AHL Peoria Rivermen

Houston goes for sweep of Rivermen

Published on April 2, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


Eight things you need to know
- Houston enters tonight with 98 points - three behind first-place Milwaukee, although the Aeros have two games in hand. Houston led the West by as many as nine points, the last time 1/12, when it had 58 points to Milwaukee's 49. The Admirals are off until Thursday, when they are in San Antonio. Houston, which has qualified for the playoffs in 10 straight seasons and 11 out of 12, has a magic number of 12 points to clinch the West Division title. That's a total of its own points gained and points lost by the Admirals. The Aeros own two division titles in their first 11 seasons - 1998-99 and 2002-03 - both championship campaigns. Houston is seven points up on third-place Peoria, giving the Aeros a magic number of eight points to clinch home ice in at least the West Division Finals.
- Returning home was just what the Aeros needed to snap an eight-game winless slide last night, as they beat Peoria 5-0. Houston is 27-5-2-2 at Toyota Center for a .806 points percentage - the second-best home percentage in the league. The Aeros have outscored their opponents 143-91 at home. Houston has won all four home meetings with Peoria. by a combined 22-6 margin, including 10-1 in the last two games.
- The Aeros have been outscored 23-7 in the third period over their last 15 games, and have allowed two OT goals and have lost in a shootout in that span. They are just 4-8-2-1 in that stretch. Houston is minus-seven (86-79) in the final 20 minutes this season. Only two teams have allowed more third-period goals.
- Aeros RW Kirby Law is just the 95th player in the 70-year history of the American Hockey League to post 100 points in a season. He now has 103 (40-63=103), including two goals last night to make him just the third player in team history to record 40 goals in a season.. Only three other AHL players have reached the 100-point mark since 2000-01. Law is just the second player in team history to reach 100 points. Brian Wiseman totaled a team-record 109 in the 1998-99 campaign.
- Houston LW Patrick O'Sullivan continues his push towards a possible Rookie of the Year title. O'Sullivan owns rookie team records in all major offensive categories, and he leads all AHL rookies in goals (44) and points (85), while ranking fourth overall in the league in points. His 44 goals place him third in the AHL. Since 11/9, O'Sullivan has racked up 78 points (41-37=78) in just 58 games. His 44 goals are the second-most in a single season in team history, trailing only Jeff Christian's total of 45 in 1998-99. O'Sullivan is just the second rookie since 1991-92 to record 40 goals. Rochester's Thomas Vanek potted 42 in 2004-05.
- Houston is 102-for-504 on the power play for 20.2 percent - third in the 27-team AHL - although it is 2-for-42 (4.8 percent) in the last eight games. The Aeros had a then franchise-record 94 PPG in the Turner Cup-winning season of 1998-99. Rookie LW Roman Voloshenko has 20 PPG - tied with Jeff Christian's franchise-record from 1998-99. The Aeros have four players with 14 or more PPG.
- The Aeros have allowed two goals or less in each of their last two games, after accomplishing it just once over their previous 14 games. G Seamus Kotyk has stopped 57-of-59 shots (.966 save pct.) in the last two games, including his sixth career shutout last night when he made 36 saves. Kotyk hits the ice tonight looking for his 50th career AHL win. The fifth-year pro is 49-62-10 with a 3.20 gaa in 142 career games.
- Aeros RW Kirby Law has 999 career AHL PIM's in 540 games. With his next penalty, he'll join teammate D Scott Ferguson as Aeros with more than 1,000 career AHL PIM's. Ferguson has 1,054 PIM's in 526 AHL games.

Rivermen at Aeros (Aeros are 9-7-1-0 all-time, Aeros are 6-1-1-0 at Houston)
- Tonight is the 18th all-time meeting between the franchises.
- This is the last of three meetings in a six-day stretch. Earlier this season, the Aeros and Rivermen met three times in seven days 1/21-1/27, but they didn't seen each other after that until Tuesday.
- Last night, G Seamus Kotyk made 36 saves and RW and captain Kirby Law scored twice in a 5-0 Houston rout.

Scouting the Aeros
The Aeros (46-22-3-3) are 2-6-2-1 in their last 11 to fall out of first place in the West Division...Houston finished March by playing nine of its last 10 on the road, but plays game two of a five-game homestand tonight...The Aeros are 27-5-2-2 at home, the second-best record in the AHL...RW Kirby Law has 102 points (40-63=103), 10 points up on Grand Rapids' Jiri Hudler for the top spot in the AHL...LW Patrick O'Sullivan is first in rookie scoring and fourth overall with 85 points (44-41=85)...LW Roman Voloshenko (33-23=56) is second in goals among rookies and tied for eighth in points...D Curtis Murphy is tied for second among AHL defensemen with a new career-best 60 points (10-50=60)...G Seamus Kotyk is 13-13-2 with a 2.97 gaa, while G Miroslav Kopriva is 6-4-1 with a 3.52 gaa.

