Aeros take on Grizzlies on Family Day

Published on November 28, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know

The Aeros, who are playing game two of a season-long eight-game homestand, are 3-4-0-0 at home and have lost two straight at Toyota Center. Houston hasn't lost three straight home games in regulation since 12/6-12/12/02, during its Calder Cup championship season. The Aeros are in a stretch where they play 13 of 16 games and 20 of 25 at home.
Aeros center Mark Cullen's three-point (2-1=3) game Friday helped him become the 18th player in team history to reach the 100-point plateau. Cullen, who notched his fourth career multi-goal game, now has 101 points, tied with Shawn Carter and Curtis Murphy for 16th on the team's all-time list and one behind Michael Maurice for 15th. Left winger Stephane Veilleux needs two points to become the 19th at the century mark.
Utah has scored one first-period goal - seven fewer than any other AHL team. Houston, meanwhile, has 25 first-period goals, four off Manchester's league lead. The Grizzlies' lone first-period goal came opening night 10/13 vs. Cincinnati. Utah has gone 14 straight games without a first-period goal.
The first of last two minutes of a period can be huge for momentum. Houston has scored five goals in the first or last two minutes of a period this season. The Aeros' opponents, meanwhile, have 16 goals in this crucial time, including a pair of tallies Friday.
An Aeros win tonight would set a new team record for wins in the month of November. Houston is 7-6-0-1 during November. Three previous times the Aeros have won seven games during the month, most recently in 1999-2000. It would also be the first time Houston has won seven games in any calendar month since an 11-2-3 January 2003.

Grizzlies at Aeros (Aeros are 45-39-4-1 overall, Aeros are 23-165-3-1 at Houston)
Tonight marks the 90th all-time meeting between Houston and the Utah franchise, including its play in Denver in 1994-95. The 90 meetings are the most between the Aeros and an opponent.
The Aeros went 5-4-1 versus Utah, then Dallas' affiliate, in 2003-04.
Houston is 5-3-1 in the last nine meetings after losing three straight 3/20-11/7/03.
Houston is 14-8-1 in the last 23 meetings and 17-13-2-1 versus the Grizzlies since joining the AHL.
The Aeros are 8-3-1 in the last 12 meetings in Houston. Friday night David LeNeveu became the first Grizzlies goalie to win at Toyota Center since current Aero Mike Smith made 48 saves in a 2-1 victory 10/26/03.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston is 10-6-0-1 in its last 17 games but has lost two straight...Pierre-Marc Bouchard (5-11=16) and Mark Cullen (6-10=16) are the Aeros' leading scorers, with Stephane Veilleux (6-7=13) just off the pace...Houston has 18 players with at least one goal...Nineteen-year-old Brent Burns (4-7=11) and Erik Reitz (0-9=9) anchor the blueline...Rookie goalie Josh Harding is 4-7-1 with a 2.01 gaa, while Mike Smith is 7-3-0 with a 2.94 gaa.

Scouting the Grizzlies
Utah (3-11-0-1), in its first year as Phoenix' AHL affiliate, registered its first regulation win of the season Friday by rallying in the third period for a 5-3 win over the Aeros at Toyota Center...Jeff Taffe (4-6=10) is Utah's leading scorer, although Peter White, obtained from Philadelphia two weeks ago, has 11 total points (2-9=11) with both teams...The Grizzlies leading defensive scorer is Keith Ballard (1-4=5)...David LeNeveu, an AHL All Star in his rookie 2003-04 campaign, is 3-7-0 with a 2.86 gaa...Jean-Marc Pelletier is 0-4-1 with a 4.87 gaa.

2004-05 meetings (Second of 10 meetings, Aeros are 0-1-0-0 overall, Aeros are 0-1-0-0 at Houston)
Friday: Utah 5 at Houston 3
TONIGHT: Utah at Houston
February 8: Utah at Houston
February 21: Houston at Utah
February 23: Houston at Utah
March 16: Houston at Utah
March 18: Houston at Utah
March 23: Utah at Houston
April 6: Houston at Utah
April 17: Utah at Houston

Friday's game
Jakub Koreis, Randall Gelech and Fredrik Sjostrom scored 5:10 apart early in the third period, as the Utah Grizzlies defeated the Houston Aeros 5-3 at Toyota Center for their first regulation win of the season. Kiel McLeod and Martin Sonnenberg also scored and David LeNeveu registered 39 saves for Utah, while Mark Cullen posted two goals and an assist for Houston.

