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Road trip continues in Chicago tonight

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


Seven things you need to know
- The Aeros enter tonight's game with 91 points - just one point off last season's total, and a magic number for clinching a playoff spot of seven points. That's a combination of points won by the Aeros, and points lost by Iowa. The Stars, who can reach 97 points by winning their remaining 16 games, are in Manchester tonight, Rochester on Friday and Toronto on Sunday. Houston holds a four-point lead (91-87) over second-place Milwaukee, which surrendered a three-goal lead and lost 5-3 at home to AHL points leader Grand Rapids last night. The Aeros do have two games in hand on the Admirals. After hosting Houston on Friday, Milwaukee travels to Omaha on Saturday. Houston's magic number for clinching the division title is 25 points, a combination of their own points gained and points lost by the Admirals.
- A Houston victory tonight would give the Aeros their first set of back-to-back regular-season wins in Chicago in their five seasons in the AHL. They last won two in a row during a four-game streak from 11/24/00-3/3/01. Overall, The Aeros have won four straight versus Chicago for the first time since a five-game run 4/9/95-1/11/97. Houston has actually won three straight in the Windy City dating back to a 2-1 OT win last April 21 in Game 2 of the West Division Semifinals.
- Houston LW Patrick O'Sullivan continues his push towards a possible Rookie of the Year title. O'Sullivan, who earlier this month became the first player ever to win back-to-back AHL Rookie of the Month Awards, is well on his way to another. O'Sullivan has five goals in the last three games, and seven in the last five games. He has at least one goal in six of his last eight games, with 10 goals in that span. O'Sullivan has scored 10 of the Aeros' 24 goals in the last eight contests. O'Sullivan leads all rookies in goals (41) and points (76), and he ranks tied for fifth overall in the league in points. His 41 goals place him third in the AHL. Many rookies go through peaks and valleys, but O'Sullivan has been the exception. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native hasn't gone back-to-back games without a point since 11/6 and 11/9. Since then, O'Sullivan has racked up 68 points (38-30=68) in just 48 games. O'Sullivan has points in 12 of his last 13 games, with 21 points (13-8=21) in that span. O'Sullivan has an eye-popping 22 goals in the last 23 games. His 41 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. O'Sullivan netted his seventh GWG 3/9 against Chicago, tying the Aeros' team record.
- Aeros RW Kirby Law (35-56=91) leads C Erik Westrum (31-58=89) for the top spot in the AHL's points race. They and are trying to become the first duo from the same team to finish 1-2 in the league's scoring race since Paul Gardner (112 points) and Jody Gage (99) turned the trick for Rochester exactly 20 seasons ago - in 1985-86. No two teammates have reached the 100-point plateau since a trio of Carolina Monarchs did it in 1995-96. 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. LW Patrick O'Sullivan is first in rookie scoring and tied for fifth overall with 75 points (41-34=75). O'Sullivan has team rookie records in goals, assists and points.
- The Aeros enter tonight's game second in the league on the power play at 93-for-441 for 21.1 percent. Houston's next PPG will tie the franchise record of 94, set in the Turner Cup-winning season of 1998-99. Rookie LW Roman Voloshenko has 17 PPG - just three off Jeff Christian's franchise-record from 1998-99. That total places him tied for fourth in the AHL.
- Aeros C Erik Westrum and Wolves LW Ramzi Abid are two of the three AHL players with at least 50 points and 100 PIM's. Omaha D Mark Giordano is the other.
- The Aeros are 20-5-1-2 in one-goal games, and an impressive 27-9-1-2 in games decided by two goals or less. Houston has seen 13 of its last 17 games be decided by one or two goals, going 9-3-0-1. Houston's 20 one-goal wins are the most in the AHL. Chicago, meanwhile, is 9-6-3-8 in such games. Only Cleveland has fewer wins (7-6-2-2) in one-goal games than the Wolves.

Aeros at Wolves (Aeros are 37-24-14-4 all-time, Aeros are 14-16-6-2 at Chicago)
- Tonight is the 80th all-time meeting between the Wolves and Aeros - 39th in Chicago. The teams are facing each other for the third time in the last nine days, with two more meetings to come this season.
- Aeros LW Patrick O'Sullivan has 10 points (7-3=10) in only five games against Chicago this season.
- Houston is 4-12-3-2 in its last 21 trips to Allstate Arena. But in the last game, 1/22, G Seamus Kotyk posted 30 saves as the Aeros won in regulation for the first time in that span. Each of the other three victories came via OT or shootout. Kotyk's shutout was Houston's first in Rosemont since 11/20/98, and just the second there overall for the Aeros.
- Chicago earned a five-game win over the Aeros in the 2005 West Division Semifinals en route to the Calder Cup Finals.
- Thirteen of the last 18 meetings in Houston have been decided by one goal or finished in a tie, including each of the last three meetings this season - all at Toyota Center.

Scouting the Aeros
The Aeros (44-17-1-2) have the AHL's second-best points percentage (.711)...Houston plays nine of its last 10 games in March on the road, with game two tonight...RW Kirby Law has 91 points (35-56=91), two up on C Erik Westrum (31-58=89) for the top spot in the AHL...C/LW Patrick O'Sullivan is first in rookie scoring and tied for fifth overall with 75 points (41-34=75)...LW Roman Voloshenko (29-18=47) is second in goals among rookies and 13th in points...D Curtis Murphy is second among AHL defensemen with 55 points (10-45=55), just two off his career-high...G Seamus Kotyk is 12-8-2 with a 3.08 gaa, while G Miroslav Kopriva is 5-2-0 with a 2.87 gaa.

