FEB. 13, 2011: AEROS VS. PEORIA RIVERMEN (1:00 p.m. CST)
OVERVIEW

The Houston Aeros (32-19-1-3) finish a set of four straight games away from Toyota Center with a West Division matchup against the Peoria Rivermen (30-18-2-3) at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Aeros and Rivermen squared off at Carver Arena in Peoria on Friday; Houston edged the Rivermen 4-3 in the shootout for their sixth-consecutive victory. The win helped the Aeros maintain their hold on first place in the West Division. Entering Sunday, the Aeros have a two point lead over second place San Antonio, which lost 5-0 at Manitoba last night, and a three point lead over both Milwaukee and Peoria.

AEROS UPCOMING GAMES
Feb. 17 vs. Chicago, 11:05 a.m.
Feb. 18 at Milwaukee, 7 p.m.
Feb. 19 at Rockford, 7:05 p.m.

BROADCAST INFO
TODAY'S GAME WILL BE STREAMED LIVE, FOR FREE, AT WILD.COM... 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.

AEROS AT A GLANCE
STANDING………………………….....1st/West Div.
RECORD…………………………..32-19-1-2, 68 pts.
HOME……………………………………….15-6-1-1
ROAD………………………………………17-13-0-2
STREAK……………………………………...WON 6

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
·    The Aeros set a season-high with their sixth consecutive win on Friday at Peoria.
·    Houston is 8-0-0-1 in its last nine home games.
·    The Aeros have won seven of their last eight on the road and four straight.
·    All 32 of Houston’s wins have come when the team allows three or fewer goals.
·    26 of Houston’s wins have come when they score the first goal.
·    Since Dec. 26, the Aeros are 8-0-0-1 at home. That’s the second -longest home point streak in the AHL this season. Portland had the longest (10 games, Oct. 9-Nov. 20).
·    The Aeros won 10 games in the month of January, one win shy of a team record for victories in one month (10 games played or more).

AEROS SPECIAL TEAMS
PP: 17.1% (17th)…………………..PK: 84.1% (10th)
PPG: 42………………………………………SHG: 5

NHL AFFILIATES
Houston Aeros……………………….Minnesota Wild
Peoria Rivermen………………………St. Louis Blues

AEROS LEADERS
Points..................................................DiSalvatore (35)
Goals………………………………………...Earl (16)
Assists……………………………………Noreau (25)
PPG………………………………….Almond/Earl (6)
PP-Pts…………………………………….Noreau (18)
SHG…………………………………….McMillan (3)
SH-Pts……………………………..........McMillan (4)
PIM.....………………………….............Kassian (111)

VS. PEORIA RIVERMEN
ALL-TIME AEROS RECORD: 25-19-2-3 (14-8-1-1 at home, 11-11-1-2 at PEO)
SEASON RECORD: 2-2-1-0 (0-1-1-0 at home, 2-1-0-0 at PEO)
NOTES: The Rivermen and Aeros play in Peoria on Friday and then square off in Minnesota on Sunday... The parent clubs of both teams (St. Louis and Minnesota) play Saturday night... The Aeros and Rivermen entered the week tied with 62 points... Peoria won four times in its previous 10 games entering the week... These are the final two meetings this season between the clubs.

AEROS TIDBITS
·    Houston tied a season-long three-game road winning streak on Feb. 9 at RFD, marking the second such streak this season; and then set a new season-high with a win at PEO on Feb. 12
·    Since Jan. 1, Houston is 14-2-0-1 and 7-2-0-0 away from home.
·    Houston has outscored their opponents 20-13 in the last six road games and 16-8 in the last four.
·    In the last six games, the Aeros have scored 24 goals (four in each).
·    The Aeros won their 30th game of the 2010-11 season on Feb. 8 at TEX in their 53rd game. Last season, it took the club 71 games to win 30 overall (March 26).
·    Robbie Earl has scored 10 of his 16 goals on the road… Cody Almond has notched 16 (8-9-17) of his 25 points on the road.
·    This marks the third time the Aeros host a game at Xcel Energy Center. The club has split their previous two decisions in St. Paul, posting a 3-1 victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins on Mar. 7, 2005 and dropping a 2-1 decision to the Milwaukee Admirals on Dec. 8, 2002.

