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Aeros shoot for fourth straight win tonight

November 12, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· Houston enters tonight's game with two straight shutouts (by two different goalies) and a shutout streak of 123:03. The Aeros have never recorded three straight shutouts. A shutout tonight would also mark the first time the Aeros have ever shut out the same opponent in back-to-back games. This is the second time in team history that Houston has shutouts in back-to-back games but by different goalies.
· Houston has won three straight, and hasn't won more than that in a row since a six-gamer last 12/5-12/17. The Aeros have killed off each of their 15 shorthanded chances over the streak, moving to 85.5 percent, ranked 11th in the AHL.
· The Aeros have won four straight against the Griffins, something they haven't done since a franchise-best five-game streak from 11/25/97-2/6/00.
· Each of Houston's eight road games has been decided by one goal, one shy of the franchise record set 1/27-3/1/97. The Aeros are 4-2-1-1 in those games, and they have a league-best four wins and 10 points in one-goal road games.
· Despite losing 1-0 last Saturday to Houston, Grand Rapids goalie Joey MacDonald still sports the fifth-best gaa versus the Aeros since the team joined the AHL. MacDonald is 5-6-0 with a 2.12 gaa versus Houston. MacDonald joins former teammate Marc Lamothe and Jason LaBarbera as the lone netminders to shut the Aeros out more than one time in AHL play. Lamothe had two of his three blankings since 2001-02, and LaBarbera has three since then.

Griffins at Aeros (Aeros are 22-21-7-0 overall, Aeros are 10-13-2-0 at Grand Rapids)
· Tonight is the 51st all-time meeting between the teams - 26th in Grand Rapids, and the teams won't meet again until 1/22.
· The teams met twice last weekend, with Houston winning a pair of one-goal decisions - 4-3 in OT Friday and 1-0 Saturday.
· Houston went 5-5-0 against Grand Rapids in 2003-04 and was the only AHL team with five wins against the Griffins.
· The Aeros are 7-3-0 in the last 10 meetings after a 1-6-0 and 2-7-1 stretch.
· Houston is 16-20-7 against Grand Rapids since starting off with a 6-1-0 mark.
· The Aeros have won four straight against the Griffins, something they haven't done since a franchise-best five-game streak from 11/25/97-2/6/00.
· Since joining the AHL, Houston is 14-14-6 against Grand Rapids, including a 7-9-2 road record.

Scouting the Aeros Pierre-Marc Bouchard (3-7=10) leads the Aeros with 10 points through 13 games, including his team's first two-goal game of the season a week ago in Grand Rapids...Mark Cullen (2-7=9) has nine points...Houston has 16 players with at least one goal, and only Stephane Veilleux (four) has more than three...Twenty-year-old Brent Burns (2-5=7) and veteran Ray Giroux (2-5=7) anchor the blueline...Rookie goalie Josh Harding is 3-4-1 with a 1.89 gaa, while Mike Smith is 4-1-0 with a 3.11 gaa.

Scouting the Griffins Grand Rapids was flying high two weeks ago, sporting a 5-0-0-0 mark after game one of a franchise-record, nine-game homestand...Since then, the Griffins have dropped four straight one-goal decisions, including two to Houston...It's the Griffins' first four-game home losing streak since 12/5-12/31/98...Top Red Wings prospects Niklas Kronwall (4-7=11) and Jiri Hudler (5-5=10) pace the Griffins, with former Aero Blake Sloan (4-2=6) just off the pace...Hudler and Sloan each have three PPG...Joey MacDonald sports a 5-3-0 mark with a 1.74 gaa...Rookie Drew MacIntyre was admirable one week ago with 45 saves in his first live action in 49 weeks, but the Griffins fell 4-3 in OT.

2004-05 meetings (Third of 8 meetings, Aeros are 2-0-0-0 overall, Aeros are 2-0-0-0 at Grand Rapids) November 5: Houston 4 at Grand Rapids 3 (OT) November 6: Houston 1 at Grand Rapids 0 TONIGHT: Houston at Grand Rapids January 22: Grand Rapids at Houston January 23: Grand Rapids at Houston February 9: Houston at Grand Rapids March 25: Grand Rapids at Houston March 27: Grand Rapids at Houston

Sunday's game Mike Smith turned aside 32 shots for his third career shutout and Houston's second straight shutout, and Rickard Wallin and Marius Holtet scored 42 seconds apart late in the first period, as the Houston Aeros beat the Syracuse Crunch 3-0 at Toyota Center. Stephane Veilleux added a goal and an assist for the Aeros, who have won three straight and have just one regulation loss in their last eight games (6-1-0-1).

