Aeros suffer 5-1 defeat to Rockford

January 15, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


HOUSTON - The Rockford IceHogs (23-18-2-2) scored twice in the first minute of play as they went on to defeat the Houston Aeros (19-17-6-1) 4-1 in front of 4,819 at the Rockford Metro Centre. D Jamie Fraser scored the only goal for the Aeros, G Wade Dubielewicz was pulled at the 0:51 mark after giving up two goals on three shots against and G Anton Khudobin stopped 14 of 16 in 57:04 of relief. Forwards Mark Cullen, Jack Skille, Kyle Greentree, Richard Petiot and Akim Aliu each scored for the IceHogs while G Corey Crawford made 34 saves to earn the win for Rockford, his third straight victory over Houston.

Rockford jumped out to a big three-goal lead in the first period. Cullen lit the lamp just 24 seconds into the game beating Dubielewicz five-hole off helpers from forwards Pete MacArthur and Matt Keith. It's the quickest goal scored against Houston this season besting the 4:15 mark set Wednesday at Rockford.

Just 27 seconds later Skille put the Hogs up 2-0 with his 14th of the year and fifth against Houston. Greentree was credited with an assist on the Skille goal and at 15:43 he got into the act as well. Skille sent a pass along the right wing boards to the back of the Houston net where C Bracken Kearns found a wide open Greentree at the bottom of the left circle. Greentree sent a wrister top shelf and the Aeros were down 3-0; a first period deficit they hadn't seen since falling behind 3-0 to San Antonio Dec. 26.

The Aeros opened the second period with a flurry of shots, but Crawford kept Houston off the board with a number of impressive saves. The IceHogs only managed one shot on the Houston net; however, it was the only one that crossed the goal line for either side. With D Justin Falk in the box, Rockford ended a 0-for-17 stretch on the powerplay when Petiot beat Khudobin for Rockford's fourth goal of the game.

The Aeros got to Crawford in the final stanza off the stick of Fraser at 10:57. D J.P. Testwuide and LW Trent Campbell were credited with the helpers, Campbell's first in an Aeros sweater. Aliu closed out the game with an empty-net goal with 16 seconds remaining.

Houston outshot the IceHogs 35-20 and went 0-for-5 on the powerplay. Rockford scored the game's only powerplay marker going 1-for-4 on the man advantage. The Aeros are winless in their last three, tying a season high.

The Aeros return home tomorrow night to host the Toronto Marlies in their final home game in January. Puck drop is set for 7:35 PM and the first 3,000 fans receive a set of Aeros trading cards. Watch the game live on ahllive.com or listen to Joe O'Donnell on 1070 AM-KNTH. Follow the interactive in-game blog at aeros.com. A donation table will be set up on the concourse for the Red Cross Haiti earthquake relief fund. For more information call (713) 974-PUCK (7825) or visit aeros.com.



American Hockey League Stories from January 15, 2010


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