Aeros open big series in Cincinnati tonight

February 25, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· The Aeros, who lead the league on the penalty kill at 89.5 percent, have killed off 46-of-48 (95.8 percent) of their shorthanded chances over the last 13 games and 18 straight overall. Houston is plus-23 in PPG ratio, second best in the league. Chicago has scored the last two PPG versus Houston. Not counting those two games, no one has scored on the man advantage in 35 attempts, dating back to Grand Rapids' PPG 1/23, more than a month ago. The AHL record for penalty kill percentage is an eye-popping 90.7, set last season by Bridgeport, which also established a new mark by allowing only 31 PPG. Houston has yielded 24 through 52 games. The Aeros will get a test tonight against Cincinnati's power play unit, which has hit on 6-of-23 (26.1 percent) of its chances over its last two games. The Mighty Ducks have gone on a whopping 48 power plays over their last five games.
· There's a distinct possibility that goals will be at a premium tonight. Cincinnati's Frederic Cassivi posted his third straight shutout Wednesday against Philadelphia, extending his shutout sequence to 181:03, surpassing the previous club record of 142:39 by Ilya Brzygalov. Houston, meanwhile, is coming off a new franchise-record eighth shutout of the season, as Josh Harding (31 saves in 59:29) and Mike Smith (one save in 31 seconds) combined to blank Utah on Wednesday. The Aeros haven't allowed a non shootout goal in 95 minutes, 18 seconds dating back to Monday. Houston has yielded just three non shootout goals in its last three games.
· Houston is playing game three of a stretch of seven straight games against teams with lower winning percentages than it has. The Aeros just wrapped up a run where they played Milwaukee and Chicago - the top two teams in the division - in nine of 11 games. The Aeros played 16 of their first 50 games against the Admirals and Wolves, while playing only 13 games versus the remainder of the division.
· There will soon be a new all-time Aeros leader in goals since 2001-02, when the team joined the AHL. Kyle Wanvig's 50 goals have tied Cory Larose for the top spot on the list, while Stephane Veilleux is just one off the pace with 49. Veilleux, meanwhile, is tied with Larose and Travis Roche at 120 points for the top spot on the Aeros AHL points list. The trio is tied for 10th place on the team's all-time list, counting IHL totals.
· Houston has allowed 35 third-period goals, tied with Rochester for the fewest in the league. The Aeros are 1-9-2-1 in their last 13 games when allowing a third-period goal, but they've won their last five when not yielding a goal in the third. In its 25 wins, Houston has allowed just 10 third-period goals, but in the remainder of its 27 games, it has yielded 25.

Aeros at Ducks (Aeros are 8-4-4-1 overall, Aeros are 3-3-1-1 at Cincinnati)
· 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.
· Houston's 3-1 home opening win over the Ducks in the last meeting 10/16 snapped its five-game winless streak (0-2-3-0) against Cincinnati. Counting the post-season, the Aeros were winless in seven straight meetings prior to that game.
· The teams have played six overtime games in 19 chances, including three of their final five games in 2003-04. Houston is 1-1-4 in overtime versus Cincinnati.
· Houston is 0-1-1-0 in its last two trips to Cincinnati Gardens, last winning there 12/20/03, by a 3-1 count.

Scouting the Aeros Houston has points in 12 of its last 16 games (8-4-2-2) to move into fourth place in the West, just five points out of third...A regulation win tonight would close Houston within three points of the third-place Ducks but with five games in hand...The Aeros are 1-0-0-1 to begin a five-game road trip...The Aeros have points in four straight on the road (2-0-1-1) to tie a season-high and are five games over .500 overall (25-20-4-3) to tie a season-high...Stephane Veilleux (15-20=35) leads the Aeros in scoring, just ahead of Pierre-Marc Bouchard (9-25=34) and Kirby Law (17-16=33)...Bouchard has 15 points (4-11=15) in his last 14 games, while Law has 18 points (10-8=18) in 19 games since 1/11...Veteran Ray Giroux (7-15=22) anchors a well-balanced blueline that includes five players in double digits in points...Mike Smith is 14-12-2 with a 2.43 gaa, while Josh Harding is 11-11-1 with a 2.04 gaa.

Scouting the Ducks Cincinnati won its third straight Wednesday, dominating Philadelphia 5-0 with the help of a 14-5 advantage in power plays, to avenge the team's only regulation loss at home since before Christmas...The Ducks are 13-1-0-1 in their last 15 home games...Other than Philadelphia, the last team to win in regulation at Cincinnati Gardens was Edmonton (2-1, 12/17)...The Ducks are led by young guns like injured Joffrey Lupul (15-21=36) and Michael Holmqvist (11-24=35)...Kurtis Foster is the team's top defensive scorer (12-16=28)...Veteran Frederic Cassivi has taken over the No. 1 goalie position with a 14-14-1 mark and a 2.27 gaa...Cassivi has posted three consecutive shutouts and has five since 1/1...Ilya Bryzgalov's record is better at 13-10-1, but his gaa is 2.79.