Quick Hits
The Grizzlies outscored Houston 4-1 in the third period Friday. The Aeros have been outscored 20-13 in the third this season, including a 12-4 margin the last seven games.
Houston is 7-3-1-1 in one-goal games, one behind Binghamton and Grand Rapids for the league lead in one-goal victories. The Aeros were 8-6-0-4 in such games last season.
The Aeros are 5-8-1-1 when outshooting opponents, but a remarkable 6-1-0-0 when trailing or shots or when the shots are equal.
The Grizzlies have scored first just two times this season. No other AHL team has scored first fewer than seven times.
Utah has led after one period and after two periods once all season.
The Grizzlies are 27th in the AHL in goals for (1.93) and 27th in goals against (3.73).

It's not "Hard" to figure out his talent with these stats
Aeros rookie netminder Josh Harding sports a 2.01 gaa, 10th best in the AHL and second among rookies (Providence's Hannu Toivonen, 1.92).
Since falling to 0-3-0 October 23, the 20-year-old Harding, the second youngest goalie in the AHL behind Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Marc-Andre Fleury, is 4-4-1 with a 1.68 gaa.
Harding is the first Aeros rookie netminder ever with two shutouts.
Harding has stopped an eye-popping 119-of-126 shots in the third period for a .949 save percentage.
Harding made 40 saves 11/6 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.

Smith has won six of eight
Aeros goalie Mike Smith has won six of his last eight decisions.
Smith's four straight wins 10/24-11/13 tied his career high, set 11/28-12/7/03.
Smith is 7-1-0 when allowing zero or one goal in the first period, but he's 0-2-0 with a no decision when yielding two or more.
Smith has never lost an overtime or regulation game in his AHL career. He's 3-0 in OT and 2-0 in shootouts.

It's all about support
With his 2.01 gaa, Houston rookie goalie Josh Harding seemingly deserves better than his 4-7-1 record. The Aeros are averaging 1.91 goals per game when Harding gets the start, and they've been shut out in three of his outings. The 20-year-old has allowed two goals or less in seven of his 11 starts. Mike Smith, meanwhile, has a 2.94 gaa, but his record is 7-3-0 and Houston scores 3.36 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.

PP unit clicks again
Houston, which is tied for sixth on the power play at 18.4 percent, went 2-for-7 on the power play Friday against Utah. The Aeros, who had a franchise-record-trying four PPG 11/20 in Syracuse, are 10-for-40 (25.0 percent) in the last eight games.
The Aeros are 8-5-1-0 when scoring a PPG and 3-4-0-1 when not scoring a PPG.
The Aeros have allowed an AHL-high six shorthanded goals, the last by Utah's Randall Gelech's Friday.
Utah is 26th on the penalty kill at 77.5 percent.
The Grizzlies are only 29-for-39 (74.4 percent) in the kill over their last six games, including a pair of games in which they gave up three PPG.

Houston 11th on the PK
Other than a 2-for-4 power play performance by Milwaukee 11/13, Houston has been rock solid to move to 11th in the AHL at 86.5 percent.
The Aeros have killed off 57-of-63 (90.5 percent) shorthanded chances over the last 12 games.
Houston is 5-5-0-1 when not allowing a PPG and 6-4-1-0 when allowing a PPG.
The Aeros are tied for fourth in the AHL with four SHG.
Utah ranks 16th in the AHL on the power play at 14.8 percent, including a stout 23.5 percent on the road - third in the league.
The Grizzlies are 5-for-28 with the man advantage (17.9 percent) over their last six games.

Attendance up 27 percent
Houston is averaging 5,079 fans per game through seven home games, a 26.7 percent increase over the same span in 2003-04, when the Aeros increased their average attendance for the first time in team history.

Aeros/Grizzlies connections
Aeros defenseman Ray Giroux played collegiately at Yale, as did Utah's Joe Callahan, although they did not attend together.
Todd Reirden played 34 games with the Springfield Falcons and seven contests with NHL Phoenix, alongside many of the Grizzlies players.
Houston's Erik Reitz played one season of juniors with Sheldon Keefe, who won the OHL's leading scorer trophy in that 1999-2000 campaign.
Utah's Jarrod Skalde and Houston's Mike Smith each spent 2003-04 with the Grizzlies. Skalde also played alongside Kirby Law in AHL Philadelphia in 2001-02.
Aeros captain Kirby Law and Utah's Peter White played three seasons together in AHL Philadelphia. White is the Phantoms' all-time leading scorer, while Law ranks third on the list.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 28, 2004


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