Aeros host Road Runners as Law hits No. 500

January 19, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· Houston captain Kirby Law will play in his 500th professional game tonight, including NHL, AHL and IHL contests. Law is on the verge of another milestone, as he has 298 (143=155=298) career AHL points in 422 games.
· Aeros goalie Mike Smith has appeared in 15 straight games - 13 starts - including one game where he replaced the injured Josh Harding with five seconds remaining 11/28. Smith's 15-game run ties Frederic Chabot's franchise record, set 12/8/99-1/21/00. Smith carries a 2.01 gaa over the last five games, but he has just a 1-4-0 mark to show for it.
· After tonight, Houston plays 40 of its remaining 43 games against the West Division. The Aeros have a home game left versus Hartford on March 4, before traveling to Manitoba on March 19-20.
· Houston is just 9-14-2-1 when outshooting an opponent, but it is 8-2-0-0 when getting outshot or the shots are even. Aeros goalies don't mind work - they are only 2-9-0 when seeing 23 shots or less, but 15-9-1 when seeing 24 or more. The Aeros have allowed 22 or fewer in each of the last four games, but they have won only one. Houston has outshot its opponents 134-59 over the last three games, and 163-77 over the last four.
· The Aeros have scored first in just one of their last seven games. They have scored first in only 15 games this season, the second lowest total in the AHL, and Houston has gone 12-2-1-0 in those games. Utah has scored first 12 times.

Road Runners at Aeros (Aeros are 2-1-0-0 overall, Aeros are 0-1-0-0 at Houston)
· The Aeros swept a pair of one-goal decisions from the Road Runners in Edmonton 10/29-30, but the Road Runners won 6-4 at Toyota Center on November 14 behind two goals and an assist from Raffi Torres.
· Tonight marks the final game of the season series.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston is 1-3-0-0 on a five-game homestand that wraps up tonight...Stephane Veilleux (13-10=23) is the Aeros' leading scorer, just ahead of Rickard Wallin (6-15=21)...Veilleux has 13 goals, three more than any other Aero...Houston has 19 players with at least one goal...Nineteen-year-old Brent Burns (5-9=14) and Erik Reitz (0-12=12) anchor the blueline...Mike Smith is 12-10-0 with a 2.52 gaa, while Josh Harding (5-7-1, 2.01 gaa) has missed the last 13 games with a concussion...Smith has appeared in 15 straight games - 13 starts - to tie Frederic Chabot's franchise record.

Scouting the Road Runners
Edmonton is winless in its last five games (0-3-1-1), the third longest active AHL streak, and has scored just six goals in that span...The Road Runners are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss in San Antonio on Sunday...Tony Salmelainen (15-15=30) leads the Road Runners in scoring, with Raffi Torres adding 25 points (13-12=25) in only 30 contests...Rick Mrozik leads all Edmonton defensemen with 13 points (3-10=13), and he's a plus-15, trailing only Salmelainen (plus-19) for the team lead...Tyler Moss is 16-8-2 with a 2.31 gaa...With Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers out with an injury, Mike Morrison is the No. 2 man and has a 0-1-2 mark with a 0.95 gaa.

2004-05 meetings (Fourth of four meetings, Aeros are 2-1-0-0 overall, Aeros are 0-1-0-0 at Houston)
October 29: Houston 3 at Edmonton 2
October 30: Houston 5 at Edmonton 4 (SO)
November 14: Edmonton 4 at Houston 6
Tonight: Edmonton at Houston

Last game
Josh Green scored a pair of goals and Peter Sarno added a goal and two assists, as the Manitoba Moose defeated the Houston Aeros 3-1 at Toyota Center to remain unbeaten in the last 14 road games (12-0-1-1). Alex Auld made 38 saves and Wade Brookbank chipped in two assists for Manitoba. Mike Smith stopped 12-of-15 shots before being replaced by Kyle Kettles (seven saves) for Houston, which has lost four of five. Mikko Koivu helped the Aeros avoid the shutout with a third-period goal.