2004-05 meetings (Second of 6 meetings, Aeros are 1-0-0-0 overall, First meeting at Cincinnati) October 16: Cincinnati 1 at Houston 3 Tonight: Houston at Cincinnati Tomorrow: Houston at Cincinnati March 14: Cincinnati at Houston March 30: Cincinnati at Houston April 8: Houston at Cincinnati

Last Game Josh Harding made 31 saves and fought opposing goalie Jamie Storr, and Ray Giroux finished with a goal and an assist, as the Houston Aeros blanked the Utah Grizzlies 3-0 at The "E" Center. Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Todd Reirden also scored for Houston. Mike Smith made one save in the 31 seconds Harding was out of the game, meaning this game goes down as a team shutout.

Quick Hits
· Houston's John Erskine has played in 299 professional games.
· Aeros winger Bill Kinkel and Cincinnati's Lee Jacobson fought five times in the ECHL this season when they played for Pensacola and Mississippi, respectively. Two of those fights came in the pre-season.
· In the last two seasons, the Aeros have only three wins in 15 February road games (3-7-4-1).
· Aeros defenseman Ray Giroux has five points (1-4=5) in his last five games and eight points (2-6=8) in his last eight games. Giroux picked up his 150th AHL assist Wednesday.
· Cincinnati ranks first in the league in PIM/game (30.23), and it is also first in minors with 479 - 29 more than any other AHL team.
· Wednesday marked the first time in eight games that the Aeros scored the game's first goal. The Aeros, who have trailed at some point in 10 of their last 12 games, are 9-17-2-3 when allowing the first goal, but 16-3-2-0 when scoring it. Houston has scored first just 21 times, one off the AHL-low. Houston has scored a first-period goal in just three of its last 12 games.
· The Ducks' plus-29 goal margin at home is second best in the Western Conference.
· Cincinnati is an impressive 16-7-1-3 in one-goal games. Houston is 12-8-4-3.
· The Ducks have led after one period at home only seven times in 26 games. They are 4-1-0-2 in such situations.

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 6-4-0 with a 2.07 gaa.
· Harding, the second youngest goalie in the AHL behind WBS' Marc-Andre Fleury, has three shutouts, as Wednesday's game didn't go down as an individual shutout. No other Aeros rookie goalie had more than one shutout.
· Harding is 11-8-1 with a 1.90 gaa since an 0-3-0 start to his pro campaign.
· Harding ranks seventh in the league in gaa (2.04), and trails only Lowell's Cam Ward among rookies (2.01).
· The rookie lost Saturday against Chicago despite allowing only two goals, marking the fourth time he's seen a winning streak snapped at two games.
· Harding has allowed 21 goals in the first period, but only 12 in each the second and third this season.
· Harding fought opposing goalie Jamie Storr on Wednesday, making him just the third goalie in team history to pick up a fighting major. The last was Ryan Bach on March 21, 1998, against San Antoni's Sergei Zvyogin. Jamie McLennan was involved in two skirmishes in the 2002 Calder Cup playoffs against Hershey, but he got a minor penalty for leaving the crease for his role, which ironically also came in a 3-0 shutout win.

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 is 0-2-2 in his last four starts, a new career-mark for a winless streak. His gaa in that span is 2.66. Smith was previously winless in three straight games on two occasions, once this season.
· Smith is one of five Aeros goalies ever with four shutouts in a season.
· Smith is 3-2 in his AHL career in OT and 3-1 in shootouts, and he went 3-1 in shootouts with ECHL Lexington in 2002-03.
· The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder is 6-1-1 with a 2.20 gaa on the road but 8-11-1 with a 2.55 gaa at Toyota Center.

PP unit fifth
· The Aeros are fifth in the league on the power play at 18.0 percent.
· Houston is 0-for-2 on the power play over its last two games, getting only one advantage in each game. The Aeros were held without a PPG in three straight games just once this season (11/6-11/12).
· In their last 35 games, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 36-15 on the power play.
· Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 47-24 on the power play.
· Houston is 18-12-3-1 when scoring a PPG and 7-8-1-2 when not scoring a PPG.
· The Aeros have allowed seven shorthanded goals, but none since Norfolk's Quintin Laing 12/18.
· Cincinnati is tied for 13th in the league on the penalty kill at 84.6 percent.
· The Ducks have killed off 18 straight shorthanded chances over their last three games.

Houston first on PK
· Houston leads the league on the penalty kill at 89.5 percent.
· Houston has killed off 46-of-48 shorthanded chances in the past 14 games (95.8 percent) and 99-of-108 shorthanded chances in the last 25 games (92.5 percent).
· The Aeros have killed off 165-of-180 (91.7 percent) of their shorthanded chances over the last 42 games.
· Houston is 16-13-2-2 when not allowing a PPG and 8-8-2-1 when allowing a PPG.
· Cincinnati is 18th in the AHL on the power play at 14.4 percent, but it is tied for 11th at home at 18.1 percent.
· The Ducks are 8-for-48 (16.7 percent) on the power play over their last five games, and they are averaging 9.6 power play opportunities over that span.



American Hockey League Stories from February 25, 2005


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