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Aeros Win Silver I-10 Gallon Hat in Busy Week

March 10, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


The Aeros played five times this week and shook off a slow start to regain first in the Western Conference by going 2-2-0-1. Houston won the Silver I-10 Gallon Hat series with San Antonio with three games remaining between the two teams. Houston is down to 12 games remaining in the season, and they are evenly split, six home and six away.

THE WEEK THAT WAS:

MARCH 3: Houston visited the San Antonio Rampage and fell by a score of 6-2 despite outshooting the Rampage 40-28. San Antonio took the lead on two power play goals by Michel Periard just 25 seconds apart in the first period. Rickard Wallin brought the Aeros within one early in the second, but then San Antonio scored twice more during the middle frame. Stephane Veilleux sandwiched a goal for Houston between two Rampage scores in the third. Chris Mason turned aside 38 of 40 shots for the win while Derek Gustafson was 22 of 28 for Houston. The Rampage converted on two of their six power play chances and Houston was scoreless on five man-advantage opportunities.

MARCH 5: Houston's penalty kill allowed two power play goals in a 3-2 loss to Milwaukee. Cameron Mann scored the first goal of the game on the power play at 11:38 of the first. Milwaukee outshot the Aeros 19 to 7 in the first period, but only scored once. Midway through the middle frame, Rastislav Pavlikovsky tallied his fourth goal in the three games for Houston to knot the game at one each. The back-breaking goal for the Aeros was scored by Greg Classen just 16 seconds into the third period and the Admirals gained the two-goal lead six minutes later with another power play goal by Mann. Houston put on the pressure late in the third and Lawrence Nycholat managed to get one by Chris Madden, but the Aeros could not get the equalizer. Frederic Cloutier stopped 27 of 30 shots for Houston, 19 of which came in the first period.

MARCH 6: The Aeros and Wolves battled into overtime and Chicago prevailed 3-2. Houston opened the scoring with a power play goal by Travis Roche at the 6:20 mark of the first. Two minutes later, Chicago tied the game on a power play goal of its own. Then with just five seconds remaining in the first, Jean-Guy Trudel scored for Houston. The teams combined for nine minor penalties in the second, but neither team could convert on their chances. In the third, with Chicago on its eighth power play, the Wolves scored to tie the game. In overtime, Mike Weaver scored his second goal of the year to give Chicago the extra point. Derek Gustafson was in net for Houston and stopped 21 of 24 shots. Norm Maracle made 26 saves on 28 shots for the win.

MARCH 7: For the sixth time in nine meetings and the second night in a row, Houston and Chicago went into overtime. The Aeros prevailed this time as Lawrence Nycholat scored the game winner in a 4-3 thriller. Chicago took a two-goal lead with first period goals, but Houston answered before the intermission with a goal from Rastislav Pavlikovsky. After a scoreless second period, Dan Cavanaugh tied the game at two. But Chicago got a crazy bounce to take a 3-2 lead. Capitalizing on a late power play, C Mark Cullen scored with a 1:37 left to force the overtime. That's when Nycholat provided his fifth game-winning goal of the season, capping off a three-point game for the Aeros.

MARCH 9: The Aeros hosted the San Antonio Rampage and clinched the Silver I-10 Gallon Hat with a 4-1 victory. After a scoreless first period, San Antonio scored first, 6:11 into the second period. Then Houston took over. About 90 seconds after San Antonio's goal, G Derek Gustafson made the save of the game. Rampage player Juraj Kolnik was awarded a penalty shot and Gustafson turned it away to preserve the one-goal game. Then Curtis Murphy scored to tie the game at the 15:01 mark. With a mere 11 seconds left in the frame, Marc Cavosie tallied for Houston. The Aeros took 25 shots in the second period to set a new record for most shots in one period. Houston scored twice in the third, first Stephane Veilleux on the power play, then Rastislav Pavlikovsky scored an empty net goal. The Aeros took a team record 59 shots on goal during the game. Aeros G Derek Gustafson was not forgotten as he kicked aside 30 of 31 shots for the win.

GREAT TIMING: Just when the Aeros needed a little "punch" on offense, the team got it from the defense. Third-year pro Lawrence Nycholat has established himself as a force on the blue-line after putting together two three-point games in his last six. He is on a four-game point streak (2g-5a-7p) and has 10 points in his last six games (2g-8a-10p). He has set career highs in goals (11), assists (28), and points (29). He ranks fourth on the Aeros in points. He leads the team and all AHL defensemen with five game-winning goals, leads the Aeros in plus/minus at plus-21, and now ranks eighth in the league in scoring by defensemen.

