MARCH 31, 2011
HOUSTON AEROS – 2nd, West Division (44-26-1-5, 94 pts.)
vs. CHICAGO WOLVES – 4th, West Division (37-28-3-6, 83 pts.)
TOYOTA CENTER (7:05 p.m. CST)

OVERVIEW
The Houston Aeros and Chicago Wolves square off in the fourth of six meetings between the teams. Thursday’s game marks the start of Houston’s final three-in-three of the season; it’s their 13th overall. The Aeros visit Milwaukee on Friday and Chicago on Saturday. The Aeros have won seven of their last eight games, a season-high six-straight at home and have points (6-0-0-1) in seven in a row at Toyota Center.

AEROS CLINCH PLAYOFF BERTH
The Aeros clinched a berth in the 2011 Calder Cup Playoffs on March 30 thanks to a San Antonio shootout loss versus Milwaukee.

LAST FIVE GAMES/LAST RESULT
Houston (4-1-0-0) --- March 27 (HOU 5 vs. OKC 4)
Chicago (2-3-0-0) --- March 25 (CHI 2 vs. RFD 3)

WHERE THEY STAND
The Aeros, with 94 points, are in second place in the West Division and sit two points behind the Milwaukee Admirals. Chicago is tied with OKC and Peoria for the No. 4 spot in the West Division with 83 points.

WHAT THE GAME MEANS
The Aeros are battling for first place in the West Division and Western Conference with Milwaukee. Houston has four games left (including tonight) while Milwaukee has six game left.
 
SERIES NOTES
The series is tied at 2-2-0-0 (1-1-0-0 at home, 1-1-0-0 on the road)…  The teams have alternated wins starting with an Aeros win on Nov. 17… HOU is 2/20 on the PP while CHI is 4/17.

AEROS LAST GAME QUICK RECAP
Warren Peters scored the deciding goal with 4:20 left in regulation and the Houston Aeros won for the seventh time in eight games and also set a season-high six-game home winning streak with a 5-4 victory over the Oklahoma City Barons in front of 4,582 on Sunday at Toyota Center. Chad Rau, Colton Gillies, Robbie Earl and Jon DiSalvatore also notched goals for Houston while Maxim Noreau and Jed Ortmeyer chipped in with a pair of assists. Peters also added an assist to mark his fourth multi-point game of the season.

NHL AFFILIATES
Houston Aeros (Minnesota Wild)
Chicago Wolves (Atlanta Thrashers)

WILD UPDATE
The Wild is 36-32-8 and is 11th in the NHL’s Western Conference with 80 points. They sit 10 points out of a playoff spot with six games remaining.

AEROS UPCOMING GAMES
April 1 at MIL, 7 p.m.
April 2 at CHI, 7 p.m.
April 10 vs. OKC, 4:05 p.m.

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.

AEROS NOTABLES
--- The 5-1win over SA on March 19 gave the Aeros 40 wins in a season for the 10th time as a franchise.
--- Houston is 34-19-1-1 vs. West Division teams (19-8-1-0 at home).
--- Opponents have scored the first goal in 10 of the last 14 games.
--- The three-goal first period by the Aeros on March 25 matched a season-high in the opening period set three other times, most recently March 2 versus Rockford.
--- The Aeros have had 30 or more shots in 16 of the last 20 games.
--- The Aeros are 26-9-0-3 since Jan. 1.
--- 42 of Houston’s 44 wins have come when the team allows three or fewer goals.
--- The Aeros have earned 32 of their 44 victories when scoring the first goal of the game.
--- Jon DiSalvatore leads the team with 14 multi-point games and six multi-goal games.
--- Robbie Earl set a career-high with his 20th goal on March 26 vs. OKC.
--- Maxim Noreau registered his 11th multiple assist game of the season with a pair of helpers on March 27 vs. OKC.
--- The Aeros added LW Kris Foucault on March 23 and signed him to an Amateur Tryout Contract. He was selected by the Minnesota Wild (round 4 #103 overall) in the  2009 NHL Entry Draft. At Calgary (WHL) in 2010-11, he posted 48 points (25-23-48) in 65 games.
---The Wild reassigned D Josh Caron on March 24 from Kamloops (WHL) to Houston after he finished his junior season.

AEROS GOALIES
Matt Hackett is 5-0-1 in his last six decisions…  Hackett won a personal season-high four in a row from March 13-20…  Hackett improved to 12-4-2 at home with the March 27 win vs. OKC and has won five in a row at Toyota Center… Josh Tordjman is 4-1-0 in six appearances this season.

AEROS HOT STREAKS
--- Patrick O’Sullivan; Points in 15 of 18 games (9-16-25)... 25 of 32 as an Aero this season (17-23-40).
--- Jon DiSalvatore; 19-18-37 since Jan. 14 (points in 26 of 33)

AEROS INJURY UPDATE
Jamie Fraser is out with an upper body injury… Matt Kassian is out with a lower body injury… Tyler Cuma is out for the season with a knee injury suffered Feb. 13, 2011 vs. PEO.

AEROS SPECIAL TEAMS
POWER PLAY --- Is 7/36 in the last six games… Has multiple PPG in 14 games and is 10-2-0-2 in those games… Set franchise record and AHL season-high with six PPG on March 2 vs. RFD… Was held to one or no PPG in 15 straight games prior to Feb. 4 (2-for-4).

PENALTY KILL --- Opponents are 8/31 on the PP in the last six games… Held opponents to one or no PPG in 15 straight games until TOR went 2-for-5 on Jan. 23…Has allowed multiple PPG in nine games and is 2-7-0-0 in those contests.

AEROS RECENT ROSTER MOVES
F Casey Wellman was recalled by MIN on March 29… D Nate Prosser was reassigned by MIN on March 27… F Warren Peters was reassigned by MIN on March 25… LW Kris Foucault was signed to an ATO on March 24… D Josh Caron was reassigned by MIN from Kamloops (WHL) on March 23… D Nate Prosser was recalled by MIN on March 19… F Joel Broda was reassigned to BAK on March 18.

AEROS PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
6 - scan-DELL-uh
8 – car-ON
10 – FOO-coh
14 – deh-SAL-vuh-tohr
20 – ROWH (like now)
22 – ORT-migh-uhr
26 – Max-uhm naw-roh
32 – FRED-haym
42 – KAS-ee-uhn
61 – KOO-muh
62 – DAH-ooh
Yeo – YOH
Sydor – sugh-DOHR
Tretiak – TREE-tee-ack