JAN. 8, 2011: AEROS AT SAN ANTONIO RAMPAGE, 7:00 PM
PREVIEW
The Houston Aeros (20-17-1-2) take a two-game winning streak on the road to battle the San Antonio Rampage (24-13-1-0). Houston is coming off a 3-0 shutout over Lake Erie at home last night. The win moved the club into sole possession of sixth place in the West Division. The Rampage snapped a four-game losing skid with a 5-1 win over Texas at home last night. San Antonio has lost five of seven and has slipped to the No. 2 spot in the West. Houston has won three-in-a-row vs. the Rampage, including a come-from-behind 4-3 win on Jan. 1. The Aeros scored twice in the final minute to secure the win.

UPCOMING GAMES
Jan. 9 vs. San Antonio, 4:05 p.m. CST
Jan. 12 at Rockford, 6:35 p.m. CST
Jan.  14 at Chicago, 7:30 p.m. CST

BROADCAST INFO
Follow the Aeros on News Talk 1070 KNTH and online at AEROS.COM with Joe O’Donnell providing the play-by-play call. Watch every game at www.ahllive.com.

The game will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest. Check your local listings for channel lineup and availability.
Dish Network - 416
AT&T Uverse - 756
DirecTV - 655
Comcast - 37/637 (Check listings for confilcts)

AEROS AT A GLANCE
RECORD: 20-17-1-2, 43 pts., 6th West Division
HOME: 10-6-1-0
ROAD: 10-11-0-2
STREAK: WON 2

NHL AFFILIATES
Houston Aeros (Minnesota Wild)
San Antonio Rampage (Phoenix Coyotes)

AEROS SPECIAL TEAMS
PP: 16.8% (17th)
PK: 85.2% (5th)

AEROS LEADERS:
POINTS: Earl (11-14-25)
GOALS: Earl (11)
ASSISTS: Noreau (16)
PIM: Kassian (89)

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

TAKE NOTE--- Cody Almond and Carson McMillan each need four games to reach the 100-pro game mark…Chad Rau needs one game to reach 100 pro…JM Daoust needs nine games to reach 400 pro and three points to reach 300…Houston’s Max Noreau is second among AHL defensemen with five PPG.
 
TAKE A BREATHER --- The Aeros had five full days in between last Saturday’s win and tonight’s game. It’s one of the longest stretches between games this season. The team also had five days off between the season opener and their next game (Oct. 9-15). The longest the team has between games this season is six days (Jan. 29-Feb. 3) and a full week (Apr. 3-10).

ON THE SHELF --- Casey Wellman has missed the last six games with a lower body injury…Joel Broda has missed the last six games.

ROUGH ROAD --- Houston has lost six of eight away from home dating back to Dec. 12. The team dropped four-of-five during a five-game road trip from Dec. 12-18 and was outscored 17-10 during that run.

HOMEBOYS --- Houston has won seven of 10 at home dating back to a Nov. 21 victory over Texas. Four of those wins have been decided by one goal; a pair has been decided by two goals.

SCORE FIRST! --- Houston leads the AHL in first goals (25) and is 17-6-0-2 when scoring first. Cody Almond leads the club with three first-goals. Five other players have two game-opening tallies.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER --- The Aeros are 10-6-0-1 in games after a win this season…In games after a loss they are 8-8-1-0…In the second game of back-to-back outings they are 8-9-0-1…In the third game of a 3-in-3 they are 3-2-0-0.

TURNSTILE TIDBITS --- Through 17 home games, the Aeros are sixth in the AHL with an average attendance of 6,024…The 10,552 on hand for the Jan. 1 game was the largest crowd for an Aeros contest since Dec. 3, 2009, when 11,291 watched the Aeros and Rampage at Toyota Center…As of Jan. 6, 2010, the Aeros averaged 5,457 through 21 games.

WESTWARD --- The Aeros are 16-11-1-0 vs. West Division teams this season and have won three of the last five against Division rivals.

HEATIN’ UP --- Robbie Earl has points in five of his last six games (3-4-7).

FOUR-SCORE --- When scoring at least four goals the Aeros are undefeated (12-0-0-0). Houston has yet to win a game when allowing four or more goals (0-9-0-0) and is 0-6-0-0 on the road when doing so.

SCHEDULE NOTES --- The Aeros play 13 games in January with seven of those games at home. Six games this month are against West rivals.

RECENT ROSTER MOVES --- G Dave Weninger was signed to a PTO on Jan. 7…F Jed Ortmeyer was loaned from MIN on Jan. 5…F Peter Zingoni was returned on loan to BAK on Jan. 5…F Pascal Morency was loaned to BAK on Jan. 4… F Brock McBride was released from his PTO on Dec. 31...D Jared Spurgeon was recalled by MIN on Dec. 30…F Sean Muncy and F Aaron Lewicki were released from their PTO's on Dec. 28...F Pascal Morency was recalled from BAK on Dec. 28...D Jared Spurgeon was reassigned by MIN on Dec. 28.
 
LAST GAME QUICK RECAP
J.M. Daoust scored on a penalty shot, Robbie Earl notched a goal and an assist and Matt Hackett made 25 saves for his first pro shutout and third-straight home win as the Houston Aeros blanked the Lake Erie Monsters 3-0 Friday night in front of 5,377 fans at Toyota Center. Daoust scored the only goal Houston needed, his sixth of the year, on a penalty shot at 13:08 of the first.