Scouting the Wolves
Chicago (25-28-3-8), AHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers, is 0-2-0-2 in its last four after a three-game winning streak, to fall nine points behind Omaha for the fourth and final West Division playoff spot with just 16 games to play...LW Ramzi Abid paces Chicago and is tied for 16th in the AHL with 61 points (28-33=61)...D Mark Popovic leads the blueline with 30 points (9-21=30)...Rookie G Tuomas Tarkki is 12-8-4 with a 3.12 gaa, while G Michael Garnett is 5-9-4 with a 4.14 gaa.

2005-06 meetings (6th of 8 meetings, Aeros are 4-1-0-0 overall, Aeros are 1-0-0-0 at Chicago)
October 25 Chicago 5 at Houston 1 January 22 Houston 4 at Chicago 0 January 28 Chicago 4 at Houston 5 March 7 Chicago 4 at Houston 5 (SO) March 9 Chicago 3 at Houston 4 Tonight Houston at Chicago March 24 Houston at Chicago April 15 Houston at Chicago

Quick Hits
- The Aeros have lost back-to-back road games for just the third time this season. Houston is in a stretch where it plays nine of 10 games away from Toyota Center. The Aeros' last three-game road losing streak was during a franchise-record-tying four-game run 2/13-2/22/04. That streak was part of a franchise-record nine-game road winless streak.
- Houston hasn't scored an even strength goal in any of its last three losses.
- The Aeros have been outscored 9-1 in the third period over its last five games. It is just 2-3-0-0 in that stretch.
- Houston is tied for third in the AHL in scoring at 3.66 gpg. Since getting shut out 3-0 by Milwaukee 11/27, the Aeros have scored 158 goals in 40 games for a 3.95 gpg average. Houston is trying to score 300 goals for just the second time in team history. The Aeros scored a franchise-record 307 goals in 1998-99, but that came in an 82-game season. This season Houston is on pace for 293 goals.
- In their last 13 victories, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 27-11 in the first period. In the last 29 games overall, Houston has a 42-22 goal margin in the opening 20 minutes, and overall on the season the Aeros are an AHL-best plus-31 (77-46). Houston has trailed after one period just four times in its last 24 games. The Aeros are 26-1-1-1 when leading after one period this season.
- The Aeros are 42-4-0-1 when scoring three goals or more, but they are 2-13-1-1 when scoring two or fewer. Three is also the magic number defensively, as Houston is 38-4-1-1 when allowing three of fewer goals and 6-13-0-1 when yielding four or more.
- Houston is 13-3-0-0 when allowing 29 or fewer shots this season, but also an impressive 10-1-1-0 when yielding 40 or more.
- The Aeros pulled off yet another come-from-behind win 3/7 against Chicago. Houston has trailed at some point in 19 of its 44 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 15-9-0-0 when allowing the game's first goal.
- Murphy's Mission, benefiting I Have a Dream ®, has started off in strong fashion. D Curtis Murphy has picked up six assists in six games for $600. 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 ledgers 3/9. Murphy ranks second among AHL blueliners with 55 points (10-45=55) - two points off his career-high, set in his rookie campaign of 1998-99 with IHL Orlando. Murphy is averaging a point per game since New Year's. Murphy has 29 points (7-22=29) in 29 games in 2006.

Power play update
- Houston is second in the league on the power play at 21.1 percent.
- The Aeros are 60-for-255 (23.5 percent) with the man advantage in the last 40 games.
- Houston is 21-for-84 (25.0 percent) on the power play in its last 13 games after going without a PPG in two straight games for the first time this season.
- The Aeros are 24-5-0-1 when scoring at least two PPG. Houston has scored two or more PPG in 20 of its last 39 games.
- LW Roman Voloshenko's 17 PPG are just three of Jeff Christian's team record of 20, set in 1998-99.
- Chicago is tied for 19th in the AHL on the penalty kill at 81.3 percent.
- The Wolves have killed off 22-of-27 (81.5 percent) shorthanded chances in the last five games.
- Houston is 6-for-40 (15.0 percent) on the power play against Chicago this season.

Penalty kill update
- Houston is fourth in the AHL on the penalty kill at 84.9 percent.
- The Aeros have allowed eight PPG on 28 chances in the last four games for just a 71.4 percent PK rate.
- Houston is 22-4-0-2 when not allowing a power play goal and 34-9-1-1 when allowing one power play goal or fewer.
- Chicago ranks 21st in the AHL on the power play at 15.8 percent.
- The Wolves are 6-for-30 (20.0 percent) with the man advantage in the last five games, but 0-for-9 in the last two contests.
- Chicago is 5-for-41 (12.2 percent) on the power play against Houston this season..

Aeros/Wolves connections
- Wolves D Travis Roche was an Aero from 2001-04, racking up 120 points (35-85=120) in 185 games.
- Wolves assistant coach Marty Howe won a pair of AVCO Cups with the WHA Houston Aeros in 1974-75.
- Aeros assistant coach Matt Shaw was an assistant coach under John Anderson in Chicago in 1998-99.
- Houston D Curtis Murphy attended the University of North Dakota for two years with Chicago D Nick Naumenko.
- Aeros C Erik Westrum and Wolves LW Ramzi Abid both played for Springfield in 2001-02 and 2002-03.
- Aeros RW Kirby Law played most of three seasons alongside Chicago D Francis Lessard at AHL Philadelphia from 1999-2002.
- Chicago RW Billy Tibbetts notched eight assists in eight regular season games and played one playoff game for Houston in 2003-04.



American Hockey League Stories from March 15, 2006


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