Aeros set sights on third place tonight in Chicago

March 9, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· Fourteen of the last 25 meetings between Houston and Chicago have gone into overtime, including four of eight this season. The Aeros and Wolves have played seven, one-goal games, tied for the league high among two teams. Each team has 10 points in the first eight meetings. One thing is for sure - neither coach wants to see his team score the first goal or take a multiple-goal lead tonight. The team to score first has won just three of the eight meetings this season. In three of the last five meetings between the teams, the losing team has coughed up a two- or three-goal lead.
· The Aeros are riding a six-game point streak (4-0-2-0), their longest since a seven-game (3-0-4-0) run 12/20/03-1/2/04. A victory tonight would match a season-high three-game winning streak, although the Aeros have failed to stretch any of the previous four three-game runs past that mark. A win would also move the Aeros into sole possession of third place for the first time since 12/4. A point tonight would get Houston into a share of third, with Cincinnati, for the first time since 12/6.
· 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 unbeaten in regulation this month at 3-0-1-0. In its last nine March games dating back to last season, Houston is 6-1-2-0.
· Aeros rookie goaltender Josh Harding is 3-4-0 with a 3.19 gaa versus the Wolves, but 11-8-1 against the remainder of the league with an amazing 1.56 gaa. Chicago has often gotten to Harding early, scoring as many goals against him in the first period (11) as the remainder of the AHL has.
· Tonight's game could feature a matchup of two goalies who are not only the top-ranked at their position in their respective organizations, but are also white-hot. Chicago's Kari Lehtonen, the No. 1-ranked prospect in the AHL, has won six straight starts, with a 1.98 gaa in that span. Houston's Josh Harding, meanwhile, has won his last three decisions, with a 1.30 gaa.

Aeros at Wolves (Aeros are 32-22-14-4 overall, Aeros are 13-15-6-2 at Chicago)
· Tonight is the 73rd all-time meeting between the Wolves and Aeros - 37th in Chicago.
· Houston is 4-2-2-0 this season against the Wolves, including a 1-1-2-0 mark on the road.
· The Aeros' 5-4 shootout win at Allstate Arena 2/12 snapped an 11-game winless streak (0-6-3-2) in Chicago, their longest winless streak in an opposing building. The Aeros' last regulation win was 4/7/02, a 4-3 victory. Houston hasn't won a regulation game at Chicago in its last 14 attempts.
· Houston went 1-5-4 against Chicago in 2003-04, including a 1-1-3 home mark and an 0-4-1 record on the road.
· The Aeros have just five wins in the last 19 matchups (5-8-6-0) but have points in 11 of those games. Houston has only seven wins in the last 24 matchups (7-8-6-3), but it has points in 16 of those games.
· The Wolves have three former Aeros on the roster: Travis Roche and Cory Larose - the top two point-getters in AHL Aeros history entering this season - and Greg Hawgood.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston is unbeaten in regulation in a season-high six straight games (4-0-2-0) and has points in 18 of its last 23 games (12-5-4-2) for a .652 winning percentage in that span...The Aeros haven't been eight games over the .500 mark since the end of the 2002-03 regular season...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 21 games...Veteran Ray Giroux (9-17=26) anchors a well-balanced blueline and is a team-best plus-eight...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 fifth in the AHL and second among rookies to Lowell's Cam Ward (1.95).

Scouting the Wolves
Second-place Chicago, the AHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers, are 8-1-1-1 in their last 11 and had a five-game winning streak snapped in Saturday's 3-2 OT loss to Grand Rapids...J.P. Vigier, who spent the entire 2003-04 season in the NHL and was a 10-goal scorer for Atlanta, leads the Wolves with 58 points (24-34=58)...Former Aeros Greg Hawgood (5-34=39) and Travis Roche (11-28=39) pace the blueline...Kari Lehtonen is 29-15-2 with a 2.27 gaa and rides a six-game winning streak, while Michael Garnett is 6-6-0 with a 3.19 gaa...The Wolves added a pair of cornerstone first-round picks for the playoff run, as the Florida Panthers loaned Stephen Weiss and Jay Bouwmeester to the Wolves yesterday...Both players were in San Antonio this season.

2004-05 meetings (Ninth of 10 meetings, Aeros are 4-2-2-0 overall, Aeros are 1-1-2-0 at Chicago)
October 20: Houston 4 at Chicago 5 (OT)
October 24: Chicago 3 at Houston 4 (OT)
November 24: Houston 0 at Chicago 3
January 29: Chicago 2 at Houston 3
February 2: Houston 2 at Chicago 3 (OT)
February 12: Houston 5 at Chicago 4 (SO)
February 18: Chicago 4 at Houston 5
February 19: Chicago 2 at Houston 1
Tonight: Houston at Chicago
April 15: Chicago at Houston

Last Game
Dan Cavanaugh snapped a 28-game goal drought with his fifth career two-goal game and Josh Harding made 25 saves for his third straight win, as the Houston Aeros defeated the Grand Rapids Griffins 3-1 in a key West Division matchup in front of 12,204 at Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild. Matt Foy also scored and Marc Cavosie tied a career-high with two assists for Houston.

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. Boogaard has 443 PIM's overall, and that major moved him past both Gord Kruppke and current teammate Kyle Wanvig for fifth place on the team's all-time PIM list.
· The Aeros have scored the game's first goal in five of eight games after allowing it in seven straight contests. The Aeros are 10-17-4-3 when allowing the first goal, but 19-4-2-0 when scoring it. Houston has scored first just 25 times in 59 games.
· Houston continued its stellar third-period defensive play Monday. In its 29 wins, Houston has allowed just 11 third-period goals, but in the remainder of its 30 games, it has yielded 27. The Aeros are 2-10-2-1 in their last 15 games when allowing a third-period goal. l Houston has nine regulation losses on the road. Only league-leading Rochester (five) and Manitoba (seven) have fewer.
· Aeros defenseman Brent Burns, the youngest player in team history when he made his debut at 18 in February 2004, turns 20 today.

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 5-16-3-2 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 9-5-0 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 14-9-1 with a 1.87 gaa since an 0-3-0 start to his pro campaign.
· Harding is fifth in the league in gaa (1.99), and trails only Lowell's Cam Ward among rookies (1.95).
· Harding has allowed 22 goals in the first period, but only 15 in the second and 15 in the third.
· After winning two straight games on four occasions, Harding has won his last three decisions, 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 is 4-for-35 (11.4 percent) with the man advantage over its last nine games.
· In their last 42 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 10-9-1-2 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.
· The Aeros have allowed seven shorthanded goals, but none since Norfolk's Quintin Laing 12/18.
· Chicago is tied for 18th in the AHL on the penalty kill at 83.2 percent, and it's been shorthanded an AHL-high 368 times. Houston, meanwhile, has been shorthanded a league-low 258 times.

Houston tied for fifth on PK
· Houston is tied for fifth in the league on the penalty kill at 87.6 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 30 chances (73.3 percent kill rate) over their last six seven.
· Houston is 20-12-2-2 when not allowing a PPG and 9-9-4-1 when allowing a PPG.
· Chicago is tied for fifth in the AHL on the power play at 17.8 percent. The Wolves are an impressive 21.1 percent at home, good for fourth in the league. Chicago has gone on 190 power plays at home, second to only Cincinnati (217).



American Hockey League Stories from March 9, 2005


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