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Homestand finishes against Peoria

January 21, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
- Aeros C Erik Westrum (20-41=61) and RW Kirby Law (26-34=60) 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 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. Law has 11 points in the last five games alone (4-7=11), while Westrum also has 11 points (6-5=11) in that span. Law has a career-high-tying 14-game point streak (12-15=27), and he has 35 points (16-19=35) in his last 18 contests alone. Law is second in the AHL in goals and tied for second in assists. Rookie C Patrick O'Sullivan is first in rookie scoring with 43 points (21-22=43), and he is tied with fellow rookie LW Roman Voloshenko (21-11=32) for the lead in goals among first-year players. D Curtis Murphy ranks second among league defensemen with 36 points (7-29=36).
- Aeros RW and captain Kirby Law's 14-game point streak (12-15=27) has tied his career-high, set 2/24-3/30/01 with Philadelphia. It's also one-game short of Brian Wiseman's franchise-best 15-game streak 12/27/98-1/30/99. Law needs three more goals to tie Aeros special assistant to hockey Cam Stewart for 10th place on the team's all-time goal list with 54. Law has played in 143 consecutive AHL games - 122 with Houston. Law's 26 goals are six off his 2003-04 career-high, and he's only 13 points shy of his career-best total of 73, also set in 2003-04.
- Aeros D Curtis Murphy, named an All-Star last week for the seventh time in as many North American seasons, is on the verge of becoming the Aeros' all-time goal leader among defensemen. Murphy is tied with Jeff Tory for the top spot among blueliners with 42 tallies. Murphy's 137 points trail only Greg Hawgood's total of 145 for the most in team history among defensemen. Murphy has 19 points (4-15=19) in his last 18 games, including 10 points (4-6=10) in the last seven games. Murphy ranks second among all AHL defensemen in points this season (7-29=36), and tied for eighth among all players in assists.
- Houston is all the way up to third in the AHL in scoring at 3.79 gpg, trailing only Grand Rapids' 3.93 gpg and Portland's 3.81 gpg. Since getting shut out 3-0 by Milwaukee 11/27, the Aeros have scored 83 goals in 18 games for a whopping 4.61 gpg average. Just twice since the shutout have the Aeros been held to fewer than three goals. The Aeros have scored 64 goals in 13 home games since the 11/27 loss for a 4.92 gpg average. Houston is on pace 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. Houston averages 4.12 gpg at home (103 goals in 25 games), on pace for a new franchise-record of 165 goals. The Aeros put up 160 goals at home in 1998-99, in a 41-game home season. Houston has scored five goals or more in 12 of its 25 home games, and four or more in 16 of the 25.
- The Aeros rode yet another fast start to victory last night. Houston scored the game's first four goals and was up 4-1 after 20 minutes. In its last two games - both victories - the Aeros have outscored their opponents 7-1 in the first period. In the last five games, Houston has a 16-6 goal margin in the opening 20 minutes, and overall on the season the Aeros are an AHL-best plus-20 (51-31).

Rivermen at Aeros (Aeros are 6-5-1-0 all-time, Aeros are 4-1-1-0 at Houston)
- Tonight is the 13th all-time meeting between the franchises - but the third in Houston against Peoria. The Rivermen relocated from Worcester, Mass., over the summer.
- This is the first of three meetings in a seven-day stretch. Houston is at Carver Arena Tuesday and next Friday.
- After the teams split a pair of October meetings in, the Aeros swept two games at home 12/16 and 12/17. RW Kirby Law posted a goal and two assists in a 5-3 win, before C Rem Murray and LW Patrick O'Sullivan each tallied two goals and an assist and linemate RW Matt Foy notched four assists in a 7-2 win over G Patrick Lalime in his Rivermen debut.
- The Aeros are 6-1-0-0 when scoring three or more goals against Worcester/Peoria, but 0-4-1-0 when scoring two or fewer.

Scouting the Aeros
The Aeros (30-10-1-1) have the AHL's second-best winning percentage (.738), trailing only Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (32-5-3-1=68, .829 pct)...The Aeros' West Division lead is four points over Milwaukee...Houston, which sports an AHL-high five All-Stars, has won 12 of 14 and 15 of 18 overall...The Aeros play game two of a stretch of seven games in nine nights in four cities, including their first three-in-three since 12/9-12/11...C Erik Westrum has 61 points (20-41=61), one up on RW Kirby Law (26-34=60) for the top spot in the AHL...C Patrick O'Sullivan is first in rookie scoring with with 43 points (21-22=43)...LW Roman Voloshenko (21-11=32) shared the league lead in goals among rookies with O'Sullivan...D Curtis Murphy is second among AHL defensemen with 36 points (8-29=36)...G Josh Harding is 21-7-0 with a 2.63 gaa to rank first in the league in wins and tied for third in save pct. (.923)...G Seamus Kotyk is 8-3-1 with a 2.66 gaa, while G Miroslav Kopriva is 1-1-0 with a 4.33 gaa.

Scouting the Rivermen
Peoria (20-15-1-2), AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues, is resurgent, having won four in a row and going 5-1-0-1 in its last seven since a 1-8-1-0 stretch...The Rivermen swept San Antonio 4-3 in a shootout Tuesday and 5-1 last night...Peoria is in third place in the West with 45 points...RW Mike Glumac is tied for 10th in the AHL in scoring with 44 points (21-23=44)...LW Peter Sejna is tied for 16th in scoring with 42 points (17-25=42)...D Mike Mottau paces the blueline with 28 points (3-25=28)...G Reinhard Divis is 3-6-1 with a 3.25 gaa...G Patrick Lalime, a former NHL All-Star, is 4-3-1 with a 3.07 gaa.

