First-place showdown in Milwaukee

Published on February 25, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Six things you need to know
- Houston (81 points), which has the AHL's best points percentage now at .723, and Milwaukee (79 points) have been 1-2 in the West Division race for more than two months, since 12/9. The Aeros' lead was a season-high nine points (58-49) on 1/12. An Admirals regulation victory tonight would knock Houston into a first place tie for the first time since 11/5, when the Aeros were 8-4-1-1 and locked up with Peoria. Houston has had at least a share of first place every day since 11/3. Milwaukee hasn't yet led the West Division this season. The Aeros do have one game in hand on the Admirals. The teams meet again tomorrow at 2 p.m.
- Houston's 39 victories are just one behind last season's total (40-28-6-6), with 24 games remaining. The Aeros are on pace for 115 points - six behind the 1998-99 franchise-record, which was set in an 82-game season. A Houston victory tonight would give the Aeros 40 wins in 57 games, bettering the previous fastest 40-game start, 60 games in the 1998-99 Turner Cup championship season. Houston is 16-10-0-0 on the road, just one win off last season's mark (17-15-5-3). The Aeros' franchise record for road victories is 23, set twice, most recently in 1997-98 (23-13-5) in an 82-game season.
- The Aeros have had their share of problems at Bradley Center in recent memory. Houston is 1-7-2-0 in its last 10 trips to Milwaukee, with the lone win coming 5-2 on 11/13/04. Since that victory, the Admirals have won five straight meetings by a huge 18-2 margin. Houston has been shut out in three of its last five trips to Bradley Center, and has been blanked there seven times overall in 35 trips.
- Aeros C Erik Westrum (27-52=79) and RW Kirby Law (33-45=78) rank first and second in the AHL in scoring. They are trying to become the first duo from the same team to finish 1-2 in the league's scoring race since Paul Gardner (112 points) and Jody Gage (99) turned the trick for Rochester exactly 20 seasons ago - in 1985-86. No two teammates have reached the 100-point plateau since a trio of Carolina Monarchs did it in 1995-96. Westrum has already posted the second-highest point and assist total for an Aero since the the team joined the AHL in 2001-02, but he has been held without a point in back-to-back games for just the second time this season (a three-game stretch, 10/22-10/28). Law, who is set to play in his 600th career professional game tonight, has more goals in a single season than any Aero in the AHL years. C/LW Patrick O'Sullivan is first in rookie scoring with 62 points (31-31=62), a total that places him tied for sixth overall. O'Sullivan is closing in on Aeros rookie team records in goals (32), assists (32) and points (64) - all set in 2001-02 by Cory Larose. LW Roman Voloshenko (25-16=41) is second among first-year players in goals and 10th in overall rookie scoring.
- Reports of the demise of the Aeros power play were extremely premature. After going without a PPG for two straight games 2/10-2/11, the first time all season that's happened, Houston has roared back with 10 PPG on 32 chances (31.3 percent) in the last five games. Tonight's game features two of the top four power play units in the AHL. The Aeros are second at 21.1 percent, while the Admirals are fourth at 20.1 percent. Despite the prowess, the teams have struggled mightily against each other this season. Houston is 4-for-42 (9.5 percent) on the power play against Milwaukee this season, and the Aeros went 0-for-10 at Bradley Center in their only other trip of the season, 10/28. Milwaukee is 2-for-28 (7.1 percent) on the power play against the Aeros this season, and 0-for-19 in the last four games.
- The Aeros are 17-5-1-2 in one-goal games, and an impressive 24-8-1-2 in games decided by two goals or less. Houston has seen nine of its last 10 games be decided by one or two goals, going 6-2-0-1. Milwaukee is 16-4-5-2 in one-goal games. The Admirals' four regulation losses in one-goal games are tied for the fewest in the AHL.

Aeros at Admirals (Aeros are 31-35-7-2 all-time, Aeros are 13-19-3-0 at Milwaukee)
- The teams meet for the 76th time tonight - the 36th game in Milwaukee.
- The Aeros are 5-15-2-2 in the last 24 meetings since a 5-1 win 10/17/03.
- Since beating Milwaukee 7-0 at Toyota Center 1/11/05, the Aeros are 3-6-1-1 against the Admirals, getting outscored 35-19.
- The Aeros haven't beaten Milwaukee in back-to-back meetings in the same season since 2/11-3/1/03.

