Aeros host Rampage tonight; High school hockey this afternoon at Toyota Center

Published on March 12, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
• The Aeros have won three straight home games to tie a season-high. The last Houston stretch longer than that was a six-game home winning streak 12/5-12/26/03.
• Tonight may mark the home debut of the newest Aero, Jeremy Reich. The veteran, rugged winger was acquired on loan from Syracuse on Thursday for defenseman/winger Jason Beckett, who has been in ECHL Pensacola for the entire season. Reich, 26, has totaled nine points (4-5=9) and 189 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Crunch this season. In 2003-04, Reich had a career-best 51 points (14-47=51) and 150 PIM for Syracuse. He played his final 2 1/2 junior seasons at Swift Current for Aeros head coach Todd McLellan.
• Houston hasn't scored on 19 power play chances in its last four games, and it is 4-for-43 (9.3 percent) with the man advantage over its last 11 games. The Aeros last went four games without a PPG during a five-game stretch 3/27-4/9/04.
• Aeros rookie netminder Josh Harding is 14-13-1, but he ranks sixth in the league in gaa (1.99) 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 had a season-best three-game winning streak come to a halt Wednesday in Chicago. Overall in his last four starts, Harding is 3-1-0 with a 1.47 gaa. The third period is the most important for Harding, who has won nine straight games when keeping the opponent off the board in the final 20 minutes.
• Thursday's 5-0 loss in Milwaukee was Houston's worst loss since falling 7-2 in Manitoba 1/31/04, and its worst shutout loss since dropping a 6-0 decision to Grand Rapids 2/23/03. Under Aeros head coach Todd McLellan, the Aeros have typically bounced back well from big shutout losses. Houston is 3-1-1-0 following shutouts by five or more goals under McLellan.

Rampage at Aeros (Aeros are 19-5-5-2 all-time, Aeros are 12-2-1-0 at Houston)
• Tonight is the 32nd all-time meeting between the teams - 16th in Houston.
• San Antonio won 4-2 in the last meeting 3/3, the first time it scored more than two goals versus the Aeros in 14 games.
• Houston is 4-1-2-0 this season against the Rampage. The Aeros have only two regulation losses in the last 19 meetings (11-2-4-2).
• The teams have gone to overtime in nine of 31 meetings. The Aeros are 1-4-3 against San Antonio in the extra session and 1-0 in shootout.
• Houston is unbeaten in regulation in the last six home meetings (5-0-1-0). The Rampage last earned a regulation win in Houston on 1/16/04, a 6-3 decision. San Antonio only has two regulation wins in Houston in its three years.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston has lost two straight in regulation for the first time since January 14-16, but still has points in 18 of its last 25 games (12-7-4-2) for a .600 winning percentage in that span...Pierre-Marc Bouchard (10-30=40) leads the Aeros in scoring by one point over fellow Quebec native Stephane Veilleux (15-24=39)...Bouchard has 21 points (5-16=21) in his last 23 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 14-13-1 with a 1.99 gaa to rank sixth in the AHL and second among rookies to Lowell's Cam Ward (1.90).

Scouting the Rampage
San Antonio, the AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, lost its third straight last night, falling 1-0 at home to Cleveland to drop to 2-10-1-1 in its last 14 games...In that stretch, San Antonio has scored more than two goals on only two occasions and has been shut out five times, including three times in the last five games...Last night's game marked the Rampage's second without Stephen Weiss, the team's leading scorer, and All-Star and World Cup defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, who were loaned to Chicago on Tuesday, and its first without veteran defenseman Joel Kwiatkowski, who paced the Rampage after Weiss left...Kwiatkowski was loaned to St. John's yesterday...The Rampage sent captain Paul Healey to Edmonton this morning...Travis Scott is 16-24-4 with a 2.45 gaa...Patrick DesRochers is 8-14-1 with a 2.63 gaa.

2004-05 meetings (Eighth of 12 meetings, Aeros are 4-1-2-0 overall, Aeros are 2-0-1-0 at Houston)
October 15: Houston 1 at San Antonio 2
December 3: San Antonio 2 at Houston 1 (OT)
December 23: San Antonio 2 at Houston 5
January 21: Houston 4 at San Antonio 2
February 27: Houston 3 at San Antonio 2 (SO)
March 2: San Antonio 0 at Houston 2
March 3: Houston 3 at San Antonio 4 (OT)
Tonight: San Antonio at Houston
April 2: San Antonio at Houston
April 3: Houston at San Antonio
April 9: Houston at San Antonio
April 10: San Antonio at Houston

Last Game
Brian Finley finished with 24 saves for his second straight shutout, Scottie Upshall tallied two goals and Simon Gamache scored just 21 seconds into the game, as the Milwaukee Admirals routed the Houston Aeros 5-0 at Bradley Center. Libor Pivko and Paul Brown also scored for Milwaukee. Mike Smith made 22 saves for the Aeros, who suffered their worst loss of the season.

Quick Hits
• Houston's Derek Boogaard moved into second place on the team's all-time major penalty list Monday with 45. Mike Yeo is the all-time leader with 51.
• The Aeros have allowed the game's first goal in three straight contests. The Aeros are 10-19-4-3 when allowing the first goal, but 19-4-2-0 when scoring it. Houston has scored first just 25 times in 61 games, one off the league low.
• The Aeros gave up a third-period goal Thursday, which is usually a sign of the final result. In its 29 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, one off the AHL low.
• Aeros centerman Mikko Koivu turns 22 today.
• San Antonio has allowed a league-high 64 first-period goals, and its minus-20 first-period margin is third worst in the AHL. The Rampage is minus-18 in the third period (59-41), fourth worst in the league.
• Seventeen of the Rampage's 24 wins have come by one goal. The Rampage is 17-9-3-5 in one-goal games, but just 7-26-0-0 in games decided by two or more.

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 9-6-0 with a 1.96 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 14-10-1 with a 1.92 since an 0-3-0 start to his pro campaign.
• Harding is sixth in the league in gaa (1.99), and trails only Lowell's Cam Ward among rookies (1.90).
• Harding has allowed 23 goals in the first period, but only 15 in the second and 16 in the third.
• After winning two straight games on four occasions, Harding won three straight decisions 2/27-3/7, with a 1.30 gaa in that span.

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 is seventh
• The Aeros are seventh in the league on the power play at 16.9 percent.
• Houston hasn't scored on 19 power play chances in its last four games, and it is 4-for-43 (9.3 percent) with the man advantage over its last 11 games. The Aeros last went four games without a PPG during a five-game stretch 3/27-4/9/04.
• In their last 44 games, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 40-23 on the power play.
• Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 51-33 on the power play.
• Houston is 19-12-5-1 when scoring a PPG and 10-11-1-2 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.
• San Antonio is 25th on the penalty kill at 80.9 percent.
• The Rampage has killed off 15-of-18 shorthanded chances (83.3 percent) over its last five games.

Houston tied for fourth on PK
• Houston is tied for fourth in the league on the penalty kill at 87.7 percent.
• Following a 46-of-48 kill streak 2/4-2/23, the Aeros have allowed nine goals on 40 chances (77.5 percent kill rate) over their last nine games.
• Houston is 20-13-2-2 when not allowing a PPG and 9-10-4-1 when allowing a PPG.
• San Antonio is 23rd in the league on the power play at 13.9 percent, including a much better rate on the road (14.8) than at home (12.6).
• The Rampage is 2-for-13 (15.4 percent) with the man advantage over its last five games.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 12, 2005


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