Smith leads Aeros past Rampage in 3-1 win

March 5, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


HOUSTON - Forwards Nathan Smith (2-0=2), Jon DiSalvatore (1-1=2) and Duncan Milroy (0-2=2) each had multi-point games as the Houston Aeros (29-27-6-2) defeated the San Antonio Rampage (28-26-3-6) 3-1 in front of 5,437 at Toyota Center Friday night. G Anton Khudobin (11-14-2) made 22 saves for his 11th win of the season while G Josh Tordjman (12-15-2) was saddled with the loss saving 20 of 23 shots faced through two periods of play.

The Aeros tallied the game's first goal for the second time in as many games against the Rampage. It came on their second power play opportunity of the period when Milroy dished to Smith at the top of the crease who banged the puck through the wickets of Tordjman at 14:41. DiSalvatore was credited with the secondary assist on the goal, Smith's first marker in 11 games (Feb. 5 at Milwaukee).

Houston extended its lead to 2-0 thanks to second marker from Smith. Milroy fired a wrister on net that rebounded to the tape of Smith in the slot who sent one top shelf for his 12th of the season 4:47 into the second period. RW Carson McMillan received the second assist on the goal, his first point since scoring a goal at Abbotsford Jan. 22. At 15:49 DiSalvatore made it a three-goal advantage for Houston when he took a backdoor feed from D Jamie Fraser and one-timed it home for his team-leading 19th goal of the campaign and his first since Jan. 30 at Peoria. DiSalvatore now has multi-point games in two consecutive contests. With the assist, Fraser extended his point streak to six games (3-3=6).

The Rampage scored the lone goal of the third period off the stick of C MacGregor Sharp at the 16:54 mark to cut the lead to 3-1, but that's as close as San Antonio would get. G Miika Wiikman replaced Tordjman in net to start the final stanza and saved all seven shots faced. The Aeros outshot San Antonio 30-23 and scored the game's only power play marker going 1-for-4 on the man advantage. The Rampage went 0-for-5 on the power play for the evening. With the victory, Houston moved into sole possession of second place in the State Farm Lone Star Faceoff standings trailing Texas by six point with a record of 8-8-2-1 (19 pts.).

The Aeros continue the State Farm Lone Star Faceoff tomorrow night with a 7:30 p.m. showdown against the Texas Stars at Cedar Park Center. Watch live on ahllive.com or listen to Joe O'Donnell's radio broadcast on 1070 AM-KNTH. Follow the interactive in-game blog on aeros.com.



American Hockey League Stories from March 5, 2010


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