Houston in Iowa trying to snap five-game skid

March 25, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Eight things you need to know
- The Aeros fell into second place with last night's 4-2 loss in Chicago. Houston has 95 points - one behind first-place Milwaukee, although the Aeros have a game in hand. Houston had held at least a share of first place for 141 straight days since 11/2, when the Aeros trailed Peoria 16 points to 15. 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 in Manitoba tonight, before traveling to Toronto tomorrow. Houston, which has qualified for the playoffs in 10 straight seasons and 11 out of 12, has a magic number of 20 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.
- The Aeros have been outscored 18-4 in the third period over their last 11 games, including 1-0 last night. They are just 3-6-1-1 in that stretch. Houston is minus-five (81-76) in the final 20 minutes this season.
- Houston LW Patrick O'Sullivan continues his push towards a possible Rookie of the Year title, notching three assists in the last two games after going three straight games without a point for the first time since late October. Earlier this month, O'Sullivan became the first player ever to win back-to-back AHL Rookie of the Month Awards. O'Sullivan owns rookie team records in all major offensive categories, and he leads all AHL rookies in goals (42) and points (81), while ranking tied for fourth overall in the league in points. His 42 goals place him third in the AHL. Since 11/9, O'Sullivan has racked up 74 points (39-35=74) in just 54 games. His 42 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 also potted 42 in 2004-05.
- Aeros RW Kirby Law (37-59=96) leads C Erik Westrum (31-61=92) by four points for the top spot in the AHL's points race. Westrum was recalled by NHL Minnesota on Monday. Brian Wiseman holds the top two single-season point totals in Aeros' history, notching a team-record 109 points in 1998-99 and 98 in 1997-98. Only 94 players in AHL history have topped the 100-point plateau.
- The Aeros are winless in five straight games (0-3-1-1) for the first time since an 0-5-1-0 run 2/6-2/16/04. Houston's last win was a 6-5 decision at Chicago 3/15. The Aeros are winless in a season-high four straight road games, their longest stretch since an 0-7-2-0 stretch 1/31-2/26/04.
- Houston is playing the final game of a three-in-three stretch. The Aeros have dropped each of their last four games when playing the previous day since a 5-2 win at MIL 2/26. Houston is a combined 14-10-2-1 in the second or third of back-to-back situations this season.
- Since beating Hamilton 3-2 on 3/5, the Aeros are 3-1-0-0 against Chicago and 0-5-1-1 versus the remainder of the AHL.
- Last night's loss continued Houston's road woes in the month of March. Houston is 2-9-1-2 on the road in the month the last two seasons, 4-11-1-3 the last three seasons and 7-16-1-3 since 2002-03.

Aeros at Stars (Aeros are 6-2-0-0 overall, Aeros are 2-1-0-0 at Iowa)
- Tonight is the ninth meeting between the Aeros and Stars, who host Houston in the season finale 4/16.
- The Aeros won the season's first three meetings, lost the next two, but have won the last three.
- Houston's high-powered trio of RW Kirby Law (6-6=12), LW Patrick O'Sullivan (3-9=12) and C Erik Westrum (6-5=11) have combined to post 35 points (15-20=35) in just eight games against the Stars.
- The Aeros had a partial affiliation deal with the Dallas Stars in 2004-05. G Mike Smith, D Patrick Traverse and forwards Junior Lessard and Marius Holtet all suited up for the Aeros last season. Smith went 19-17-3 with a 2.42 gaa and won Houston's lone playoff game.
- In the last meeting, 2/23 at Houston, C Rem Murray posted a goal and an assist and G Josh Harding made 35 saves in a 4-3 Aeros win. It marked Houston's third victory over Iowa in a seven-game stretch, with two meetings in Iowa.

Scouting the Aeros
The Aeros (45-20-2-3) are 1-4-1-1 in their last seven to fall out of first place in the West Division...Houston plays game three of a five-game road trip to complete a stretch of nine of 10 road games through the end of March...The Aeros are 1-5-0-1 in their last seven road games, with a 6-5 decision over the Wolves 3/15 the lone win...RW Kirby Law has 96 points (37-59=96), four points up on the recalled C Erik Westrum (31-61=92) for the top spot in the AHL...LW Patrick O'Sullivan is first in rookie scoring and tied for fourth overall with 81 points (42-39=81)...LW Roman Voloshenko (32-21=53) is second in goals among rookies and tied for eighth in points...D Curtis Murphy is second among AHL defensemen with a new career-best 58 points (10-48=58)...G Seamus Kotyk is 12-11-2 with a 2.99 gaa, while G Miroslav Kopriva is 6-3-1 with a 3.28 gaa.

