Wolves top Aeros 5-2
Published on January 18, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release
Rosemont, IL â Former Aero Brendan Yarema had two first-period goals, Steve Maltais scored twice on the power play and Frederic Cassivi finished with 34 saves, and the Chicago Wolves held on for a 5-2 victory over road-weary Houston at Allstate Arena. Brian Maloney also had a goal and Derek MacKenzie has posted three assists for the Wolves, who are unbeaten in regulation in their last five games (3-0-1-1).
Matt Foy and Michael Schutte each scored and Johan Holmqvist turned aside 28 shots for Houston, which saw its winless skid move to a franchise-record 11 games (0-3-7-1). The Aeros do have eight points in the span. Houston, which played to a 1-1 tie last night in San Antonio, traveled this morning and arrived in Chicago at 12:30 p.m. â 2 ½ hours before gametime. The Aeros, who are at Cleveland Wednesday and Friday, played their third straight game without Todd McLellan, who is sick.
The Aeros continued to play without the recalled Jason Marshall, Zbynek Michalek and Kyle Wanvig and the injured Rickard Wallin. Mark Cullen, who returned Friday from a 22-game absence with a shoulder injury, also was a scratch. Houston was without 33.9 percent of its scoring load in the game (87 of its 257 points missing).
Chicago finished 2-for-9 on the power play, while Houston went 0-for-5. The Wolves have seven power play goals over their last three games and nine in the last four. The Aeros finished with 32 penalty minutes compared to only eight for the Wolves.
Maltais got Chicago on the board at 4:55 of the first, with Vodrazka in the box for cross checking. The Wolves kept the puck in the Aeros zone for the entire play. Kurtis Foster ripped one from the left point, and Maltais â actually behind the net â stuck his stick out and deflected the puck past Holmqvist for his 13th of the season â sixth on the power play.
Yarema flipped a backhander past Holmqvist at 8:03 to make it 2-0. Yarema directed a shot at the netminder, then collected his rebound and got one by Holmqvist on his way to the ice.
The Aeros' penalty troubles continued, leading to a Chicago 5-on-3 later in the stanza. Derek Boogaard went for roughing at 8:27, and then Stephane Veilleux was whistled for tripping 9:13 into the stanza.
Houston was able to kill off that 5-on-3, but it didn't take Chicago very long after that to score again. Yarema made it a three-goal edge with his eighth of the season, with 8:13 left in the first.
The Wolves ended the first period outshooting Houston 16-8 and with four power plays compared to one for the Aeros. The stanza marked the third time in three games that the Aeros have yielded three goals in a period.
The Aeros came out with some jump in their steps in the second, controlling the opening two minutes. However, Chicago scored on its first shot of the stanza, as Maloney used a toe drag move to get around a defender, then roofed one over Holmqvist from the middle of the circle for his fifth of the season.
The Aeros took themselves out of a power play seven minutes into the second, when midway through their man advantage, Darby Hendrickson was called for roughing in front of the net. The penalty was especially costly 30 seconds later, when Chicago's Foster went for cross checking, resulting in a 4-on-3 instead of a 5-on-3.
Foy got Houston within 4-1 with the teams 4-on-4 at 9:08 of the second, with Hendrickson still in the box. Veilleux backhanded one on Cassivi, who lost the rebound. Foy crashed the net in a crowd for his seventh goal of the season. Jan Vodrazka originally was credited with the goal, but he picked up an assist instead.
On the ensuing rush, Houston's Christoph Brandner shot one just wide, and Mika Hannula rattled one off the post seconds later.
The Aeros' momentum was ruined later in the stanza, with back-to-back penalties on Vodrazka and Hendrickson. Less than two minutes after Hendrickson's minor expired, Boris Protsenko went back to the box for high sticking and unsportsmanlike conduct, resulting in a four-minute power play that carried over into the third period. Protsenko was also called for a 10-minute misconduct to leave Houston's bench short.
The Aeros managed to outshoot Chicago 14-5 in the middle period despite five of the stanza's seven minor penalties.
Houston's Dan Cavanaugh nearly drew his team within two early in the third, but Cassivi made a spectacular skate save on the Aeros' winger.
Schutte did draw Houston within 4-2 at 3:57 of the third. Foy was robbed with Cassivi, and Chris Bala just got a piece of the rebound. Schutte popped it into the net for his first goal as an Aero.
Houston's Erik Reitz was called for boarding with 9:48 left, not only stunting the Aeros' comeback plans but resulting in Maltais' second power play of the game, 14th of the season and seventh on the advantage. The tally, with 8:10 remaining, came on a great feed from Kamil Piros, who one-timed a pass to Maltais after taking a feed from Yarema.
Notes:
The Aeros' 11-game winless streak is the longest in the AHL since Cleveland had a 13-game streak from March 15 to the end of the season.
Yarema's two-goal game was his first since March 1, 2003, with Cincinnati versus Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Holmqvist is winless in his last six decisions (0-3-3), tying his season high and two short of his career-high. The Aeros have actually not won in Holmqvist's last seven starts, with Holmqvist starting but not figuring in the decision in a 6-3 loss to San Antonio Friday. The netminder allowed five goals for the first time since a 5-4 loss in Syracuse November 28, a game which saw the Aeros lose a four-goal lead.
Maloney snapped a 15-game goal drought.
Schutte was acquired from Springfield in early December and had no points in 11 games with the Aeros prior to today. He has five points (3g, 2a) overall this season in 23 games.
Houston is winless in its last five road games (0-2-3) and hasn't won away from Toyota Center since a 2-1 win in Utah December 23.
Houston's last win overall was a 2-1 home decision over San Antonio on December 26.
Foy's seven goals are one more than Hannula for the team lead among rookies.
The Aeros' nine shorthanded chances were the team's most since Milwaukee went 0-for-10 on the power play December 1 at Toyota Center.
Houston had not been "outpowerplayed" by four chances since November 20 in Milwaukee. In that game, the Admirals were 2-for-9 and Houston was 0-for-5.
American Hockey League Stories from January 18, 2004
- Krajicek Recalled to Florida - San Antonio Rampage
- IceCats Drown Rats late in OT - Worcester IceCats
- A Tale of Two Halves - Springfield Falcons
- Canucks Re-Assign Auld to Moose; Moose Re-Assign McVicar to Inferno - Manitoba Moose
- Phantoms keep Norfolk on the skids - OSC Original by David W. Unkle
- Phantoms keep Norfolk on the skids - OSC Original by David W. Unkle
- Bears Fall to Cleveland, 3-1 - Hershey Bears
- Toivonen, Walsh lead Bruins to tie in Portland - Providence Bruins
- Wolves top Aeros 5-2 - Houston Aeros
- Phantoms defeat Norfolk 4-1 - Adirondack Phantoms
- Moose Re-Assign Smith to Inferno - Manitoba Moose
- Canucks Recall Hedberg - Manitoba Moose
- Aeros Game Day - Houston Aeros
- Grizzlies Can't Find Any Offense Against Hartford - Utah Grizzlies
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