JANUARY JUGGERNAUT --- The Aeros had an impressive month of January by recording a 10-2-0-1 record and moving into position to challenge for the top spot in the Western Conference. Here’s a rundown of nuggets from January…
·    Jan. 2011 was the sixth time in franchise history the team has recorded 10 or more wins in a month.
·    The last time was Jan.2003 (11-2-3-0).
·    The franchise has recorded 10 wins or more in a month in four other seasons (1997-98, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2002-03).
·    In the 1997-98 and 00-01 seasons the team lost in the 1st round of playoffs.
·    In the 1998-99 and 2002-03 seasons the team went on to win championships.
·    The Aeros have never finished season lower than 2nd in their division when recording 10 or more wins in one month.
·    Houston’s .808 win % in Jan. 2011 is tied for the 4th highest in franchise history for best winning % in a month (when playing 10 or more games).

HOMEBOYS --- Houston has points in nine consecutive home games (8-0-0-1) dating back to Dec. 26…They have also won 12 of 16 at home dating back to a Nov. 21 victory over Texas. Six of those wins have been decided by one goal; four have been decided by two goals.

STREAKS --- Anton Khudobin has a season-high six wins in a row… Jon DiSalvatore ran his scoring streak to four games with a season-high three points, all assists, on Feb. 8. He has points (4-10-14) in 10 of his last 12 games and has racked up eight multi-point games this season…  Patrick O’Sullivan has goals in a season-high five-straight games (6) and eight points (6-2-8) in that span. He has at least a point in all but two of his 11 games as an Aero and five multi-point outings… Jarod Palmer has points (1-2-3) in three of his last five games… Chad Rau has points (0-5-5) in four of his last six games… J.M. Daoust has points (1-1-2) in two straight games.

AEROS GOALIES --- Anton Khudobin is 18-9-1 with a 2.44 GAA and .916 SV%. Khudobin has won seven of his last eight starts and six in a row... He has a 1.94 GAA and a .931 SV% in that time…With the Feb. 11 SO win at PEO, Khudobin is now 6-1 in shootouts. He has won five-straight shootout decisions and seven-straight extra time decisions. In addition Khudobin is 4-0 at home in the extra-extra and 8-2 overall in extra time games including overtime decisions… Matt Hackett is 12-11-2 with a 2.42 GAA and .915 SV%. He is 4-1-1 in his last six decisions.

TURNSTILE TIDBITS --- Through 23 home games, the Aeros are sixth in the AHL with an average attendance of 6,137… 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.

RECENT ROSTER MOVES --- F Cody Almond and D Justin Falk were reassigned by MIN on Feb. 6……F Cody Almond and D Justin Falk were recalled by MIN on Feb. 5…F Cody Almond was reassigned by MIN on Jan. 26… G Josh Tordjman was loaned to BAK on Jan. 20… G Anton Khudobin was reassigned by MIN on Jan. 20.
 
LAST GAME QUICK RECAP --- Patrick O’Sullivan and Cody Almond netted shootout goals as the surging Houston Aeros edged the Peoria Rivermen 4-3 on Friday night at Carver Arena. With their sixth straight victory and 12th in 14 games (12-1-0-1), Houston maintained a two-point lead on San Antonio for first place in the West Division race. Peoria and Milwaukee each sit three points out of the top spot. The six-game winning streak is a season-high for the Aeros. The Aeros got regulation goals from Nate Prosser, O’Sullivan, and Colton Gillies, who converted a penalty shot at 4:54 of the third period to snap a 2-2 deadlock. But Rivermen forward Nicholas Drazenovic tied it back up at 12:16 with his second goal of the night.