Aeros, Rampage skate to 1-1 tie

Published on January 17, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


San Antonio, TX –Travis Roche scored shorthanded to knot the score with 8:17 gone in the third period and Kyle Kettles made 23 saves, and the Houston Aeros skated to a 1-1 tie with the San Antonio Rampage at SBC Center. Travis Scott turned aside 44 shots and Eric Beaudoin scored his third goal in two games for San Antonio. Houston again played without head coach Todd McLellan, who also missed last night's 6-3 loss to San Antonio due to illness. The Aeros are winless in a franchise-record 10 straight games (0-2-7-1), but have picked up points in an astounding eight of those games. Houston, which stayed in a fourth-place tie with San Antonio with 40 points, will get a short night's sleep before heading to Chicago Sunday for a 3 p.m. matchup.

Prior to the game, the Minnesota Wild recalled defenseman Jason Marshall from the Aeros and assigned All-Star winger Kyle Wanvig to Houston. Wanvig did not play tonight. The Aeros recalled Kevin Mitchell from ECHL Louisiana as well.

The opening period started similar to Friday's game, when the Aeros outshot San Antonio 18-7. Tonight, Houston rang up the first seven shots of the game, before San Antonio mustered a shot on Kettles with 12:42 left in the period. It took the Rampage more than seven minutes to record its next shot.

The Aeros had several good chances among their 13 first-period shots (San Antonio had three). Darby Hendrickson just missed on the power play 2:30 into the game. Newcomer Boris Protsenko ripped one over a fallen Scott and the net three minutes later.

Scott stopped the Aeros' best chance of the stanza, as the Aeros broke in 4-on-1. Mika Hannula shot from the left circle, and Scott made the pad save. The rebound trickled just outside the crease to Dan Cavanaugh, who was robbed by Scott's glove just before the puck crossed the goal line.

Kettles – whose team has scored just 10 goals in front of him in his nine starts – made his best save early in the second period, just after a San Antonio 5-on-3 had expired. The Rampage, still on the one-man advantage, got a rifling shot from the right point by Lukas Krajicek. Kettles made the save but left the rebound just to his right. The young netminder dove to cover the puck as Dennis Shvidki knocked the net off its moorings.

San Antonio's Grant McNeill lined up Mark Cullen with 3:30 left in the second period, nailing him in a previously injured shoulder that caused him to miss 22 games. Cullen returned to play the third period.

Beaudoin scored with just 1:49 left in the second for the game's first goal. Beaudoin rebounded a Mike Green miss and stepped through Kettles to poke the puck past the netminder for his third goal in two nights and 20th of the season.

Kettles kept the deficit at one goal with a spectacular glove save on Shvidki less than a minute into the third.

That save was important, as the Aeros knotted the score at 8:17 of the second on a shorthanded goal by Roche. Hannula started the play with a great clearing pass in front of his own net to Chris Bala on the left wing at center ice. Bala, in 2-on-1 with Roche, squirted a puck through Scott's legs. The puck was just about to cross the goal line when Roche crashed the net and left no doubt, putting the puck past Scott for his third of the season.

The tally was Houston's first at SBC Center in 98 minutes, 56 seconds.

An unbelievable sprawling save by Scott kept the game tied with 7:10 left in regulation. Roche hustled to the puck in the left circle and slid a cross-crease pass to Jeff Hoggan, who was robbed by Scott, who was on his back at the time.

The Aeros had a late power play, when Kristian Kudroc went off for hooking with just 2:36 left in regulation, but they couldn't find the net.

San Antonio had a power play with 33.5 seconds left in overtime, thanks to a too many men on the ice penalty to the Aeros – just seconds after a bad Rampage line change led to no fewer than five San Antonio players on the ice. The Rampage didn't mount a serious chance at Kettles on the advantage.

Each team finished 0-for-5 on the power play.

Notes:

Protsenko, recalled from ECHL Fresno Friday, was a healthy scratch last night.

Scott entered the game facing 34.8 shots this season in five games versus the Aeros.

Kettles, who suffered the loss in last night's game in relief, is unbeaten in his last six starts (2-0-4). Kettles has recorded a tie in his last four starts.

Houston is 0-3-9 in overtime this season, tying its franchise-record 12-game overtime winless streak.

Six of the teams' last nine meetings have been decided by one goal or fewer.

San Antonio is 4-0-6 in overtime and is one of three AHL teams without an overtime loss.

The Aeros still have just three regulation losses in their last 20 games (9-3-7-1).

Minnesota also tied tonight, 2-2 in St. Louis, and is 0-0-14 in overtime. The parent Wild and Aeros are a combined 0-3-23 in overtime this season.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 17, 2004


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