harding's 40. Smith, one of five Aeros goalies ever with four shutouts in a season, is 7-7-0 since Harding got hurt, but sports an impressive 2.01 gaa in that span.
· Smith is 14-6-0 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's OT loss to San Antonio 12/3 was his first ever in the AHL post-regulation. He is now 3-1 in OT and 3-0 in shootouts, and he went 3-1 in shootouts with ECHL Lexington in 2002-03.
· His three shootout wins are two off Jason LaBarbera's league-best total of five.
· The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder is 6-1-0 with a 2.37 gaa on the road but 8-9-0 with a 2.40 gaa at Toyota Center.
· In 18 home games, Smith has allowed 31 goals in the first two periods but just six in the third.
· Smith has yielded only five third-period goals in 15 games played in December and January.

PP unit seventh
· The Aeros are seventh in the league on the power play at 18.1 percent.
· Houston is 1-for-14 (7.1 percent) in the last three games on the man advantage and is 4-for-37 (10.8 percent) in the last seven games after scoring at least one PPG in a franchise-record 10 straight games. In their last 21 games, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 26-12 on the power play.
· The Aeros are 15-9-2-0 when scoring a PPG and 4-7-0-1 when not scoring a PPG.
· Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 37-21 on the power play.
· The Aeros have allowed seven shorthanded goals, the last by Norfolk's Quintin Laing 12/18. That total has them three behind Manchester's league-high 10 SHG allowed.
· Grand Rapids is 10th in the league on the penalty kill at 86.1 percent.
· The Griffins have killed off only 27-of-38 (71.1 percent) of their shorthanded chances over the last seven games.

Houston fourth on PK
· Houston is fourth in the league on the penalty kill at 88.3 percent.
· Houston has killed off 53-of-58 shorthanded chances in the last 14 games (91.4 percent), and Milwaukee has three of the last five PPG versus Houston.
· The Aeros have killed off 119-of-131 (90.8 percent) of their shorthanded chances over the last 28 games.
· Houston is 12-8-1-1 when not allowing a PPG and 7-8-1-0 when allowing a PPG.
· The Aeros are tied for fifth in the AHL with six SHG, all by different players. Only Lowell and Manchester also have six different players with a SHG.
· Grand Rapids is tied for 15th in the league on the power play at 15.3 percent, but the Griffins are fourth in the AHL on the road at 18.9 percent.
· The Griffins are 4-for-23 (17.4 percent) with the man advantage over their last five games, with two goals coming last night.

First and last two minutes are crucial
Houston has scored just 12 goals in the first or last two minutes of a period this season. 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/Griffins connections
· The Aeros' Stephane Veilleux and Grand Rapids' Danny Groulx played together in 1999-2000 with Victoriaville of the QMJHL.
· Houston's Rickard Wallin and the Griffins' Niklas Kronwall both hail from Stockholm, Sweden.
· Aeros defenseman Todd Reirden was teammates with Grand Rapids' Bryan Helmer briefly with the St. Louis Blues in the 1999-2000 season.
· The Aeros' Josh Harding (38th) and Marius Holtet (42) and the Griffins' Jiri Hudler (58th) were all selected in the second round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. Houston's Pierre-Marc Bouchard went eighth overall in that draft.
· Houston's Kyle Wanvig and Grand Rapids' Derek Meech were teammates for two seasons with WHL Red Deer, including the team's 2001 Memorial Cup championship.
· The Griffins' Blake Sloan was an Aero from 1997-99 and 2000-01, totaling 44 points (17-24=44) in 165 games.
· Houston defenseman Patrick Traverse played 10 games for Grand Rapids during the Griffins inaugural 1996-97 season.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 22, 2005


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