NOV. 26, 2010: AEROS VS. SAN ANTONIO

OVERVIEW
The Houston Aeros (10-8-1-2, 23 pts.) play host to the San Antonio Rampage (14-4-1-0, 28 pts.) for the third meeting this season between the clubs and the first at Toyota Center. The Aeros have lost both matchups vs. the Rampage, who are the current West Division leaders, by scores of 2-0 and 5-2. Houston, currently in fourth place in the West, enters the weekend six points off the Division lead, three points out of second place and two points out of third. The Aeros have won four of their last six games and are coming off a 5-3 loss at Texas on Wednesday night. The Rampage enters Friday’s game winners of six in a row and eight of 10. The Rampage has outscored their opponents 22-11 during the six-game win streak, all of which have come against West Division foes.

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UPCOMING GAMES
Nov. 26 vs. San Antonio    7:35 p.m. CST      
Nov. 27 vs. Milwaukee    7:35 p.m. CST      
Dec. 2 vs. Rockford    11:05 a.m. CST     

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

AEROS AT A GLANCE
RECORD: 10-8-1-2, 23 pts., 4th, West Division
HOME: 4-3-1-0
ROAD: 6-5-0-2
STREAK: LOST 1

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
POTENT PENALTY KILL --- Houston's penalty kill finished the second 10-game segment of the season 41-for-45 (91.1%) after going 47-for-54 (87.04%) in the first 10.
HEATIN’ UP --- Jon DiSalvatore has six points (3-3-6) in his last four games…Jarod Palmer has five points (2-3-5) including a GWG in his last six games…Petr Kalus has goals in three of his last six…Carson McMillan has four points (1-3-4) in his last five games…Maxim Noreau has five points (3-2-5) in his last four games…Jared Spurgeon has five points (1-4-5) in his last six.
POWER-FULL --- The Houston power play, which was just 3-for-51(5.88%) in the first 10-game segment of the season, finished the second 10-game stretch 13-for-56 (22.2). The team has scored on the power play in four straight (7-for-23).
MULTI-POINT LEADERS --- Jon DiSalvatore leads all Aeros with multiple points in four games. The Houston captain has notched two points in three games and three points in one game. Jarod Palmer and Max Noreau each have three double point games.
NUMBER NUGGETS --- The Aeros have outscored their opponents 21-12 in the opening 20 minutes this season but have been outscored a combined 41-32 in the final two periods…Houston has a .846 winning percentage when scoring first.
SCORE EARLY! --- The Aeros are 7-0-0-2 when leading after 20 minutes and 1-5-0-0 when trailing after the opening period.
SCORE FIRST! --- Houston is 10-1-0-2 when scoring first this season and 0-7-1-0 when allowing the first goal.
FIRST-GOAL STREAK ---The Aeros have scored the first goal in 11 of the last 14 games and have won eight of those contests. The Aeros scored the first goal in seven straight games (Oct. 29-Nov. 8) and were 4-1-0-2 in that span.
SHOOTIN' --- The Aeros are 8-3-0-2 when being outshot and 2-4-1-0 when outshooting their opponents. The Nov. 14 win at PEO was the first time this season the Aeros out shot an opponent and won.
TURNSTILE TIDBIT --- The crowd of 8,587 at the Nov. 21 game was the largest so far this season. The previous high was 8,477 on Nov. 5. The Aeros have averaged 5,766 through eight home games.
SCHEDULE NOTES --- Sunday’s game ended a run of four games in five days (3-1-0-0)…The team plays seven games in 11 days from Nov.17-27… The Aeros just completed their longest stretch between home games of the season, a total of 12 days (Nov. 5 vs. TOR-Nov. 17 vs. CHI)....A total of 18 of Houston’s final 27 games in the calendar year of 2010 are away from Toyota Center; The longest home-stand remaining in 2010 is four games from Nov. 26-Dec. 3.
MOVIN' ON UP --- The Aeros have already had nine callups up to Minnesota (Gillies, Wellman, Kassian-2x, Almond-2x, Scandella, Earl, Falk).
RECENT ROSTER MOVES --- D Justin Falk and F Matt Kassian were recalled by Minnesota on Nov. 24…D Marco Scandella was reassigned by Minnesota on Nov. 21...G Michael Ouzas was released from his PTO on Nov. 21...G Michael Ouzas was signed to a PTO on Nov. 19…D Justin Falk was reassigned to Houston from Minnesota on Nov. 18…D Bryce Lampman was signed to a PTO on Nov. 16…LW Robbie Earl was recalled by Minnesota on Nov. 13.

LAST GAME QUICK RECAP
The Houston Aeros battled back from a 3-0 deficit and scored twice on the power play but fell short for the first time in four meetings with the Texas Stars Wednesday night in a 5-3 final front of 4,489 at the Cedar Park Center. The Stars scored three times in the first period and twice more in the second while goalie Richard Bachman made 20 saves in the win. Maxim Noreau and Jon DiSalvatore each scored power play goals for the Aeros and Jean-Michel Daoust added a goal in the third. Daoust (1-2-3) factored into all three Houston goals while DiSalvatore and Noreau collected a goal and a helper each.