Houston tackles Rampage on Family Day

January 15, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
- Houston is unbeaten in regulation in the last 12 home meetings with the Rampage (11-0-1-0), including eight straight victories. The Rampage last earned a regulation win in Houston on 1/16/04, a 6-3 decision. The Aeros' 12-game home unbeaten in regulation streak in the series is their longest such run against an opponent. They were 8-0-3-0 against Orlando from 12/22/96-11/10/00. Houston's eight-game home winning streak in a series equals the franchise-best against an opponent, having done the same versus IHL San Antonio 4/11/97-3/20/98. San Antonio has only two regulation wins in Houston in 21 chances in its three-plus years in the AHL.
- Aeros C Erik Westrum (18-39=57) and RW Kirby Law (25-31=56) 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. Both Westrum and Law have seven points in the last three games. Law has a season-best 12-game point streak (11-12=23), and he has 31 points (15-16=31) in his last 16 contests alone. Law leads all AHL players with 25 goals and is tied for third with 31 helpers. His 12-game point streak is a team season-high, and the last Aero with a longer run was Brian Wiseman's franchise-best 15-game streak 12/27/98-1/30/99. Rookie C Patrick O'Sullivan has 33 points (16-17=33) in his last 24 games and is first in rookie scoring with 40 points (19-21=40). Rookie LW Roman Voloshenko has 31 points (20-11=31), 10th-best among AHL rookies. D Curtis Murphy ranks second among league defensemen with 35 points (6-29=35).
- Aeros RW and captain Kirby Law has seven points (3-4=7) over his last three games. Tuesday, Law became the 23rd Aero to notch 100 points, and his 105 points (50-55=105) are just one behind Dan Cavanaugh for 20th place on the team's ledgers. Law's 50 goals are tied with Cory Larose for 11th on the team's all-time list, four behind Aeros special assistant to hockey Cam Stewart for 10th. Law has played in 141 consecutive AHL games - 120 with Houston.
- Aeros D Curtis Murphy has done a lot of things in his illustrious eight-year career, but notching two or more points in four straight games had never happened - until his current run. Murphy, named an All-Star this week for the seventh time in as many North American seasons, has posted two points in each of his last four games, the longest multiple-point run by an Aero this season. He has 18 points (3-15=18) in his last 16 games, including nine points (3-6=9) in his last five games alone. Murphy has 136 points in 160 games with Houston, moving into fifth place on the team's all-time list. Murphy ranks second among blueliners in team history in both points and assists. Murphy ranks second among all AHL defensemen in points this season (6-29=35), and tied for sixth among all players in assists.
- Houston is all the way up to second in the AHL in scoring at 3.75 gpg, trailing only Grand Rapids' 3.90 gpg. Since getting shut out 3-0 by Milwaukee 11/27, the Aeros have scored 74 goals in 16 games for a whopping 4.83 gpg average. Just twice since the shutout have the Aeros been held to fewer than three goals, including Friday's 3-2 loss to Iowa. The Aeros have scored 55 goals in 11 home games since the 11/27 loss for an unbelievable 5.00 gpg average.

Rampage at Aeros (Aeros are 30-6-5-2 overall, Aeros are 18-2-1-0 at Houston)
- Tonight is the 44th all-time meeting between the teams - 22nd in Houston. The Aeros sport a .779 winning percentage in the series.
- The Aeros are 15-1-1-0 in the last 17 overall meetings, with the regulation loss coming by one goal. Each of San Antonio's last four victories in the series has come by one goal.
- Since a three-game winless slide in the series 12/27/03-1/17/04, the Aeros have unleashed an 20-2-2-1 mark (.860 winning percentage).
- The Aeros have lost just once in regulation to the Rampage in each of the last two seasons. Houston was 9-1-2-0 in 2004-05 after a 7-1-2-2 mark in 2003-04. The Aeros are 5-1-0-0 in the 2005-06 season series.

Scouting the Aeros
The Aeros (28-10-1-1) have the AHL's second-best record, trailing only Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (29-5-3-1=62, .816 pct)...The Aeros' West Division lead is six points over Milwaukee, which has one game in hand...Houston has won 10 of 12 and 13 of 16 overall...C Erik Westrum has 57 points (18-39=57) to lead the AHL in points and assists...RW Kirby Law is second in the league with 56 points (25-31=56) and is first in goals and tied for third in assists...C Patrick O'Sullivan is first in rookie scoring with with 40 points (19-21=40)...LW Roman Voloshenko (20-11=31) has the league lead in goals among rookies and is 10th among first-year players in points...D Curtis Murphy is second among AHL defensemen with 35 points (6-29=35)...G Josh Harding is 21-7-0 with a 2.63 gaa to rank first in the league in wins, tied for third in save pct. (.924) and tied for 11th in gaa...Harding is 27-7-1 in his last 35 regular-season decisions...G Seamus Kotyk is 6-3-1 with a 2.98 gaa, while G Miroslav Kopriva is 1-1-0 with a 4.33 gaa.

Scouting the Rampage
San Antonio (12-24-1-1), AHL affiliate of the Phoenix Coyotes, snapped a seven-game winless streak (0-6-1-0) Friday with a 4-3 home overtime win over Toronto...San Antonio's 26 points are an AHL low, and the Rampage is 10 points behind sixth-place Chicago in the West Division...C Layne Ulmer leads the Rampage in scoring with 21 points (9-12=21)...D David Cornacchia leads San Antonio's defensemen with nine points (2-7=9) but is minus-19...G David LeNeveu, who spent the first two months of the season in the NHL with Phoenix, is 3-7-0 with a 3.46 gaa in his return to the AHL...G Karl Goehring is 2-3-0 with a 2.68 gaa, while G Scott Stirling is 1-5-1 with a 2.85 gaa.

