Aeros try to solve Barons tonight

Published on November 23, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· The Aeros have dropped seven of the last eight meetings with Cleveland after beginning 6-1-0-0 versus the Barons. This season, Cleveland has outscored Houston 12-4 in three victories.
· The Aeros (10-7-1-1) reached 10 victories Saturday in their 19th game. In 2003-04, it took them until their 27th game on December 16 to register win No. 10 (10-13-2-2).
· Houston's Pierre Marc-Bouchard's four-game point streak (2-4=6) is tied for the team season lead with Rickard Wallin and Brent Burns.
· Aeros center Mark Cullen and left wing Stephane Veilleux each need two points to become the 18th player in team history to reach 100. Defenseman Erik Reitz, meanwhile, enters tonight's game with 49 career points.
· Houston has a PPG in five straight games and is 29.6 percent with the man advantage in that span. Cleveland is ranked 28th and last on the penalty kill at 74.2 percent, and at home the Barons are also last at just 67.7 percent, allowing 10 goals on only 31 chances.

Aeros at Barons (Aeros are 7-8-0-0 overall, Aeros are 3-4-0-0 at Cleveland)
· Tonight is the 16th all-time meeting between the teams - eighth in Cleveland.
· The Aeros won five straight versus the Barons from 1/10/02-1/10/03, but are 1-7-0-0 since then.
· The Barons have won the first three games of the seasons series by a combined 12-4 margin.
· Houston has dropped its last three games in Cleveland and five straight versus the Barons overall.
· Aeros head coach Todd McLellan began his pro coaching career in 2000-01 with Cleveland, then in the IHL, leading the Barons to a 43-32-7 record.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston is 9-4-0-1 in its last 14 games and has won two straight on the road...Pierre-Marc Bouchard (5-11=16) is Houston's leading scorer, while Mark Cullen (4-9=13) and Stephane Veilleux (6-7=13) are just off the pace...Houston has 18 players with at least one goal...Nineteen-year-old Brent Burns (3-7=10) and veteran Ray Giroux (2-5=7) anchor the blueline...Rookie goalie Josh Harding is 4-6-1 with a 1.93 gaa, while Mike Smith is 6-2-0 with a 2.95 gaa.

Scouting the Barons
Cleveland has lost two straight since a three-game winning streak that was capped by a 3-1 win over Houston last Thursday...The Barons are again under the .500 mark at 7-8-1-1...Cleveland is led by Marcel Goc (7-7=14) and Patrick Rissmiller (6-6-12)...Austrian Christian Ehrhoff is the leading defensive scorer with 10 points (4-6=10) and a team-best two game-winning goals...Dmitri Patzold is 5-3-1 with a 2.42 gaa, and three of his five wins have come versus the Aeros...Nolan Schaefer is 2-6-0 with a 3.73 gaa.

2004-05 meetings (Fourth of four meetings, Aeros are 0-3-0-0 overall, Aeros are 0-1-0-0 at Cleveland)
October 22: Cleveland 5 at Houston 2
October 23: Cleveland 4 at Houston 1
November 18: Houston 1 at Cleveland 3
TONIGHT: Houston at Cleveland

Saturday's game
Kirby Law scored twice, including one of Houston's team-record-tying four power play goals, and Stephane Veilleux and Rickard Wallin each added a power play goal and an assist to help the Aeros roll to a 6-3 penalty-filled victory over the Syracuse Crunch at Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter. Josh Harding made 37 saves and Matt Foy and Zbynek Michalek also scored as Houston built a six-goal lead to win its second straight and improve to 2-1-0-0 on a five-game road trip.

Quick Hits
· Houston has won two straight on the road, and it hasn't won three straight on the road since 1/22-1/25/03.
· Houston is 6-3-1-1 in one-goal games, trailing only Philadelphia's seven one-goal wins (7-1-0-0). In 2003-04, the Aeros were 8-6-0-4 in such games.
· The Aeros are 8-2-0-0 when playing the second or third game of back-to-back situations. Last season, Houston was 11-13-6-2 in those situations.
· Houston has not lost a road game in which it has led. The Aeros are 7-0-0-0 when taking a lead away from Toyota Center.
· Aeros defensemen Brent Burns (assist) and Zbynek Michalek (goal) both found the scoresheet Saturday in Syracuse, so it's no surprise that the Aeros won. Houston is 7-2-0-0 when Burns has a point, and they are a perfect 5-0-0-0 when Michalek has one.
· Cleveland is 2-4-0-1 at home. Only Utah (zero) has fewer home wins than the Barons.

