Houston Aeros game notes

Published on November 18, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know

Houston's 5-4 loss last night dropped the Aeros to 1-6-1-0 in their last eight trips to Winnipeg, with the lone win coming via a 5-2 decision 1/30/04. Houston is 0-3-0 at MTS Centre, getting outscored 15-5 in the process. Overall in the series, the Aeros are 1-6-0-1 in the last eight meetings since the aforementioned 2003-04 season victory. Aeros G Josh Harding, who played the final half of his last junior season in Brandon, is 0-3-0 with a 4.30 gaa in Winnipeg, nearly double his gaa for his first two pro campaigns.

Houston C Erik Westrum's team-best 10th multiple-point game of the season last night put him back in sole possession of first place in the AHL in scoring with 29 points (9-20=29). His 20 assists are five more than any other player. Westrum had 33 points (18-15=33) in 80 games last season for Utah. RW Kirby Law, who also had a goal and an assist last night, is tied for third in the AHL in scoring with 23 points (10-13=23). He is tied for fifth in goals and tied for fourth in assists. Rookie LW Roman Voloshenko, who plays on a line with Westrum and Law, is tied for ninth in scoring with 18 points (12-6=18). Voloshenko leads all AHL rookies in points and is tied with Syracuse's Geoff Platt for the most goals among first-year players. Voloshenko's 12 goals are tied for third overall in the AHL. At least one of the three has scored a goal in 16 of the Aeros' 20 games.

Rookie LW Roman Voloshenko has garnered most of the attention around the AHL this season, but teammate C Patrick O'Sullivan is quickly staking his claim to the All-Rookie Team race. O'Sullivan enters tonight's game riding his second four-game point streak of the season, with six points (3-3=6) in that span. O'Sullivan joins RW Kirby Law and C Erik Westrum as the lone Aeros with two point streaks of four or more games this season. O'Sullivan, a 20-year-old native of Winston-Salem, N.C., is tied for sixth among all AHL rookies with 13 points (6-7=13).

Aeros D Curtis Murphy has put together a four-game point streak (1-3=4), one off recalled D Kurtis Foster's team season-high for a defenseman. The run has helped Murphy move into a first-place tie with Foster for the AHL blueliner lead in points with 15.

Houston has allowed a league-high 27 third-period goals, including three last night. The Aeros had outscored their opponents 10-4 in the third during their seven-game unbeaten in regulation streak. Houston has kept its opponent off the scoreboard in the third period seven times in 20 games, and it's no surprise that they are 6-0-1-0 in such situations. The Aeros have five regulation losses this season - and in four of those five games, Houston allowed at least two goals in the third period.

Aeros at Moose (Aeros are 36-20-10-1 all-time, Aeros are 17-11-5-0 at Manitoba) Tonight is the 68th all-time meeting between the teams, the 34th road meeting for Houston. The Aeros are 10-11-1-1 against the Moose, including a 4-6-1-0 mark in Manitoba and a 6-5-0-1 home record, since moving to the AHL in 2001-02. Since the Moose moved from Minnesota to Winnipeg, Houston is 28-18-8-1 against the team. Houston is 0-2-1 all time in overtime against the Manitoba/Minnesota franchise, and 9-8 in shootouts. Manitoba's shootout victory 11/4 snapped Houston's string of six straight shootout wins in the series, dating back to a 5-4 Moose win on 12/1/99. The teams went to overtime/shootout 18 times in 44 IHL games, but just twice in 23 AHL contests, including 11/4. The Aeros took three of four points from the Moose earlier this month in Houston. Manitoba won the first game, 3-2 in a shootout, as Jason Jaffray supplied a goal and an assist in regulation and Wade Flaherty was perfect in the shootout. But two nights later, the Aeros won 3-2 in regulation, getting a goal and an assist from Erik Westrum and 20 saves from Josh Harding in his return from injury. The Aeros and Moose fashion two of the hottest power plays in the AHL. Houston, eighth on the power play at 19.5 percent, is 7-for-24 (29.2 percent) in the last three games. Manitoba, meanwhile, is 12-for-45 (26.7 percent) on the power play in the last six games to move to 19th in the AHL at 18.7 percent.

Scouting the Aeros

The Aeros saw their five-game winning streak snapped last night, 5-4 at Manitoba...C Erik Westrum has 29 points (9-20=29) to pace the AHL in scoring...Westrum has a team-best 10 multiple-point games...RW Kirby Law is tied for third in the league with 23 points (10-13=23) and is tied for fifth in goals...Rookie LW Roman Voloshenko is tied for third in the AHL with 12 goals, and he ranks tied for first among AHL rookies in goals and first in points (18)...D Kurtis Foster has 15 points (4-11=15) but was recalled to NHL Minnesota yesterday, while counterpart D Curtis Murphy also has 15 (2-13=15)...The teammates are tied for first in the league in points among blueliners...G Josh Harding is 9-4-0 with a 2.70 gaa...Harding is 15-4-1 in his last 20 regular-season games dating back to a 3-2 SOL vs. Grand Rapids 3/25, and one of the three losses was in OT...Harding's four-game winning streak was snapped last night...Harding leads the AHL in wins (nine), minutes (754) and saves (398)...G Seamus Kotyk is 3-1-1, with a 3.24 gaa.

