AEROS POSTGAME REPORT
MARCH 31, 2011: CHI 5, HOU 3

HOUSTON --- Robbie Earl had a pair of goals for the Houston Aeros but the Chicago Wolves scored three times on the power play to take a 5-3 victory over the Aeros Wolves on Thursday at Toyota Center.

The regulation loss was Houston’s first at Toyota Center since March 6 and ended a six-game winning streak at home.

Chad Rau had a goal and two assists for the Aeros while Jarod Palmer registered a pair of assists. The Aeros, who clinched a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs on Wednesday night, remain two points out of first place in the AHL’s West Division behind the Milwaukee Admirals. With three regular season games left, they can still take the No. 1 playoff seed in the Western Conference race. The win helped Chicago take sole possession of fourth place in the West Division.

After the teams exchanged goals in the first 22:47 of action, Chicago’s Riley Holzapfel broke a 2-2 tie with his 11th goal of the season at the 8:01 mark of the second period and then Andre Deveaux followed up at 9:28 with his first of two power play goals and eventual game-winner.

Deveaux scored twice and added an assist while Jared Ross also had a three-point game for Chicago (1-2-3).

Matt Hackett made 22 saves on 26 shots in 29:28 of action for the Aeros. Josh Tordjman stopped 10 of 11 in clean-up duty. Peter Mannino turned away 18 Aeros shots in the win.

 The Aeros return to action on Friday at Milwaukee and Chicago on Saturday. The team returns home for the regular season finale on Sunday, April 10 at 4:05 p.m. Calder Cup Playoff dates, opponent and ticket info will be announced soon.

Call 713-974-7825 (PUCK) for more information on Aeros tickets and other promotions.

BOMB DROPPINGS
The Aeros had won seven of eight games and had a season-high six-game winning streak at home ended with the loss… Chad Rau extended his scoring streak to four games (3-5-8)… Robbie Earl has goals in three straight games (3-0-3)… Maxim Noreau extended his assists streak to four games with an assist on Rau’s goal/ He has six helpers in that span (0-6-6).

DECIDING GOAL
Holzapfel (8:01, 2nd)

POWER PLAYS
HOU: 1/3
CHI: 3/5

GOALIES
HOU: Hackett (22/26, L)
CHI: Mannino (18/21, W)

TEAM RECORDS
HOU: 44-27-1-5
CHI: 38-28-3-6

AEROS STARTERS
F – Gillies, Ortmeyer, Peters
D – Prosser, Falk
G - Hackett

AEROS SCRATCHES
Fritsch, Fraser, Caron, Foucault, Buck, Kassian, Cuma, Daoust

NEXT GAME
April 1 at MIL, 7:05 p.m.