Call him Mr. PP
· Aeros centerman Pierre-Marc Bouchard made his debut in the NHL two seasons ago, but he's coming into his own in his first year with the Aeros.
· Bouchard leads Houston with 16 points (5-11=16), and he's one off fellow Quebec native Stephane Veilleux's team-best of six goals.
· Bouchard, riding a season-high four-game point streak (2-4=6), has a hand in 11 of his team's 19 PPG this season, and he's been on the ice for 13 of the 19 PPG (68.4 percent).
· Three of Bouchard's five goals have either tied the game or given the Aeros the lead.

Late arriving fans missing a show
The Aeros have scored 23 first-period goals, two off Manchester's AHL lead. But Houston has allowed 22 goals in the first, tied with Worcester for the most in the league.

‘C' is for Cullen and consistent
· Aeros center Mark Cullen is tied for second on the Aeros with 13 points (4-9=13), and he has points in 11 of his 18 games.
· Cullen has at least one point in six of the last eight games, including a trio of two-game point streaks.
· Cullen began the season on a three-game point streak (1-3=4) 10/16-10/23.

Cullen, Veilleux in a race of their own
· Aeros center Mark Cullen and left wing Stephane Veilleux are in a race to become the 18th player in team history with 100 points.
· Cullen and Veilleux are tied for 18th on the team's all-time point list with 98.
· Veilleux has 11 points (5-6=11) in his last 10 games.
· Dan Cavanaugh is next on the ledger with 90 points.

‘Z' marks the spot
· Aeros defenseman Zbynek Michalek has points in his last two games (1-1=2).
· Michalek has notched points in three straight games once in his three-year career, 2/27-3/5/04 (1-3=4).

Cavanaugh has four points in last four games
· After notching two goals and no assists in his first 13 games, Dan Cavanaugh has points in three of the last four games, with four points (1-3=4) in that span.
· Cavanaugh notched his first GWG of the season 11/19 in a 2-1 win at Rochester.

It's all about support
With his 1.93 gaa, Houston rookie goalie Josh Harding seemingly deserves better than his 4-6-1 record. The Aeros are averaging 2.10 goals per game when Harding gets the start. The 20-year-old has allowed two goals or less in seven of his 10 starts. Mike Smith, meanwhile, has a 2.95 gaa, but his record is 6-2-0 largely because Houston scores 3.44 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.

It's not "Hard" to figure out his talent with these stats
· Aeros rookie netminder Josh Harding sports a 1.93 gaa, eighth best in the AHL and tops among rookies.
· 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 4-3-1 with a 1.52 gaa.
· Harding is the first Aeros rookie netminder ever with two shutouts.
· Harding has stopped an eye-popping 112-of-118 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 is no slouch either
· Aeros goalie Mike Smith won four straight decisions 10/24-11/13 before falling 6-4 to Edmonton 11/14. He rebounded with 25 saves in a 2-1 win over Rochester last Friday.
· Smith's four straight wins tied his career high, set 11/28-12/7/03.
· Smith, who spent the past two seasons with an offensively-challenged Utah team, is above the .500 mark in the AHL at 19-18-0.

White-hot Aeros have PPG in five straight games
· Houston, which is seventh on the power play at 18.8 percent, has a power play goal in each of the last five games after going three games without one. The Aeros, coming off a franchise-record-trying four PPG Saturday in Syracuse, are 8-for-27 (29.6 percent) in the last five games.
· The Aeros are 8-4-1-0 when scoring a PPG and 2-3-0-1 when not scoring a PPG.
· Houston's Pierre-Marc Bouchard has a hand in 11 of the Aeros' 19 PPG this season. He has been on the ice for 13 of the 19, including 11 of the last 14.
· The Aeros have allowed an AHL-high five shorthanded goals, including a pair by Syracuse's Alexander Svitov Saturday.
· Cleveland is ranked 28th and last on the penalty kill at 74.2 percent, and at home the Barons are also last at just 67.7 percent, allowing 10 goals on only 31 chances.
· The Barons have allowed six PPG on 22 chances (72.7 percent) over the last five games.