Scouting the Moose

Manitoba, the AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, was one of the hottest teams in the AHL until a 3-2 loss in Houston 11/6...But Manitoba returned home last night after a seven-game road trip for a 5-4 win over the Aeros in just its fourth home game...Veteran G Wade Flaherty is 6-4-1 with a 2.26 gaa to rank seventh in the league in gaa...Rookie G Rob McVicar made 30 saves last night for the win...LW Alexandre Burrows has taken over the Moose scoring lead with 14 points (4-10=14) with C Josh Green in Vancouver...Former Aero and veteran D Sven Butenschon paces the blueline with 11 points (6-5=11), including three points (1-2=3) last night.

2005-06 meetings (4th of 4 meetings, Aeros are 1-1-0-1 overall, Aeros are 0-1-0-0 at Manitoba)

November 4 Manitoba 3 at Houston 2 (SO)

November 6 Manitoba 2 at Houston 3

Last Night Houston 4 at Manitoba 5

Tonight Houston at Manitoba

Quick Hits

The Aeros are 12-1-0-0 when scoring three goals or more, but 1-4-1-1 when scoring two or fewer. Last night marked Houston's first loss when reaching three goals. Three is also the magic number defensively, as Houston is 10-1-1-1 when allowing three of fewer goals and 3-4-0-0 when yielding four or more. Houston has trailed at some point in seven of its 13 victories, including three of their last four wins. The Aeros had 16 come-from-behind victories in 2004-05. Houston has outshot four of its last six opponents and is 7-0-0-0 in those situations this season. Manitoba is 7-0-0-0 when outshooting an opponent, including last night's victory. The Aeros had 22 PIM's to 18 for Manitoba last night, and that generally spells bad new for Houston. The Aeros are 8-1-0-0 when having fewer PIM's than their opponent, but 4-4-1-1 when having more and 1-0-0-0 when the PIM's are equal. Houston has accrued fewer PIM's than its opponent in each of its last five wins. The Moose (6-0-0-0), Peoria (8-0-0-0) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (8-0-0-0) are the lone AHL teams to win every game in which they scored first. Houston is a league-best 8-2-1-1 in one-goal games, and an impressive 11-2-1-1 in games decided by two goals or less.

And the youth shall lead them

Much has been said and written about the Aeros' veterans this season, but the youngsters have been just as important to the 13-5-1-1 start. Houston has nine players 22 years of age or under, and the budding superstars have accounted for 31 of the team's 68 goals (45.6 percent). LW Roman Voloshenko has 12, LW Peter Olvecky has six, C Patrick O'Sullivan has six, C Petr Taticek has six, and D Clayton Stoner has two. Youth is also served in the goaltending department, as 21-year-old G Josh Harding leads the AHL in wins with nine.

Power play update

Houston is eighth in the league on the power play at 19.5 percent. The Aeros are 7-for-24 (29.2 percent) in the last three games. The Aeros are 8-1-0-0 when scoring at least two PPG, with the lone loss coming last night. Manitoba is 13th in the AHL on the penalty kill at 84.9 percent. But prior to the last meeting between the teams, just 12 days ago, the Moose led the AHL at 90.4 percent. The Moose has killed off just 32-of-42 (76.1 percent) shorthanded chances in the last six games.

Penalty kill update

Houston is 17th in the AHL on the penalty kill at 83.6 percent. After the Aeros yielded at least one man advantage goal in each of their first 13 games this season, they went 31-of-32 (96.9 percent) in the next six games, but Manitoba went 3-for-10 last night. Houston has gone shorthanded 159 times, 20 more than any other AHL team. Manitoba is ninth in the AHL on the power play at 18.7 percent. The Moose is 12-for-45 (26.7 percent) on the power play in the last six games.

Murphy climbing charts

Aeros D Curtis Murphy's assist last night was his 116th point with the Aeros, moving into a tie with Al Conroy for 14th place on the team's all-time list. Mark Cullen is next in 13th with 119. Murphy's 116 points rank fourth all-time in Houston's 12-year franchise history among defensemen. He's only four points back of Travis Roche's total of 120 for third place.

A shoutout for the shootout

The Aeros are 4-1 in shootouts this season, after going only 5-6 in shootouts in 2004-05. C Patrick O'Sullivan is 4-for-5 in shootouts, with two deciding tallies. C Erik Westrum is 3-for-6, as he shot twice in one shootout. LW Roman Voloshenko missed on his first three attempts, but his tally Saturday against San Antonio was the deciding goal.

Last Game (Thursday)

Former Aero Sven Butenschon and Rick Rypien each scored in the final nine minutes, as the Manitoba Moose came back for a 5-4 victory over Houston at MTS Centre to snap the Aeros' five-game winning streak and hand them their first regulation loss of November. Prestin Ryan, Jimmy Roy and Jesse Schultz also scored, Butenschon added two assists and rookie Rob McVicar made 30 saves and turned away a penalty shot for Manitoba, which was 0-2-1-1 in its last four. Kirby Law, Patrick O'Sullivan, and Erik Westrum each notched a goal and an assist, and Petr Taticek also scored for Houston, which led by a single goal three times. Josh Harding made 31 saves, but the Aeros allowed three goals in the third period to fall for the first time since a 3-2 shootout loss to the Moose 11/4.

Aeros/Moose connections

Manitoba's Jozef Balej was on the 2002-03 Hamilton team that lost to the Aeros in the Calder Cup Finals. The Moose's Sven Butenschon was an Aero in 1998-99. He totaled five points (1-4=5) and 81 PIM's in 57 games but was in Pittsburgh for the Aeros' Turner Cup run. Manitoba's Maxime Fortunus was an Aero for parts of the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons. He notched one assist and 12 PIM's in 23 games.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 18, 2005


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