Scouting the Stars
Iowa (30-29-1-7), AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars, has 68 points - eight behind Omaha for the fourth and final playoff spot out of the West Division...The Stars do have two games in hand...Iowa hasn't played since Sunday, when it dropped a 4-1 decision in Toronto to finish a 3-2-0-1 road trip...After tonight, the Stars play seven of their next nine games against non-playoff teams, including two meetings each with last place San Antonio and Cleveland...Veteran C Toby Peterson paces the Stars with 57 points (20-37=57), ahead of former Aero RW Junior Lessard (22-23=45)...D Dan Jancevski leads the blueliners with 30 points (7-23=30)...G Mike Smith another former Aero, is 17-18-6 with a 2.60 gaa, while G Dan Ellis is 13-12-1 with a 2.94 gaa.

2005-06 meetings (8th of 10 meetings, Aeros are 6-2-0-0 overall, Aeros are 2-1-0-0 at Iowa)
November 3 Iowa 3 at Houston 5
December 28 Iowa 2 at Houston 3
January 12 Iowa 1 at Houston 6
January 13 Iowa 3 at Houston 2
January 26 Houston 4 at Iowa 6
February 17 Houston 4 at Iowa 1
February 18 Houston 4 at Iowa 3
February 23 Iowa 3 at Houston 4
Tonight Houston at Iowa
April 16 Houston at Iowa

Quick Hits
- The Aeros had won their last six one-goal games before going 0-1-1-1 in their last three. They are still an eye-popping 21-6-2-3 in such contests, and an impressive 28-10-2-3 in games decided by two goals or less. Houston has seen 18 of its last 23 games be decided by one or two goals, going 10-5-1-2. Houston's 21 one-goal wins are the tied with Grand Rapids for most in the AHL. Iowa is 6-7-1-4 in one-goal home games, tied for the league lead in most non-wins in that situation.
- Houston is 100-for-479 on the power play for 20.9 percent - second in the 27-team AHL - despite going 0-for-17 in the last four games. The Aeros had a then franchise-record 94 PPG in the Turner Cup-winning season of 1998-99. Rookie LW Roman Voloshenko has 19 PPG - just one off Jeff Christian's franchise-record from 1998-99. The Aeros have four players with 14 or more PPG.
- In their last 14 victories, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 28-11 in the first period. In the last 35 games overall, Houston has a 45-27 goal margin in the opening 20 minutes, and on the season the Aeros are an AHL-best plus-29 (80-51). The Aeros are 27-1-1-1 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 nine assists in 12 games for $900. 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 second among AHL blueliners with 58 points (10-48=58) - a new career-high. Murphy is averaging nearly a point per game since New Year's. Murphy has 32 points (7-25=32) in 35 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 45 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 15-12-1-0 when allowing the game's first goal.
- Houston is 14-4-1-0 when allowing 29 or fewer shots this season, but also an impressive 10-1-1-0 when yielding 40 or more.
- The Aeros are 43-5-0-2 when scoring three goals or more, but they are 2-15-2-1 when scoring two or fewer. Three is also the magic number defensively, as Houston is 38-5-2-1 when allowing three of fewer goals and 7-15-0-2 when yielding four or more.
- Houston has allowed at least one goal in seven straight periods, beginning with the OT session Sunday against San Antonio.

Power play update
- Houston is second in the league on the power play at 20.9 percent.
- Houston scored 28 PPG in a 15-game stretch 2/11-3/17 before going 0-for-17 in the last four games. It's the first time this season that the Aeros have gone more than two straight games without scoring a PPG.
- The Aeros are 25-6-0-1 when scoring at least two PPG. Houston has scored two or more PPG in 22 of its last 45 games.
- Iowa is 26th in the AHL on the penalty kill at 79.5 percent.
- The Stars went just 17-for-24 (70.8 percent) on the PK on their six-game road trip.
- Houston is 11-for-48 (22.9 percent) on the power play against Iowa, scoring two or more PPG in four of the eight meetings.

Penalty kill update
- Houston is fifth in the AHL on the penalty kill at 84.5 percent.
- The Aeros have allowed 16 PPG on 67 chances in the last nine games for just a 76.1 percent PK rate.
- Houston is 22-6-1-3 when not allowing a power play goal and 35-11-2-2 when allowing one power play goal or fewer.
- Iowa is 21st in the AHL on the power play at 15.1 percent.
- The Stars went 5-for-29 (17.9 percent) with the man advantage on their six-game road trip..
- Iowa is 9-for-52 (17.3 percent) on the power play against Houston, but six of the nine PPG have come in two games.



American Hockey League Stories from March 25, 2006


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