Gameday: Aeros at Stars

December 4, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


The Houston Aeros (12-10-1-2) visit the Texas Stars (13-8-0-1) to close out a 3-in-3 run that began with a 4-3 shootout win over Rockford Thursday. The Aeros dropped a 2-1 decision to the IceHogs last night at home and enter tonight's game tied with Texas in the West Division race. Houston has lost two in a row on the road and is 2-2-0-0 in the last four away from Toyota Center. The Stars have points in three straight (2-0-0-1) and are coming off a 2-1 shootout loss at home vs. San Antonio last night.

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UPCOMING GAMES

Dec. 4 at Texas 7:00 p.m. CST

Dec. 7 at OKC 7:05 p.m. CST

Dec. 10 vs. San Antonio 7:35 p.m. CST

AEROS AT A GLANCE

RECORD: 12-10-1-2, 27 pts., 4th, West Division

HOME: 6-5-1-0

ROAD: 6-5-0-2

STREAK: LOST 1

NHL AFFILIATES

Houston Aeros (Minnesota Wild)

Texas Stars (Dallas Stars)

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

HOMELY --- Houston has won six of eight at home dating back to an Oct. 31 victory over Texas. Four of those wins have been by one goal; the other pair has been decided by two goals...Eight of Houston's 12 home games have been one-goal decisions (4-3-1-0) and three have been decided by two goals (2-1)...Except for an 8-2 loss to Peoria and a 5-3 defeat by San Antonio, the Aeros have not allowed more than three goals in a home game...Goals allowed (1 - 2X; 2 - 5X; 3 - 3X; 5 - 1X; 8 - 1X).

KHUDOBIN AT HOME --- Anton Khudobin has won five-straight home starts, posting a 1.90 GAA and .938 save percentage over that span (152 shots/162 saves, 315 minutes).

NOREAU AMONG D-LEADERS --- Max Noreau leads AHL defensemen in power play goals (5) and shots (73) and is second in goals (7).

WESTWARD --- The Aeros are 10-9-1-0 against the West Division this season. A total of 10 of the team's last 13 games have been against West rivals; Houston is 5-5-0-0 in those games.

CUMA MAKES DEBUT --- Tyler Cuma made his pro debut on Dec. 2. The Wild's first round pick (23rd overall) in 2008 missed the first 23 games of the season on the injured reserve.

COME BACK NOW --- The Aeros earned their first win of the season when trailing after two periods on Dec. 2; they were 0-9-0-0 when trailing after the second period.

HEATIN' UP --- Cody Almond's game-tying goal Dec. 2 was his first tally in 10 games dating back to Nov. 8 at Abbotsford...Almond has points (1-3-4) in three of his last four games.

FOUR-SCORE --- When scoring at least four goals the Aeros are undefeated (7-0-0-0).

SCORE FIRST! --- Houston is 12-3-0-2 when scoring first this season and 0-7-1-0 when allowing the first goal. Two of the first-goal regulation losses have been against the San Antonio Rampage. The other was against Rockford.

FIRST-GOAL STREAK ---The Aeros have scored the first goal in 15 of the last 18 games and are 10-6-0-2 in those games. The Aeros scored the first goal in seven straight games (Oct. 29-Nov. 8) and were 4-1-0-2 in that span.

SHOOTIN' --- The Aeros are 9-4-0-2 when being outshot and 3-5-1-0 when outshooting their opponents. The Nov. 14 win at PEO was the first time this season the Aeros out shot an opponent and won.

TURNSTILE TIDBIT ---The Aeros are fifth in AHL average attendance at 5,642.

SCHEDULE NOTES --- Seven of the next eight games are on the road...The Aeros closed a 7-in-11 stretch last Saturday that dated back to Nov.17 (4-3-0-0)...A total of 18 of Houston's final 27 games in the calendar year of 2010 are away from Toyota Center.

MOVIN' ON UP --- The Aeros have had 11 callups up to Minnesota (Gillies, Wellman, Kassian-3x, Almond-2x, Scandella, Earl, Falk, Spurgeon).

RECENT ROSTER MOVES --- F Brock McBride was signed to a PTO on Dec. 1...F Matt Kassian was reassigned by Minnesota on Nov. 30...F Matt Kassian was recalled by Minnesota on Nov. 29...F Robbie Earl was reassigned by Minnesota on Nov. 29...D Jared Spurgeon was recalled by Minnesota on Nov. 28.

LAST GAME QUICK RECAP

Matt Hackett's 27 saves and an early goal by Robbie Earl weren't enough as the Houston Aeros fell 2-1 to the Rockford IceHogs in front of 4,471 fans Friday at Toyota Center. Earl bagged Houston's lone goal when he redirected a shot off the shaft of his stick past Rockford goalie Alec Richards to give Houston a 1-0 lead 3:21 into the game.

BROADCAST INFO

Follow the Aeros all season long on News Talk 1070 KNTH and online at AEROS.COM with Joe O'Donnell providing the play-by-play call. Watch every game, in its entirety, online at www.ahllive.com.



American Hockey League Stories from December 4, 2010


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