Regular season home finale tonight

Published on April 14, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Six things you need to know
- Houston enters tonight with 102 points - two behind first-place Milwaukee, although the Aeros have one game in hand so they currently have control of their own destiny. 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 have just two games remaining - tonight at home against Chicago and tomorrow at league-leading Grand Rapids. Houston, which has qualified for the playoffs in 10 straight seasons and 11 out of 12, has a magic number of seven points to clinch the West Division title, although by winning out the Aeros would hold the tiebreaker of wins and the magic number would drop to six. That's a total of their 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 three points up on third-place Peoria, giving the Aeros a magic number of one point to clinch home ice in at least the West Division Finals. Houston has a game in hand on the Rivermen, which plays hosts to fourth-place Iowa tonight.
- Houston LW Patrick O'Sullivan has been named the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award winner as the AHL's most outstanding rookie. O'Sullivan's his next goal will break Jeff Christian's 1998-99 team record total of 45. O'Sullivan owns rookie team records in all major offensive categories, and he leads all AHL rookies in goals (45) and points (87), while ranking third overall in the league in goals and tied for fifth in points. Since 11/9, O'Sullivan has racked up 80 points (42-38=80) in just 61 games. O'Sullivan has the third-most goals of any AHL rookie since 1990-91, and the fifth-most points of any first-year player since 1994-95. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound native of Winston-Salem, N.C., was Minnesota's second-round pick (No. 56 overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.
- 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 107 (41-66=107) - two off the team record - and he enters tonight's game with 199 career AHL goals. Law, who leads Grand Rapids LW Jiri Hudler and Aeros C Erik Westrum by 11 points, is on pace to have the biggest margin over a second-place finisher since the 1999-2000 season, when Christian Matte (104) beat Mike Maneluk (87) by 17 points. Law also has the third-highest AHL point total since 1997-98. The second-highest total in that span was Mike Cammalleri in 2004-05, with 109 points. Jason Spezza put up 117 for Binghamton in 2004-05. Brian Wiseman holds the team record with 109 points, in 1998-99.
- Houston is 29-6-2-2 at Toyota Center for a .795 points percentage - the second-best home percentage in the league behind Grand Rapids (.816). The Aeros have outscored their opponents 153-99 at home. A victory in tonight's home finale would give the Aeros 30 wins for just the second time in team history. They went 32-6-3 in their Turner Cup-winning season of 1998-99, so a win tonight would also tie the fewest number of home regulation losses in team history. Houston is tied with Grand Rapids with 29 home wins, and only the Griffins (29-5-1-3) have fewer home regulation losses. Houston has been dominant at home in the regular season in April over the years, going 23-3-6-1. At Toyota Center, the Aeros have just one regulation loss in 11 April regular-season games (7-1-2-1).
- The Aeros need two wins in their final three games to reach 50 victories for the third time in team history. Houston went 50-22-10 in 1997-98, and a franchise-record 54-15-13 in 1998-99. There could be as many as four 50-win teams in the AHL this season. Rochester was the lone 50-win team in 2004-05, and it was the first team since Providence won 56 in 1998-99 to accomplish the feat.
- Houston has just one regulation loss in 11 regular season home finales (7-1-3-0), that coming in 1999 to Long Beach. The Aeros lost 4-3 in a shootout last season in their final regular season home game.

Knights at Aeros (Aeros are 6-1-1-1 overall, Aeros are 4-0-0-0 at Houston)
- The Aeros and Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights, the AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames, meet for 10th and final time this season.
- Houston won the first five meetings of the season - including four by a single goal and three in overtime or a shootout - before Omaha earned victories in the next three meetings - all in Nebraska. Two of the three games went to OT or a shootout.
- The Aeros responded with a 4-1 win Tuesday behind a goal and an assist each from C Erik Westrum and LW Josh Olson, and 26 saves from G Seamus Kotyk.
- Six of the first nine meetings between Houston and Omaha have been decided by one goal. Five of the nine have gone into OT or a shootout - four of those in Omaha. The Aeros have won each of the four Toyota Center meetings by a combined 15-6 margin. Houston is 22-7-3-3 in one-goal games, while Omaha is 15-10-3-10. Nearly half (38) of the Knights' 77 games have been decided by a single goal.

Scouting the Aeros
The Aeros (48-23-3-3) have won three of four on this homestand to get within two points of first-place Milwaukee...The Aeros are 29-6-2-2 at home, the second-best record in the AHL...RW Kirby Law has 107 points (41-66=107), 11 points up on Grand Rapids' Jiri Hudler and Aeros C Erik Westrum for the top spot in the AHL...Westrum was recalled to NHL Minnesota Wednesday...LW Patrick O'Sullivan is first among rookies and tied for fifth overall with 87 points (45-42=87)...LW Roman Voloshenko (33-24=57) is third in goals among rookies and tied for ninth in points...D Curtis Murphy is second among AHL defensemen with a new career-best 64 points (12-52=64)...In the last two weeks, the Aeros have signed RW Danny Irmen, D A.J. Thelen and D Chris Ovington to amateur tryouts...Irmen and Ovington made their debuts Sunday...G Josh Harding could return to the Aeros this weekend after a month-long stint with NHL Minnesota...Harding went 27-8-0 with a 2.64 gaa with the Aeros this season, and he still ranks fourth in the league in wins...Harding went 2-1-0 with a 2.59 gaa for the Wild, including a 27-save shutout of Chicago on Tuesday...G Seamus Kotyk is 15-14-2 with a 2.94 gaa., while G Miroslav Kopriva is 6-4-1 with a 3.52 gaa.