Quick Hits
· Houston is averaging 5,027 fans through 18 home games, which is a 14.1 percent increase over the same time span in 2003-04.
· The Aeros are 2-6-0-0 to begin a stretch of nine straight games versus teams with records above the .500 mark. After playing in San Antonio on Friday, Houston then plays seven straight games against Chicago, Milwaukee and Grand Rapids, the top three teams in the division.
· Houston is just 1-6-0-0 against North Division opponents at home, with the lone win coming 11/7 against Syracuse.
· The Aeros have allowed 24 third-period goals. Only Rochester (23) has been better defensively in the final 20 minutes.
· Houston has scored just six goals in its last six losses.
· The Aeros have won only two home games in which they have trailed (2-9-1-0), but they have come from behind to win five road games (5-7-1-1).
· Houston and Grand Rapids are the lone AHL teams that are above .500 on the road, but below that mark at home.
· Edmonton has trailed after one period just eight times in 41 games.
· The Aeros are trying to avoid a third straight regulation home loss. They haven't done that since 12/6-12/12/02, during their Calder Cup season. This is already the fourth time this season that Houston has lost back-to-back home games in regulation.
· Houston's Mikko Koivu has at least a point in three straight games (2-2=4) for the first time in this, his first season in North America.

Smith at franchise mark
· Aeros goalie Mike Smith has appeared in 15 straight games - 13 starts - including one game where he replaced the injured Josh Harding with five seconds remaining 11/28. Smith's 15-game run ties Frederic Chabot's franchise record, set 12/8/99-1/21/00.
· Smith is 12-6-0 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 5-1-0 with a 2.42 gaa on the road but 7-9-0 with a 2.57 gaa at Toyota Center.
· In 17 home games, Smith has allowed 31 goals in the first two periods but just six in the third.
· Smith has yielded only four third-period goals in 13 games played in December and January.

PP unit seventh
· The Aeros rank seventh in the league on the power play at 18.3 percent.
· Houston is 3-for-30 (10.0 percent) in the last five games after scoring at least one PPG in a franchise-record 10 straight games. In their last 20 games, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 25-11 on the power play.
· The Aeros are 14-9-2-0 when scoring a PPG and 3-7-0-1 when not scoring a PPG.
· Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 36-20 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.
· Edmonton ranks second in the league on the penalty kill at 88.8 percent.
· The Road Runners have killed off 13 straight shorthanded situations since St. John's went 3-for-13 on 1/10.

Houston third on PK
· Houston ranks third in the league on the penalty kill at 88.4 percent.
· Houston has killed off 47-of-51 shorthanded chances in the last 12 games (92.2 percent), and Milwaukee has three of the last four PPG versus Houston.
· The Aeros have killed off 113-of-124 (91.1 percent) of their shorthanded chances over the last 26 games.
· Houston is 11-8-1-1 when not allowing a PPG and 6-8-1-0 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.
· Edmonton ranks 22nd in the league on the man advantage at 12.8 percent, but it is tied for 10th on the road at 14.9 percent.
· The Road Runners are 1-for-21 (4.8 percent) on the power play over their last five games.

First and last two minutes are crucial
Houston has scored just 10 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/Road Runners connections
· Houston's Derek Boogaard and Edmonton's Dan Baum were teammates in WHL Prince George from 1999-2001.
· The Aeros' Pierre-Marc Bouchard played with QMJHL Chicoutimi in 2001-02, in front of Road Runners goalie Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers.
· Houston's Kyle Wanvig played two seasons at WHL Red Deer with Edmonton's Doug Lynch and Jeff Woywitka. The troop helped lead the Rebels to a Memorial Cup.
· Houston's Kirby Law and Edmonton's Tyler Moss were teammates briefly with IHL Orlando in 1998-99.
· Edmonton's Toby Peterson played two seasons at Colorado College with Houston's Mark Cullen.
· Houston's Stephane Veilleux spent two seasons with Edmonton's Mathieu Roy at QMJHL Val d'Or, and the Foreurs lost to Kyle Wanvig and Doug Lynch's Red Deer team in 2001 in the Memorial Cup.
· Edmonton's Jarret Stoll played one season plus 14 games with Kyle Wanvig at WHL Kootenay before Wanvig was traded to Red Deer.
· The Road Runners' Rocky Thompson and Houston's Kyle Wanvig are both from Calgary.
· Houston's Josh Harding and Derek Boogaard and Edmonton's Jarret Stoll all hail from Saskatoon, Sask.
· The Aeros' Kirby Law played nearly half of last season with Edmonton's Jeff Woywitka in AHL Philadelphia.
· Edmonton's Jamie Wright and Houston's John Erskine both played for Utah in 2000-01. Wright also spent part of the 2002-03 season in AHL Philadelphia with Houston's Kirby Law.
· Houston's Todd Reirden made his NHL debut with Edmonton 1/7/99 at Phoenix and got first goal and assist with the Oilers 1/10/99 at Anaheim.
· Edmonton assistant coach Joe Paterson was an assistant on the 1999-2000 Louisville club that featured Kirby Law.



American Hockey League Stories from January 19, 2005


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