Scouting the Aeros
The Aeros (39-14-1-2) have the AHL's best winning percentage (.723) after Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (.719 pct) lost last night to drop to 3-7-0-1 in its last 11...Houston has won three straight on the road, one off its season-high...C Erik Westrum has 79 points (27-52=79), just one up on RW Kirby Law (33-45=78) for the top spot in the AHL...C/LW Patrick O'Sullivan is first in rookie scoring with with 62 points (31-31=62)...O'Sullivan is riding a five-game point streak (3-5=8), his fifth run of at least five games this season...LW Roman Voloshenko (25-16=41) is second in goals and 10th in points among rookies...D Curtis Murphy is third among AHL defensemen with 47 points (8-39=47)...Murphy has goals in each of the last two games...G Josh Harding is 24-7-0 with a 2.63 gaa to rank second in wins, second in save pct. (.924) and 11th in gaa...G Seamus Kotyk is 11-6-2 with a 2.93 gaa.

Scouting the Admirals
Milwaukee (36-14-5-2), AHL affiliate of the Nashville Predators, is 14-3-3-1 in its last 21 games, and is unbeaten in regulation in its last five (3-0-1-1)...Former AHL Rookie of the Year RW Darren Haydar leads Milwaukee with 63 points (22-41=63), sixth-best in the AHL...LW Scottie Upshall is the fourth leading scorer with 33 points (17-16=33) despite playing in only 21 games...D Kevin Klein paces the blueliners with 33 points (7-26=33)...Rookie All-Star G Pekka Rinne is 23-12-2 with a 2.74 gaa, while G Brian Finley is 12-5-0 with a 2.99 gaa.

2005-06 meetings (6th of 8 meetings, Aeros are 2-2-0-1 overall, Aeros are 0-1-0-0 at Milwaukee
October 28 Houston 1 at Milwaukee 6
November 25 Milwaukee 0 at Houston 3
November 27 Milwaukee 3 at Houston 0
February 4 Milwaukee 6 at Houston 5 (SO)
February 7 Milwaukee 2 at Houston 3
Tonight Houston at Milwaukee
Tomorrow Houston at Milwaukee
March 17 Houston at Milwaukee

Quick Hits
- Houston (39-14-1-2) enters tonight's game with 81 points, and a magic number for clinching a playoff spot of 23 points. That's a combination of points won by the Aeros, and points lost by Omaha. The Knights can reach 103 points by winning their remaining 22 games.
- Houston has a quartet of 25-goal scorers for the first time in team history. There are only 15, 25-goal scorers in the AHL this season, and the Aeros have four of them. Other than the Aeros, only Grand Rapids has as many as two.
- Houston is third in the AHL in scoring at 3.75 gpg, trailing only Grand Rapids' 3.97 gpg and Portland's 3.76 gpg. Since getting shut out 3-0 by Milwaukee 11/27, the Aeros have scored 134 goals in 32 games for a 4.19 gpg average. Houston is trying to score 300 goals for just the second time in team history. The Aeros scored a franchise-record 307 goals in 1998-99, but that came in an 82-game season. This season Houston is on pace for exactly 300 goals.
- In their last nine victories, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 21-6 in the first period. In the last 21 games overall, Houston has a 34-15 goal margin in the opening 20 minutes, and overall on the season the Aeros are an AHL-best plus-30 (69-39). No other team has scored more nor allowed fewer first-period goals. Houston has trailed after one period just once in its last 16 games.
- Aeros D Curtis Murphy, an All-Star for the seventh time in as many North American seasons, became the team's all-time point and goal scorer from the blueline last week. Murphy now has 147 points (43-104=147) in 215 games with the Aeros. Murphy trails only Greg Hawgood in assists among blueliners (109). Murphy, a two-time Eddie Shore Winner as AHL Defenseman of the Year, is third among all AHL blueliners in points this season (9-38=47). Murphy's 38 assists are already a new AHL-high for him - his career-best was 43 with IHL Orlando in 1999-2000.
- Houston has trailed at some point in 16 of its 39 victories, with five of the wins coming when trailing by two goals. The Aeros had 16 come-from-behind victories in 2004-05. They are an impressive 13-8-0-0 when allowing the game's first goal, including wins in each of the last three occurrences.
- The Aeros are 37-4-0-1 when scoring three goals or more, but they are 2-10-1-1 when scoring two or fewer. Three is also the magic number defensively, as Houston is 34-4-1-1 when allowing three of fewer goals and 5-10-0-1 when yielding four or more.
- Houston is 13-1-0-0 when allowing 29 or fewer shots this season, but also an impressive 9-1-1-0 when yielding 40 or more.
- Aeros G Josh Harding has faced 35 or more shots in each of his last six complete games.
- Houston's checking line of LW Josh Olson, C Bryan Lundbohm and RW Joel Ward has combined for the Aeros' first goal in each of the last two games, in addition to their hard work on the defensive end. The trio finding the scoresheet generally means an Aeros win. Houston is 9-1-0-1 when Olson has a goal, 10-1-1-0 with an assist and 16-2-1-1 with a point. The Aeros are 8-1-0-0 when Lundbohm scores a goal, 11-1-0-0 when he has an assist and 19-2-0-0 when he has a point. Houston is 9-2-0-0 when Ward has an assist, and 10-3-0-0 when he has at least one point. Lundbohm has six points (3-3=6) in his last nine games.