Scouting the Knights
Omaha (34-30-3-10), AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames, is winless in its last six (0-4-1-1), scoring just seven goals in the process, and has to win its remaining three games and have Iowa lose its final three in regulation to catch the Stars for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West Division ...All-Star D Mark Giordano paces the Knights with 58 points (16-42=58) but is currently in the NHL with Calgary...RW Carsen Germyn is the team's leading active scorer with 49 points (23-26=49), while rookie LW David Moss has 48 points (21-27=48) but hasn't played since 3/13 due to injury...G Brent Krahn is 25-20-8 with a 2.46 gaa - fourth-best in the AHL, while rookie G Curtis McElhinney is 9-13-2 with a 2.50 gaa - sixth in the league.

2005-06 meetings (10th of 10 meetings, Aeros are 6-1-1-1 overall, Aeros are 4-0-0-0 at Houston)
October 18 Houston 6 at Omaha 5 (SO)
October 20 Houston 4 at Omaha 3 (SO)
November 9 Omaha 1 at Houston 2
November 11 Omaha 1 at Houston 5
December 23 Omaha 3 at Houston 4 (OT)
March 12 Houston 1 at Omaha 6
March 23 Houston 4 at Omaha 5 (SO)
March 31 Houston 1 at Omaha 2 (OT)
Tuesday Omaha 1 at Houston 4
Tonight Omaha at Houston

Quick Hits
- The Aeros have been outscored 27-11 in the third period over their last 18 games, and have allowed two OT goals and have lost in a shootout in that span. They are just 6-9-2-1 in that stretch. Houston is minus-seven (90-83) in the final 20 minutes this season.
- The Aeros snapped a five-game losing streak in one-goal games on Sunday. They had been 0-2-2-1 in their last five. Houston is still an eye-popping 22-7-3-3 in such contests, and an impressive 29-13-3-3 in games decided by two goals or less. Gearing up for what promises to be a very tight Calder Cup Playoffs, Houston has seen 22 of its last 29 games be decided by one or two goals, going 11-7-2-2. The Aeros' 22 one-goal wins are just one off Grand Rapids' league high.
- Omaha, meanwhile, has played 38 one-goal games - just less than half of its schedule - but has won just 15, going 15-10-3-10.
- In their last 17 victories, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 33-12 in the first period. In the last 42 games overall, Houston has a 53-30 goal margin in the opening 20 minutes, and on the season the Aeros are an AHL-best plus-34 (88-54). The Aeros are 29-7-1-1 when leading after one period this season.
- The Aeros pulled off yet another come-from-behind win Sunday against San Antonio. Houston has trailed at some point in 20 of its 48 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 16-14-1-0 when allowing the game's first goal, although Sunday was the first time in the last eight games Houston won when not scoring first.
- Houston is 15-5-2-0 when allowing 29 or fewer shots this season, but also an impressive 10-2-1-0 when yielding 40 or more.
- The Aeros are 46-6-0-2 when scoring three goals or more, but they are 2-17-3-1 when scoring two or fewer. Three is also the magic number defensively, as Houston is 40-6-3-1 when allowing three of fewer goals and 8-17-0-2 when yielding four or more.
- Aeros veteran D Curtis Murphy picked a great time Sunday for his first two-goal game in more than two years. Murphy put the Aeros ahead of San Antonio 4-3 with 5:41 left in regulation, and after the Rampage tied the game up with 10 seconds left, Murphy scored with 18 ticks left in the extra session for the game-winner. Murphy, second in the league in scoring among defenseman with a career-best 64 points (12-52=64) after a helper Tuesday, had been held without a goal in 17 straight games. Since early March, Murphy has raised helped raise $1900 for "Murphy's Mission", benefiting I Have a Dream. An anonymous local donor is giving $300 per Murphy goal and $100 per assist to the cause.

Power play update
- Houston is tied for fifth in the league on the power play at 19.8 percent.
- Houston is 4-for-64 (6.3 percent) with the man advantage in the last 11 games, although the Aeros have scored a PPG in back-to-back games for the first time since a 15-game run 2/11-3/17.
- The Aeros are 25-7-0-1 when scoring at least two PPG.
- Omaha is fifth in the AHL on the penalty kill at 85.0 percent.
- The Knights have allowed eight goals on 33 shorthanded chances (75.6 percent) in their last five games.
- Houston is 9-for-64 (14.1 percent) on the power play against Omaha, but just 1-for-15 (6.7 percent) in the last three meetings.

Penalty kill update
- Houston is tied for seventh in the AHL on the penalty kill at 83.9 percent.
- The Aeros have allowed 25 PPG on 108 chances in the last 15 games for just a 76.9 percent PK rate, and they allowed a season-high-tying five PPG 3/28 in Peoria.
- Houston is 24-6-1-3 when not allowing a power play goal and 38-12-3-2 when allowing one power play goal or fewer.
- Omaha is 16th in the AHL on the power play at 16.8 percent.
- The Knights are 1-for-30 (3.3 percent) on the man advantage chances in their last five games.
- Omaha is 12-for-66 (18.2 percent) on the power play against Houston, but just 1-for-22 (4.5 percent) at Toyota Center.

Aeros/Knights connections
- Knights D Steve Bancroft played for the Aeros for part of the 1999-2000 season. Bancroft, Omaha D Mark Giordano and Houston LW Joel Ward each hail from Toronto, Ont. Bancroft also played for the Aeros in 1999-2000.
- Houston G Seamus Kotyk was a teammate off Knights D Steve Bancroft (2001-02) and LW Lynn Loyns in Cleveland (2001-04).
- Aeros D Shawn Belle and Knights LW Justin Taylor both hail from Edmonton, Alta.

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American Hockey League Stories from April 14, 2006


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