2005-06 meetings (5th of 10 meetings, Aeros are 3-1-0-0 overall, Aeros are 2-0-0-0 at Houston)
October 14 Houston 3 at Peoria 1
October 30 Houston 0 at Peoria 4
December 16 Peoria 3 at Houston 5
December 17 Peoria 2 at Houston 7
Tonight Peoria at Houston
January 24 Houston at Peoria
January 27 Houston at Peoria
March 28 Houston at Peoria
April 1 Peoria at Houston
April 2 Peoria at Houston

Quick Hits
- The Aeros close out a seven-game homestand tonight. Houston has won 16 of 19 at home and is 19-4-1-1 at Toyota Center this season, 25-4-1-3 in the last 33 regular-season games there and 33-6-1-3 in the last 43. Houston's best home mark in team history was in 1998-99, when it was 32-6-3. The Aeros are in a stretch of games where they won't play outside the state of Texas from 12/11 until Sunday, a span of 42 days. Houston last played outside of its home arena or San Antonio 12/11 versus Cleveland. Houston plays its AHL-high 26th home game tonight.
- Houston has trailed at some point in 13 of its 30 victories, with four of the wins coming when trailing by two goals. The Aeros had 16 come-from-behind victories in 2004-05. They are an impressive 11-5-0-0 when allowing the game's first goal.
- Since finishing minus-three 12/10 at Hamilton, C Erik Westrum has posted an even rating or better in each of his last 14 games, going plus-16 in that span, including plus-14 in the last 10 games. Westrum established a new career-high with his 19th goal 1/15 in just his 41st game.
- Aeros linemates C Erik Westrum and RW Kirby Law each have at least one point in each of the Aeros' 13 home games since getting shut out 11/27 by Milwaukee. They each have 25 points in the last 13 home games.
- The Aeros are 29-2-0-0 when scoring three goals or more, but 1-8-1-1 when scoring two or fewer. Three is also the magic number defensively, as Houston is 27-3-1-1 when allowing three of fewer goals and 3-7-0-0 when yielding four or more.
- Houston is 15-1-0-0 when outshooting an opponent. The Aeros are 11-0-0-0 when allowing 29 shots or fewer.
- The Aeros are 12-4-1-1 in one-goal games, and an impressive 18-5-1-1 in games decided by two goals or less. Thirteen of the Aeros' first 21 games were decided by one goal. Since then, however, just five of the last 21 games has been of the one-goal variety.
- Houston is 8-8-2-2 all-time in January at Toyota Center, and 11-14-4-2 in January over the last three seasons overall.
- Peoria is one of three AHL teams without a win when trailing after two periods (0-9-1-0).

Power play update
- Houston is first in the league on the power play at 21.4 percent.
- The Aeros are 31-for-113 (27.4 percent) with the man advantage in the last 18 games.
- Houston is 12-for-48 (25.0 percent) in the last eight games, scoring at least two PPG in six of the eight games.
- The Aeros are 19-2-0-0 when scoring at least two PPG. Houston has scored two or more PPG in 11 of its last 17 games.
- Houston has been outscored on the power play just twice in its last 20 games.
- Peoria is 10th in the AHL on the penalty kill at 83.7 percent.
- The Rivermen have killed off 20-of-20 shorthanded chances in their four-game winning streak.
- Houston is 6-for-22 (27.3 percent) on the power play against Peoria this season, including 5-for-14 (35.7 percent) at home.

Penalty kill update
- Houston is fifth in the AHL on the penalty kill at 85.1 percent.
- The Aeros are 26-of-27 (96.3 percent) on the PK in the last five games since Grand Rapids went 5-for-10 on 1/6, and they've held their opponent without a PPG in six of the last eight games.
- Houston is 13-2-0-1 when not allowing a power play goal and 23-4-1-1 when allowing one power play goal or fewer.
- Staying off the PK is huge for the Aeros, who have seen four of their 10 regulation losses come when allowing 10 power plays or more.
- Peoria ranks fourth in the AHL on the power play at 20.4 percent.
- The Rivermen are 5-for-29 (17.2 percent) with the man advantage in their four-game winning streak. Peoria has outchanced its opponents 39-20 on the power play over that span.
- Peoria is 6-for-29 (20.7 percent) on the power play against Houston this season, including 3-for-13 (23.1 percent) at Toyota Center.

Last Game (Friday)
Patrick O'Sullivan scored two goals, Erik Westrum tallied a goal and an assist, and Seamus Kotyk made 34 saves, as the Houston Aeros scored four times in the opening 10 minutes en route to a 5-1 victory over the Rochester Americans at Toyota Center. Roman Voloshenko and Josh Olson also scored and Matt Foy and Rem Murray each pitched in two helpers for the Aeros, who have won 12 of 14 and are 6-1-3-0 all-time against Rochester.

Aeros/Rivermen connections
- Peoria C Brendan Brooks and D Brendan Buckley teamed with Aeros assistant coach Matt Shaw, then Quad Cities' head coach, to win the UHL's regular-season title with the Mallards in the 1999-2000 season.
- Houston C Erik Westrum and Peoria C Troy Riddle were both born in Minneapolis, Minn, and they were teammates at the University of Minnesota. in 2000-01.
- Houston LW Joey Tetarenko and Peoria D Rocky Thompson spent much of the 2000-01 season together at AHL Louisville.
- Peoria D Jeff Woywitka was Houston RW Kirby Law's teammate at AHL Philadelphia in 2003-04.

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