GLAD YOU'RE BACK: It's been an up-and-down season for Aeros' F Rastislav Pavlikovsky. The Czech native has had to recover not once, but twice from injuries, and fortunately he has recovered well and the ups have surpassed the downs. Pavlikovsky returned to the line-up seven games ago and has posted a seven-game point-streak (5g-3a-8p) since coming back. The International Line of Pavlikovsky-Wallin-Veilleux has provided the Aeros with some solid play and consistent scoring since being matched-up by Coach Todd McLellan in Pavlikovsky's return.

THE LEADERS: Several Houston Aeros are among AHL leaders in different categories. Houston's top scorer, LW Jean-Guy Trudel is fourth in the league in scoring with 68 points. Curtis Murphy leads AHL defensemen with 21 goals and 46 points (21g-25a). As mentioned, Lawrence Nycholat ranks eighth in scoring among AHL defensemen with Travis Roche right behind him in ninth place (11g-27a-38p), and Mark Cullen is tied for 16th in scoring (38p) for AHL rookies. G Derek Gustafson is tied for third in the league with 22 wins.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS: 3/9 - G Peter-Emmanuel Brady signed to PTO.

NEWS AND NOTES:

* Two of Lawrence Nycholat's team-leading and AHL-defensemen leading five game-winning goals have come in O-T;

* Rastislav Pavlikovsky has a seven-game point streak (3-5-8), tying the team season-high set by Nycholat;

* Curtis Murphy leads all Aeros in scoring on home ice, with 11g-20a-31 pts and has a three-game point streak (1-2-3);

* Rookie C Marc Cavosie has 1-1-2 in his last two games;

* D Zbynek Michalek has 0-2-2 in his last two games;

* Houston set a team-record with 59 shots against San Antonio on Sunday and a period record with 25 shots in the second;

* The Aeros PP went 3-12 over the last two games, and is now 73-436/16.7% ranked 13th;

* The Aeros PK was a perfect 7-7 in the last two games and is now 310-369 (59)/84% and rated 14th;

OFF THE ICE, DON THOSE APRONS: The Aeros players will switch roles on March 18th when they don the aprons for the annual Celebrity Waiter fundraiser and auction. And there is more, as Saturday March 15th finds two special events set for that night when the Aeros face Milwaukee. It's the Houston Aeros Charities "Jerseys Off Their Backs" night, where 20 lucky fans will take home the special-edition Western-themed jerseys right off the backs of the players right after the game. Also that night, the second annual "Kiss A Pig" fund-raiser for the American Diabetes Association is scheduled, as one lucky Aeros player will actually kiss a pig during an intermission ceremony.

WILD WATCH: The Minnesota Wild are in sixth place in the Western Conference standings with a record of 34-24-9-1, 78 points. The Wild play only three games this week. They host the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday and the Phoenix Coyotes on Friday. On Saturday, they travel to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets.

ICEGATORS REPORT: Louisiana currently ranks second in the Southwest Division with a record of 33-18-11 for 77 points in 62 games. They have already clinched a berth in the Kelly Cup playoffs. The IceGators play three times this week. On Friday, they'll visit the Arkansas Riverblades, then on Saturday, they'll be at the Pensacola Ice Pilots. The weekend wraps up with a home game against the Baton Rouge Kingfish on Sunday.

UPCOMING GAMES

TUESDAY 3/11 AT SAN ANTONIO

Houston makes its fifth visit to the SBC Center with one more remaining near the end of March.

THURSDAY 3/13 VS GRAND RAPIDS

The top two seeds in the Western Conference face-off for the seventh time. The Griffins have shut out the Aeros three times already this year.

SATURDAY 3/15 VS MILWAUKEE

Houston and Milwaukee play for the 10th and final time this season. Both of the Admirals shut outs vs. Houston have come at Compaq Center.

THURSDAY 3/20 AT SAN ANTONIO

The Aeros make their final visit to the SBC Center for the 2002-03 season. San Antonio still has two games left in Houston, April 2 & 4.

SUNDAY 3/23 AT GRAND RAPIDS

Houston makes its final visit to Grand Rapids. The last game between the Western Conference leaders is the final game for both teams, Saturday April 5.

ON THE AIR: Houston Aeros games can be heard on AM 700 KSEV "The Voice" with "The Voice of the Aeros" Ken Double calling the action. The games are also available via the internet at www.aeros.com. Saturday's game against the Milwaukee Admirals will be televised KTBU-55 "The Tube" at 7:30 PM. Troy Gamble will join Ken Double in the broadcast booth.

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