Quick Hits
· Aeros defenseman Brent Burns has an assist in each of his last four games, with five helpers in the span.
· Houston's Kirby Law will play in his 400th AHL game tonight.
· Houston gave up a first-period goal in its first eight games, but the Aeros have held their opponents off the board in that opening period in four of the last five games. Houston has still allowed an AHL-high 16 first-period goals.
· Houston's Pierre-Marc Bouchard has a hand in seven of the Aeros' 11 PPG's this season. He has also been on the ice for five of the last six PPG.
· The Aeros have averaged 42.0 shots on goal over the last three games, increasing their average to 34.31, second among all AHL teams.
· Houston is 5-2-1-1 in one-goal games, tied with three other teams for the most one-goal wins. In 2003-04, the Aeros were 8-6-0-4 in such games.
· The Aeros haven't lost a game in which they've had a lead.

A goalie duel brewing? Last Saturday, Houston's Josh Harding made 40 saves in a 1-0 win in Grand Rapids, outdueling the Griffins' Joey MacDonald (33 saves), a night after his 31 stops led Houston to a 4-3 OT win against Grand Rapids rookie Drew MacIntyre. MacDonald (1.74) and Harding (1.89) rank fifth and ninth, respectively, in the AHL in gaa.

It's not "Hard" to figure out his talent with these stats
· Aeros rookie netminder Josh Harding made 40 saves last Saturday for his second shutout in three starts. He joined Frederic Chabot as the lone Aeros goalies with 1-0 road wins, and his 40 saves trail only Chabot's 43 on 2/15/97, versus Long Beach for most in a shutout.
· Since falling to 0-3-0 October 23, the 20-year-old Harding is 3-1-1 with a 1.20 gaa and a .947 save percentage. His one loss in that stretch was when he gave up only one goal in 53 minutes of relief in Worcester 11/3.
· Harding, the second youngest goalie in the AHL behind Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Marc-Andre Fleury, has lowered his goals against average to 1.89, ninth best in the AHL. Harding, who made back-to-back starts last Friday-Saturday for the first time in his pro career, is the first Aeros rookie netminder with two shutouts.
· Only Philadelphia Flyers goalie Robert Esche had two shutouts with the Aeros prior to 11/6. Esche had two shutouts by 11/4.
· Harding has stopped an eye-popping 84-of-87 shots in the third period for a .964 save percentage.

Smith is no slouch either
· Aeros goalie Mike Smith improved to 4-1-0 on the young season with a 32-save shutout of Syracuse on Sunday.
· Smith, who spent the past two seasons with an offensively-challenged Utah team, has evened his career AHL mark at 17-17-0.

What's on tap
· The Aeros are in Milwaukee tomorrow for a 1:30 p.m. matinee before coming home for a 5:05 p.m. Sunday game against the Edmonton Road Runners and Joe Cullen, brother of Mark Cullen.
· After Sunday, Houston takes off in its second long road trip of the month - this one a five-game trek through Cleveland (twice), Syracuse, Rochester and Chicago.
· The Aeros are in a stretch of 13 road games out of 15 before an eight-game homestand beginning 11/26.

It's all about support With his 1.89 gaa, Houston rookie goalie Josh Harding seemingly deserves better than his 3-4-1 record. The Aeros are averaging 2.00 goals per game when Harding gets the start. The 20-year-old has allowed two goals or less in five of his seven starts. Mike Smith, meanwhile, has a 3.11 gaa, but his record is 4-1-0 largely because Houston scores 3.33 goals per game when he starts. Smith isn't complaining about the support. In his 16 losses over two seasons with Utah, the Grizzlies scored 25 goals for him.

Getting better as they go Houston has allowed an AHL-high 16 first-period goals this season, but the goalies get downright stingy after that, especially in the final 20 minutes. In the third period, Aeros goalies have allowed only five goals on 136 shots (.963 save percentage). Opponents do have two empty-net goals.

First and last two minutes are crucial Houston has scored just one goal in the first or last two minutes of a period this season, when John Erskine potted a goal at 18:13 of the second period 10/20 at Chicago. The Aeros' opponents, meanwhile, have nine goals in this crucial time.

Aeros/Griffins connections
· The Aeros' Stephane Veilleux and Grand Rapids' Danny Groulx played together in 1999-2000 with Victoriaville of the QMJHL.
· Houston's Rickard Wallin and the Griffins' Niklas Kronwall both hail from Stockholm, Sweden.
· Aeros defenseman Todd Reirden was teammates with Grand Rapids' Bryan Helmer briefly with the St. Louis Blues in the 1999-2000 season.
· The Aeros' Josh Harding (38th) and Marius Holtet (42) and the Griffins' Jiri Hudler (58th) were all selected in the second round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. Houston's Pierre-Marc Bouchard went eighth overall in that draft.
· Houston's Kyle Wanvig and Grand Rapids' Derek Meech were teammates for two seasons with WHL Red Deer, including the team's 2001 Memorial Cup championship.
· The Griffins' Blake Sloan was an Aero from 1997-99 and 2000-01, totaling 44 points (17-24=44) in 165 games.
· Houston defenseman Patrick Traverse played 10 games for Grand Rapids during the Griffins inaugural 1996-97 season.

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