Houston 12th on the PK
· Other than a 2-for-4 power play performance by Milwaukee 11/13, Houston has been rock solid to move to 12th in the AHL at 86.3 percent.
· The Aeros have killed off 43-of-47 (91.5 percent) shorthanded chances over the last nine games.
· Houston is 5-4-0-1 when not allowing a PPG and 5-3-1-0 when allowing a PPG.
· The Aeros are tied for third in the AHL with four SHG.
· Cleveland is 10th in the AHL on the power play at 16.8 percent.
· The Barons are 4-for-29 (13.8 percent) on the power play over their last five games.

Out-of-division the norm
· Tonight Houston plays its 12th out-of-division game out of 20 this season. Only 12 non-division games remain.
· The Aeros are 5-5-0-1 versus non West Division foes, including 5-4-0-0 against the North. Houston is, however, 4-1-0-0 versus North opponents on the road, with the lone loss coming in Cleveland last Thursday
· Houston is 5-2-1-0 versus its West brethren. The Aeros next play a West Division team tomorrow in Chicago.

What's on tap
· Tonight Houston plays game four of a five-game road trip, its second long trek in less than a month. The Aeros, who survived a six-game trek with a 3-2-1-0 mark 10/29-11/6, finish up tomorrow in Chicago, their final road game until 12/30.
· Tomorrow the Aeros wrap up a stretch of 13 road games out of 15 before beginning a season-long, eight-game homestand beginning Friday and Sunday against Utah.

Aeros approaching 2003-04's road win total
· The Aeros have won five of seven on the road, and their seven wins and 16 road points trail only Manitoba's nine and 19 for the AHL lead.
· Each of Houston's first nine road games was decided by one goal, tying the franchise record originally set 1/27-3/1/97. The Aeros are now 5-3-1-1 in one-goal road games, and they have a league-best five wins and 12 points in one-goal road games.
· Houston has won two straight on the road, and it hasn't won three straight on the road since 1/22-1/25/03.
· The Aeros, 7-4-1-1 on the road this season, were 4-7-1-1 in 2003-04 through their first 13 road games.
· Houston won only 10 road games all of last season (10-22-6-2), and didn't record its seventh road victory until 1/30 at Manitoba in their 24th road game (7-12-4-1).

Toyota Center is home, but Aeros may not recognize it
· The Aeros, who are in a stretch of 13 games out of 15 on the road, are 3-3-0-0 on home ice, but they are 2-1-0-0 since a 1-2-0-0 start.
· Houston is 3-0-0-0 when scoring first at home, but 0-3-0-0 when giving up the first goal.
· The Aeros open up an eight-game homestand this Friday versus Utah.

Getting better as they go
Houston has allowed an AHL-high 22 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 10 goals on 193 shots (.948 save percentage). Opponents do have four empty-net goals. Houston's save percentage increases from .885 in the first period to .924 in the second and .948 in the third.

First and last two minutes are crucial
Houston has scored just four goals in the first or last two minutes of a period this season, the latest coming Friday night on Dan Cavanaugh's game-winning goal with two minutes left in the first period. The Aeros' opponents, meanwhile, have 12 goals in this crucial time.

Attendance up 24 percent
Houston is averaging 4,985 fans per game through six home games, a 24.4 percent increase over the same span in 2003-04, when the Aeros increased their average attendance for the first time in team history.

Aeros/Barons connections
· Aeros head coach Todd McLellan began his pro coaching career in 2000-01 with Cleveland, then in the IHL, leading the Barons to a 43-32-7 record.
· Barons defenseman Greg Labenski played seven games for the Aeros in 2001-02, notching two points and 25 penalty minutes.
· Cleveland head coach Roy Sommer played for the CHL Houston Apollos in 1979-80, recording 55 points (24-31=55) and 246 penalty minutes in 69 games.
· Houston's Christoph Brandner played alongside Cleveland's Christian Ehrhoff for three seasons with Krefeld of the German DEL.
· Cleveland defenseman Milan Michalek, 2003's No. 6 overall pick, is the younger brother of the Aeros' Zbynek Michalek. Milan Michalek is currently rehabbing an injury.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 23, 2004


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