Aeros in Milwaukee tonight while Fan Club meets at Laff Stop

March 10, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· The Aeros saw their six game unbeaten in regulation streak (4-0-2-0) come to an end last night, but tonight they could still climb into third place with a victory. The last time the Aeros held sole possession of third place was 12/4. A point tonight would get Houston into a share of third, with Cincinnati, for the first time since 12/6. The Aeros enter tonight's game with 67 points, one behind the Ducks with two games in hand.
· The Aeros hope to continue their March assault tonight. After going 6-4-0-1 - their second-best month - in March 2004, the Aeros are 3-1-1-0 this March. In its last 10 March games dating back to last season, Houston is 6-2-2-0 for a .700 winning percentage.
· Milwaukee netminder Brian Finley has 13 wins versus Houston, the most for any opposing goalie. Finley is 13-6-1 with a 2.33 gaa versus Houston and has won 13 of his last 17 decisions against the Aeros. He's 6-3-0 with a 2.15 gaa this season.
· 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 last night. 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.
· Tonight's most interesting matchup may come in the third period. The Admirals rank third in the league in third-period goals with 64, while Houston second in the AHL, allowing only 40 third-period goals. The Aeros, though, were outscored 2-1 in the third last night after enjoying a combined 5-0 advantage in the previous three games. In its 29 wins, Houston has allowed just 11 third-period goals, but in the remainder of its 31 games, it has yielded 29. The Aeros are 2-11-2-1 in their last 16 games when allowing a third-period goal.

Aeros at Admirals (Aeros are 29-31-7-1 overall, Aeros are 13-16-3-0 at Milwaukee)
· Houston and Milwaukee, the last two Calder Cup champions, meet for the 69th time tonight - 33rd in Milwaukee.
· The Aeros are 3-11-2-1 in their last 17 games against the Admirals, but each of those wins have come this season, when Houston sports a 3-4-1-0 mark.
· 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.
· Despite a 1-4-2-0 mark in their last seven trips to Bradley Center, the Aeros are 12-6-2-0 in their last 20 trips to Milwaukee after a 1-10-1-0 start there.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston had a six-game point streak (4-0-2-0) snapped last night but still has points in 18 of its last 24 games (12-6-4-2) for a .625 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 22 games...Veteran Ray Giroux (9-17=26) anchors a well-balanced blueline and is a team-best plus-six...Mike Smith is 15-14-2 with a 2.45 gaa and five shutouts, while Josh Harding is 14-12-1 with a 1.99 gaa to rank sixth in the AHL and second among rookies to Lowell's Cam Ward (1.95).

Scouting the Admirals
First-place Milwaukee, the AHL affiliate of the Nashville Predators, has apparently righted the ship after a five-game winless streak, winning two of their last three, including a 1-0 win over Grand Rapids on Sunday behind 38 saves from Brian Finley...Aero-killer Simon Gamache is third in the AHL in scoring with 70 points (23-47=70), including 14 PPG...The Admirals sport the league's top two scoring blueliners in Andrew Hutchinson (10-31=41) and Dan Hamhuis (11-29=40)...Monday, Milwaukee added veteran forward Brendan Yarema, who led Houston in playoff goals in 2003...Finley is 28-16-4 with a 2.19 to rank third in the league in wins, third in minutes (2,800) and 11th in gaa...Backup Seamus Kotyk is 8-5-0 with a 2.93 gaa.

2004-05 meetings (Ninth of 10 meetings, Aeros are 3-4-1-0 overall, Aeros are 1-1-1-0 at Milwaukee)
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
February 4: Milwaukee 5 at Houston 3
February 5: Milwaukee 0 at Houston 1
February 10: Houston 1 at Milwaukee 2 (OT)
Tonight: Houston at Milwaukee
April 5: Houston at Milwaukee

Last Game
Kari Lehtonen made 24 saves for his seventh straight win, and Tommi Santala's game-winning goal extended his point streak to 13 games, as the Chicago Wolves edged the Houston Aeros 3-1 at Allstate Arena. Junior Lessard scored Houston's lone goal and Josh Harding, bidding for a fourth straight win, turned aside 21 shots.

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 two straight contests. The Aeros are 10-18-4-3 when allowing the first goal, but 19-4-2-0 when scoring it. Houston has scored first just 25 times in 60 games.
· Houston has 10 regulation losses on the road. Only league-leading Rochester (five), Manitoba (seven) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (nine) have fewer.
· The Admirals have two regulation losses when scoring first (26-2-3-2), tied with Worcester for the fewest in the AHL.
· Milwaukee is the lone AHL team with fewer than two shootout victories. The Admirals are 0-4 in the shootout. Milwaukee's four shootouts are tied for the fewest in the league.

Rally cats - Houston got another point when trailing after two periods last Thursday in a 3-2 shootout loss to San Antonio. The Aeros are 5-17-3-2 in such situations, and their 15 points trail only Hershey's 18 for the top spot in the AHL. That's remarkable since Houston was winless (0-28-7-1) last season when trailing after 40 minutes.

Wallin hits century mark - Rickard Wallin notched an assist Monday to get to the 100-point mark (35-65=100) in his three-year Aeros career. He became the team's 21st member of the 100-point club. Wallin is the fourth Aero to reach the century mark this season, joining Stephane Veilleux, Mark Cullen and Kyle Wanvig. Dan Cavanaugh has 95 points, including his fifth career two-goal game on Monday.

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 (1.95).
· 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 6-3-1 with a 2.50 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 17.3 percent.
· Houston hasn't scored on 14 power play chances in its last three games, and it is 4-for-38 (10.5 percent) with the man advantage over its last 10 games.
· In their last 43 games, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 40-22 on the power play.
· Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 51-32 on the power play.
· Houston is 19-12-5-1 when scoring a PPG and 10-10-1-2 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.
· Milwaukee is 10th in the AHL on the penalty kill at 85.6 percent.
· The Admirals have killed off 24-of-28 (85.7 percent) of their shorthanded chances in their last five games.

Houston tied for fourth on PK
· Houston is tied for fourth in the league on the penalty kill at 87.8 percent after leading the AHL for much of the past month.
· Following a 46-of-48 kill streak 2/4-2/23, the Aeros have allowed eight goals on 35 chances (77.1 percent kill rate) over their last eight games.
· Houston is 20-13-2-2 when not allowing a PPG and 9-9-4-1 when allowing a PPG.
· Milwaukee is third in the league on the power play at 18.8 percent and has a league-high 68 PPG.
· The Admirals are only 3-for-41 (7.3 percent) with the man advantage in their past seven games.



American Hockey League Stories from March 10, 2005


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