2005-06 meetings (8th of 12 meetings, Aeros are 6-1-0-0 overall, Aeros are 3-0-0-0 at Houston)
October 7 San Antonio 5 at Houston 6
October 8 Houston 2 at San Antonio 3
November 12 San Antonio 3 at Houston 4 (SO)
November 13 Houston 3 at San Antonio 1
December 26 San Antonio 1 at Houston 6
December 31 Houston 4 at San Antonio 3 (OT)
January 5 Houston 5 at San Antonio 3
Tonight San Antonio at Houston
March 5 Houston at San Antonio
March 18 Houston at San Antonio
March 19 San Antonio at Houston
April 9 San Antonio at Houston

Quick Hits
- The Aeros play game five of a seven-game homestand tonight. Houston has won 14 of 17 at home and is 17-4-1-1 at Toyota Center this season, 23-4-1-3 in the last 31 regular-season games there and 31-6-1-3 in the last 41. 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 for 37 days, until traveling to Chicago 1/22.
- Houston has trailed at some point in 13 of its 28 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 12 games, going plus-13 in that span, including plus-11 in the last eight games.
- Aeros linemates C Erik Westrum and RW Kirby Law each have at least one point in each of the Aeros' 11 home games since getting shut out 11/27 by Milwaukee. Westrum and Law both have 21 points in the last 11 home games. Law (5-8=13) and Westrum (1-9=10) have also combined for 23 points in the seven meetings with the Rampage this season.
- The Aeros are 27-2-0-0 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 25-3-1-1 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 18-4-1-1 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 19 games has been of the one-goal variety.
- The Aeros' plus-14 first-period margin (44-30) is second-best in the AHL.
- Prior to Friday's 3-2 loss to Iowa, Houston had led in each of its last 15 games this season dating back to a 3-0 loss to Milwaukee 11/27. It marked just the second time in the last 28 games that the Aeros didn't hold a lead at some point, dating back to another shutout loss, this one 4-0 to Peoria 10/30. The Aeros have led in 34 of their 40 games this season.
- Houston is 6-8-2-2 all-time in January at Toyota Center, and 9-14-4-2 in January over the last three seasons overall.
- Former Aero Junior Lessard scored against Houston with 15 seconds left in the first period Friday. It marked the first goal allowed by the Aeros in the final two minutes of a period since 12/4 versus Cleveland.
- San Antonio has scored three or fewer goals in regulation in 36 of the last 37 games after a 6-5 loss to the Aeros on Opening Night. The Rampage rank 27th and last in the league in scoring at 1.84 gpg.
- Ten of San Antonio's 12 wins have come via one goal. The Rampage is 10-5-1-1 in one-goal games, but 2-19-0-0 in games decided by two goals or more.

Power play update
- Houston is fourth in the league on the power play at 21.1 percent.
- The Aeros are 27-for-98 (27.6 percent) with the man advantage in the last 16 games.
- Houston is 8-for-33 (24.2 percent) in the last five games, but it had a stretch of four straight games with two PPG snapped Friday, going 0-for-6 against Iowa.
- The Aeros are 18-2-0-0 when scoring at least two PPG.
- San Antonio ranks 20th in the AHL on the penalty kill at 82.0 percent.
- The Rampage has killed off just 19-of-25 shorthanded chances (76.0 percent) over the last three games.
- Houston is 12-for-56 (21.4 percent) on the power play against San Antonio this season. At Toyota Center, the Aeros are 7-for-27 (25.9 percent) in the series, scoring at least two PPG in each game.

Penalty kill update
- Houston is up to fifth in the AHL on the penalty kill at 84.9 percent.
- The Aeros are a perfect 17-for-17 on the PK in the last three games since Grand Rapids went 5-for-10 on 1/6.
- Houston is 12-2-0-1 when not allowing a power play goal and 21-4-1-1 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.
- San Antonio ranks tied for 24th in the AHL on the power play at 12.6 percent.
- The Rampage is 2-for-16 (12.5 percent) with the man advantage in the last five games.
- San Antonio is 6-for-43 (14.0 percent) on the power play against Houston this season. The Rampage is 2-for-18 (11.1 percent) at Toyota Center.

Last Game (Friday)
Former Aeros Junior Lessard and Patrick Traverse each scored and Dan Ellis made 24 saves, as the Iowa Stars defeated the Houston Aeros 3-2 at Toyota Center. The Stars are 10-4-0-0 in their last 14 and beat the Aeros for the first time in four tries this season. Kirby Law scored his league-leading 25th goal, Curtis Murphy also scored and Seamus Kotyk made 32 stops for Houston, which fell for just the second time in its last 12 games.

Aeros/Rampage connections
- Houston C Petr Taticek, RW Joey Tetarenko and LW Josh Olson are all former Rampage players.
- Rampage C Mike Bishai was on the 2002-03 Hamilton team that lost to the Aeros in the Calder Cup Finals.
- Aeros C Erik Westrum, a Phoenix draft pick, played with the Coyotes prospects last season in Utah.
- San Antonio D Brad Tiley was a member of Milwaukee's 2003-04 Calder Cup winning team alongside Houston D Curtis Murphy and C Bryan Lundbohm.



American Hockey League Stories from January 15, 2006


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