Sat. March 10, 2012
The Houston Aeros (27-19-3-9, 66 pts.) begin a six-game homestand as well as a two-game set on Saturday (7:35 p.m. CST) against the Grand Rapids Griffins (25-22-6-4, 60 pts.) at Toyota Center.
AEROS BROADCASTS
Radio: 1070 KNTH-AM
Listen online:
www.aeros.com
Watch online:
www.ahllive.com
Listen via Smartphone:
Download the TuneIn Radio app; search Houston, then KNTH.
LIVE SCORING AND STATS
The AHL provides live scoring and stats via the GameCenter tab at
www.theahl.com.
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OVERVIEW
The Houston Aeros (27-19-3-9, 66 pts.) begin a six-game homestand as well as a two-game set on Saturday (7:35 p.m. CST) against the Grand Rapids Griffins (25-22-6-4, 60 pts.) at Toyota Center.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
---Houston just completed the longest road trip in franchise history (11 games, 4-7-0-0).
---The Aeros hold the No. 9 spot in the eight-team Western Conference playoff race. Rochester sits one point ahead of the Aeros in the No. 8 spot. A win tonight could push the team into the No. 7 spot.
--- Eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs: the three division winners will be seeded first through third in order of points, and the next five teams in order of points will be seeded fourth through eighth.
---The Aeros logged over 12,000 miles on the recent road trip.
THIS WEEK’S GAMES
Tuesday (March 6) --- at ABB (7-6 W)
Wednesday (March 7) --- at ABB (4-1 L)
Saturday (March 10) --- vs. GR (7:35 p.m. CST)
Sunday (March 11) --- vs. GR (5:05 p.m. CST)
AEROS BROADCASTS
Radio: 1070 KNTH-AM
Listen online: www.aeros.com
Watch online: www.ahllive.com
Listen on Smartphone including BlackBerry: Download the TuneIn Radio App; search Houston, then KNTH.
LIVE SCORING AND STATS
The AHL provides live scoring and stats via the GameCenter tab at www.theahl.com.
AEROS/GRIFFINS HEAD-TO-HEAD
This is the fifth of six meetings this season… HOU is 4-0-0-0 against the Griffins this season (1-0-0-0 at home, 3-0-0-0 on the road) … HOU PP is 2/15… GR PP is 1/17… All-time HOU is 33-28-6-3 (17-18-4-3 home, 16-16-2-0 road).
RECENT AEROS TRANSACTIONS
---March 5: F Josh Lunden signed PTO
---March 5: G Matt Keeltey signed PTO
---March 4: F Chad Rau reassigned by MIN
---March 3: G Joe Fallon signed PTO
---March 2: G Matt Hackett recalled by MIN
AEROS INJURIES
Jeff Penner has missed the last 19 games… Mike McKenzie has missed the last 16 games… Darcy Kuemper has missed the last two games.
AEROS MILESTONES
---Jon DiSalvatore’s 20th goal (on March 5) was his 69th as an Aero, placing him first in franchise history (AHL only, 4th AHL/IHL). His 41st game on Jan. 21 at TEX was his 200th as an Aero, placing him 10th all-time in Aeros (AHL) history.
---Jeff Taffe notched his 400th AHL point with an assist on Jon DiSalvatore's goal on Jan. 8 at SA. Taffe had two assists while skating in his 500th AHL game on Jan. 21 at TEX.
---Drew Bagnall played in his 300th AHL game at TEX on Jan. 21.
AEROS PLAYER NOTES
--- Jon DiSalvatore became the Aeros-AHL club leader with his 69th goal as an Aero, passing Kirby Law, with his tally on March 3 at SA. The goal gave DiSalvatore his third straight season with 20 or more goals as an Aero and ninth straight overall.
---Jon DiSalvatore has points in six of seven games (6-4=10); nine of the last 11 games (7-7=14); and 14 of the last 17 (9-9=18).
---Jon DiSalvatore notched Houston’s first four-point game of the season (1-3=4) on March 6 at ABB.
---DiSalvatore also became the AHL’s reigning ironman last week when Alex Henry missed Hamilton’s game vs. Toronto on Feb. 29, ending a streak of 203 consecutive games played; DiSalvatore played his 166th straight regular-season AHL game on Mar. 6 at ABB.
---Kris Foucault has points in six of his last 10 outings (3-4=7).
---Chad Rau has six points (3-3=6) in his last three games.
---Jeff Taffe has points in three of four games (2-2=4).
---Joel Broda snapped an 11-game goal drought on March 7 at ABB.
---Justin Fontaine has points in seven of the last eight games (0-6=6)
---The Aeros have been involved in 88 transactions since Jan. 1 involving 33 different players. Overall the Aeros have been involved in 154 transactions since the start of the season.
TEAM NOTABLES
---Houston has earned at least a point in 20 of the 36 games (11-16-3-6) in which they have allowed the first goal. They are 16-3-0-3 when scoring first.
---The Aeros finished February with 5-6-0-0 record.
---Out of 27 wins this season, 24 have come when the Aeros allow three or fewer goals and 19 have come when scoring four or more.
---Houston has played 30 games that have been decided by one goal (11-7-3-9).
---The Aeros edged Grand Rapids 3-2 on Jan. 11 for their first shootout victory of the season.
--- The attendance of 13,390 on Feb. 5 was the largest crowd for the Aeros since moving to Toyota Center in the 2002-03 season. It was the largest Aeros crowd since 13,342 on Jan. 16, 2004.
AEROS GOALIES
KUEMPER --- Is 1-1-2 at home (2.01 GAA/.934 SV%) and 5-5-2 on the road (2.47 GAA/ .920 SV%)… Led the ECHL in both GAA (1.74) and save percentage (.941) at the time of his recall on Nov. 29 and posted a 7-1-0 record with the Ontario Reign… Recorded his first pro shutout with 1-0 win on Dec. 9 vs. SAN (33 saves).
FALLON --- Signed PTO on March 3… Appeared in 47 games with Las Vegas of the ECHL this season, posting a 30-10-1-3 record along with a 2.39 GAA and .912 SV%... Led the ECHL in wins (26) and minutes played (2739) and was tied for second in shutouts (3) when signed by HOU.
KEETLEY--- Signed PTO on March 5… Is 12-18-1-2 on the season with a 2.97 goals-against average (GAA) and a .910 SV% with Bakersfield (ECHL)… In his last nine decisions, posted a 6-2-0-1 record with a 2.30 GAA and a .926 SV%.
POWER PLAY
Is 1/7 in the last three games… Went 8/43 in games 41-50 (18.6%)… Went 7/38 (18.4%) in games 31-40… Went 5/37 (13.5%) in games 21-30… Went 20/106 (18/9%) in games 1-20… Set a season-high going 3/5 in a 4-2 win at SAN on Oct. 28.
PENALTY KILL
Opponents are 2/8 on the PP in the last three games… Stopped 30/39 (76.9 %) in games 41-50… Stopped 28/36 (77.7%) in games 31-40… Stopped 20/27 (74.0%) in games 21-30… Stopped 80/97 (82.4%) in games 1-20.
AEROS PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
4 – BAGH-nawl
7 – FRED-haym
8 – MED-vekh
14 – deh-SAL-vuh-tohr
20 – ROWH (like now)
22 – TAYF
26 – MACK-in-tyre
27 – mick-MILL-uhn
35 – KEM-per
39 – GEHN-oh-way
61 – KOOH-muh
Torchetti --- TOHR-cheh-TEE
Van Ryn --- VAN-RIGHN
LaPlante --- luh-PLAHNT