Power play update
- Houston is second in the league on the power play at 21.1 percent.
- The Aeros are 49-for-203 (24.1 percent) with the man advantage in the last 32 games.
- Houston is 10-for-32 (31.3 percent) on the power play in its last five games after going without a PPG in two straight games for the first time this season.
- The Aeros are 22-4-0-1 when scoring at least two PPG. Houston has scored two or more PPG in 17 of its last 31 games.
- Houston has been outscored on the power play just five times in its last 34 games.
- Milwaukee is tied for eighth in the AHL on the penalty kill at 84.0 percent.
- The Admirals have killed off 29-of-33 (87.9 percent) of their shorthanded chances in the last five games.
- Houston is 4-for-42 (9.5 percent) on the power play against Milwaukee this season, and the Aeros went 0-for-10 at Bradley Center in their only other trip of the season, 10/28.

Penalty kill update
- Houston is fourth in the AHL on the penalty kill at 85.2 percent.
- In the last 18 games, Houston is 97-of-110 (88.1 percent) on the PK.
- Houston is 19-3-0-2 when not allowing a power play goal and 30-7-1-1 when allowing one power play goal or fewer.
- Milwaukee ranks fourth in the AHL on the power play at 20.1 percent.
- The Admirals are 6-for-34 (17.6 percent) with the man advantage in the last five games.
- Milwaukee is 2-for-28 (7.1 percent) on the power play against the Aeros this season, and 0-for-19 in the last four games since going 2-for-9 at Bradley Center in the lone other meeting of the season, 10/28. In the last 12 games against Houston, the Admirals are 3-for-59 (5.1 percent) with the man advantage.

Aeros/Admirals connections
- Aeros D Curtis Murphy was a member of Milwaukee's Calder Cup championship team in 2003-04.
- Houston C Bryan Lundbohm spent most of four seasons with the Admirals, from 2001-05. He was injured when Milwaukee won the Calder Cup in 2003-04.
- Aeros G Seamus Kotyk went 10-6-1 with a 2.95 gaa in 23 games with Milwaukee in 2004-05.
- Houston D Erik Reitz played two seasons (1999-2001) with Milwaukee G Brian Finley at OHL Barrie.
- Aeros C Patrick O'Sullivan played junior hockey with Milwaukee's T.J. Reynolds in 2001-02 in Mississauga. Reynolds was Houston C Petr Taticek's teammate in San Antonio in 2004-05.
- Milwaukee D Rick Berry played in Utah in 2004-05 with Aeros C Erik Westrum and D Dustin Wood.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 25, 2006


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