Scouting the Rivermen
Peoria (42-24-3-4), AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues, had a four-game winning streak snapped last night and dropped to 9-2-2-0 in its last 13...Peoria is in third place in the West with 91 points, seven points behind the second-place Aeros with a game in hand...RW Jon DiSalvatore paces the Rivermen with 62 points (20-42=62)...D Mike Mottau is the second-leading active scorer and is tied for seventh among AHL defensemen with 52 points (8-44=52)...G Chris Beckford-Tseu was recalled by NHL St. Louis after last night's game, and G Gregg Naumenko is not with the team due to personal reasons...G Scott Reid has played in five games with Milwaukee and Norfolk, going 1-1-1 with a 2.17 gaa...The Rivermen have signed G Jody Green, a native of Gulfport, Miss., who was an assistant equipment manager in ECHL Louisiana and is currently a student at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette...Green has previously served as backup goalie for Louisiana and Mississippi.

2005-06 meetings (10th of 10 meetings, Aeros are 6-3-0-0 overall, Aeros are 4-0-0-0 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
January 21 Peoria 1 at Houston 5
January 24 Houston 0 at Peoria 3
January 27 Houston 2 at Peoria 1
Tuesday Houston 2 at Peoria 8
Last Night Peoria 0 at Houston 5
Tomorrow Peoria at Houston

Quick Hits
- Last night's victory was Houston's 200th since entering the American Hockey League. The Aeros are 200-138-40-16 in their five AHL seasons.
- Houston did something it doesn't usually do last night - win when not scoring a PPG. It marked just the fifth time all season the Aeros won when not scoring a PPG. They are 5-10-3-1 in that situation.
- The Aeros had won their last six one-goal games before going 0-2-2-1 in their last five. They are still an eye-popping 21-7-3-3 in such contests, and an impressive 28-12-3-3 in games decided by two goals or less. Houston has seen 20 of its last 26 games be decided by one or two goals, going 10-6-2-2.
- In their last 15 victories, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 30-11 in the first period. In the last 39 games overall, Houston has a 50-28 goal margin in the opening 20 minutes, and on the season the Aeros are an AHL-best plus-33 (85-52). The Aeros are 28-7-2-1 when leading after one period this season.
- Murphy's Mission, benefiting I Have a Dream ®, has started off in strong fashion. D Curtis Murphy has picked up 11 assists in 16 games for $1100. An anonymous local donor is giving $300 per Murphy goal and $100 per assist to the charity. The "I Have a Dream"® Program helps children from low-income areas reach their education and career goals by providing a long-term program of mentoring, tutoring, and enrichment with an assured opportunity for higher education. A home hat trick at any point of the program will net the foundation a whopping $10,000. Murphy, who last month became the top defenseman goal and point scorer in team history, passed Greg Hawgood for the top spot on the team's all-time assist ledger 3/9. Murphy ranks tied for second among AHL blueliners with 60 points (10-50=60) - a new career-high. Murphy is averaging nearly a point per game since New Year's. Murphy has 34 points (7-27=34) in 39 games in 2006.
- The Aeros pulled off yet another come-from-behind win 3/7 against Chicago. Houston has trailed at some point in 19 of its 46 victories, with six of the wins coming when trailing by two goals. The Aeros had 16 come-from-behind victories in 2004-05. They are an impressive 15-13-1-0 when allowing the game's first goal.
- Houston is 14-4-2-0 when allowing 29 or fewer shots this season, but also an impressive 10-2-1-0 when yielding 40 or more.
- The Aeros are 44-6-0-2 when scoring three goals or more, but they are 2-16-3-1 when scoring two or fewer. Three is also the magic number defensively, as Houston is 39-5-3-1 when allowing three of fewer goals and 7-17-0-2 when yielding four or more.
- Aeros LW Peter Olvecky picked up an assist last night, continuing his strong play. Since opening March with six straight games without a point, Olvecky has eight points (4-4=8) in 10 games, including a two-goal performance 3/17 at Milwaukee.

Power play update
- Houston is tied for third in the league on the power play at 20.2 percent.
- Houston is 2-for-42 (4.8 percent) with the man advantage in the last eight games, with both PPG coming last Saturday in Iowa.
- The Aeros are 25-7-0-1 when scoring at least two PPG. Houston has scored two or more PPG in 23 of its last 49 games.
- Peoria is fifth in the AHL on the penalty kill at 84.8 percent.
- The Rivermen have killed off 36-of-38 (94.7 percent) of their shorthanded chances in the last seven games.
- Houston is 7-for-48 (14.6 percent) on the power play against Peoria, including 6-for-25 (24.0 percent) at home. But the Aeros haven't scored on 23 power plays in the last three meetings overall.

Penalty kill update
- Houston is down to seventh in the AHL on the penalty kill at 83.8 percent.
- The Aeros have allowed 23 PPG on 92 chances in the last 12 games for just a 75.0 percent PK rate, and they allowed a season-high-tying five PPG Tuesday in Peoria.
- Houston is 23-6-1-3 when not allowing a power play goal and 36-12-3-2 when allowing one power play goal or fewer.
- Peoria is tied for third in the AHL on the power play at 20.2 percent.
- The Rivermen are 8-for-33 (24.2 percent) with the man advantage in the last five games.
- Peoria is 11-for-54 (20.4 percent) on the power play against Houston, including a 5-for-7 performance Tuesday. The Rivermen are 3-for-23 (13.0 percent) with the man advantage at Toyota Center.

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 LW Joey Tetarenko and Peoria D Rocky Thompson spent much of the 2000-01 season together at AHL Louisville.
- Aeros G Seamus Kotyk spent the 2003-04 season in Cleveland along with Peoria RW Jon DiSalvatore.

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from April 2, 2006


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