From:
Ryan StanzelDirector of Communications
Friday, February 25, 2005
713.361.7930 (Direct Line)
Mighty Ducks 3, Aeros 2 Official Box Score
CINCINNATI, Ohio – Tim Brent snapped a tie with 16 seconds left in regulation just 2:28 after Pierre Parenteau knotted the game, as the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks stunned the Houston Aeros 3-2 at Cincinnati Gardens. Frederic Cassivi made 19 saves and Chris Kunitz tallied a power play goal for Cincinnati, which moved to 64 points – seven more than the Aeros, who seemingly were on their way to closing that gap to three points. The teams meet again Saturday at 6:35 p.m.
Matt Foy scored both goals and Josh Harding made 34 saves for Houston, which lost on the road in regulation for the first time this season when holding a lead at any point in the game (12-1-1-0). The Aeros have five games in hand on Cincinnati.
The Ducks, who outshot the Aeros 37-21, won their fourth straight and improved to 14-1-0-1 in their last 16 home games.
The Aeros fell to 1-1-0-1 on their five-game road trip, which wraps up Sunday at 4:30 p.m. in San Antonio.
Houston led 1-0 after one, but Kunitz tied things up headed to a crazy final 20 minutes.
At 6:28 of the third, Foy’s second of the game and eighth of the season put Houston on top. Pierre-Marc Bouchard fed Foy streaking through the left circle, and the winger snapped a shot over Cassivi’s glove and under the crossbar.
Harding robbed Stanislav Chistov two minutes after Foy’s goal, and with Cincinnati on the power play midway through the third, he pushed aside Parenteau’s attempt.
Parenteau evened things up with only 2:44 left in regulation, taking a pass from Joel Perrault behind the net and firing a shot under Harding from just inside the top of the circle.
Brent broke Houston’s heart with only 16 seconds remaining, corralling a loose puck off a scramble by the side of the net and sneaking it by Harding – who lost his stick – for his fifth of the season.
Houston, which entered the game allowing a league-best 35 third-period goals, gave up two tonight. The Aeros fell to 1-10-2-1 in their last 14 games when allowing a third-period goal. Houston dropped to 16-4-2-0 when scoring first and 18-5-1-0 when leading after one period.
Foy’s first goal, at 8:36 of the first on assists from Marc Cavosie and Chris Heid, snapped Cassivi’s shutout sequence at 189:39. Foy burst across the blueline, took a feed from Cavosie and deposited it under the goalie for his seventh goal.
The Aeros scored first for the second straight game after going seven straight games allowing the first goal.
Harding made a post-to-post move to stop a Cincinnati shot midway through the second period, then he somehow gloved the rebound while on his back. Off the ensuing faceoff, Harding was run into by Cincinnati’s Zenon Konopka, the Ducks’ second goalie interference penalty of the game.
The Ducks, who began to control play early in the second, got even with 3:28 left in the period. Kunitz took advantage of former Duck Todd Reirden losing his stick, and he poked the puck by Harding for his 13th goal – ninth on the power play. The goal snapped Houston’s penalty kill streak at 22.
Houston got 57 seconds of a 5-on-3 shortly thereafter after a tripping call to Lee Jacobson and a slashing penalty to Casey Hankinson, but the Aeros didn’t score.
Houston finished 0-for-6 on the power play, while Cincinnati went 1-for-6. The Aeros have killed off 52-of-55 shorthanded chances over their last 14 games. The Ducks have killed off 24 straight opportunities in the last four games.
Notes:
The Aeros scratched Brent Burns, Joey Tetarenko, Erik Reitz, Bill Kinkel, David Bararuk, Marius Holtet and Christoph Brandner.
Aeros defenseman John Erskine played in his 300th professional game.
Foy has points in back-to-back games for the fourth time this season and the ninth time in his two-year career.
Foy picked up his third two-point game of the season. He’s got seven in his two-year career.
Foy is two days shy of the one-year anniversary of his first career two-goal game, last February 27 in San Antonio.
Since missing nine games due to injury, Cavosie has two assists in four games.
Heid, who missed the first two months of the season with an injury and was then reassigned to ECHL Louisiana, has three assists in five games back.
Kunitz’ goal stopped Harding’s shutout streak at 114:42 – longest by an Aeros goalie this season – and it snapped the team’s streak at 131:50, also a season-high.
Houston allowed more power play goals than it scored for only the sixth time in 53 games this season.
Houston fell to 12-9-4-3 in one-goal games, while Cincinnati improved to 17-7-1-3.
The Aeros have gone three straight games without a power play goal for just the second time this season. The other three games were November 6-12.
Houston was perfect in 17 games when leading with five minutes remaining.
