NOV. 20 AT CHICAGO
OVERVIEW
The Houston Aeros (9-6-1-2) visit the Chicago Wolves (6-11-1-0) for the second game of a three-in-three weekend. The teams last met on Wednesday in Houston with the Aeros edging the Wolves for a 3-2 victory. The Aeros have won three in a row, seven of their last 11 and have at least a point in nine of 11 (7-2-0-2). The team enters Saturday tied with Peoria for third place in the West Division and are eight points off the Division lead held by San Antonio. Chicago has dropped seven in a row and return home after eight games on the road.
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UPCOMING GAMES
Nov. 20 at Chicago 7:35 p.m. CST
Nov. 21 vs. Texas 4:05 p.m. CST
Nov. 24 at Texas 7:35 p.m. CST
NHL AFFILIATES
Houston Aeros (Minnesota Wild)
Chicago Wolves (Atlanta Thrashers)
AEROS AT A GLANCE
RECORD: 9-6-1-2, 21 pts.
HOME: 3-3-1-0
ROAD: 6-3-0-2
STREAK: WON 3
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
POTENT PENALTY KILL --- Houston’s penalty kill enters Saturday ranked first in the AHL at 91.1%. They have given up just eight PPG, an AHL low. The Aeros have turned away 19-straight power plays over five games.
FIRST SHUTOUT --- Houston’s 5-0 shutout on Nov. 19 was their first since a Feb. 13, 2010, 1-0 overtime win at home against Grand Rapids, a run that spanned 42 games.
MOVIN' ON UP --- The Aeros have already had seven callups up to Minnesota (Gillies, Wellman, Kassian, Almond-2x, Scandella, Earl).
HACKETT BREAKS SLUMP --- Matt Hackett earned his first win since Oct. 15 with a 21-save outing Nov. 14 in a 5-2 victory at PEO. Hackett was 0-3-1 between wins. His win over CHI on Nov. 17 was his first consecutive start and win since Oct. 9-15.
KALUS FINDING STRIDE --- After being held without a goal in 11 games from Oct. 22-Nov. 13, Petr Kalus now has goals in two of three games.
DISALVATORE SNAPS SKID --- Jon DiSalvatore had a goal and two assists Friday at GR snapping a skid of 16 games without a goal.
SCORE EARLY! --- The Aeros are 7-0-0-2 when leading after 20 minutes and 1-3-0-0 when trailing after the opening period.
SCORE FIRST! --- Houston is 9-1-0-2 when scoring first this season and 0-5-1-0 when allowing the first goal.
FIRST-GOAL STREAK ---The Aeros have scored the first goal in 10 of the last 11 games and have won seven of those contests. The Aeros scored the first goal in seven straight games (Oct. 29-Nov. 8) and were 4-1-0-2 in those contests.
SHOOTIN' --- The Aeros are 7-2-0-2 when being outshot and 2-3-1-0 when outshooting their opponents. The Nov. 14 win at PEO was the first time this season the Aeros out shot an opponent and won.
SCHEDULE NOTES --- 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)...The Aeros opened the season playing six of their first 11 games at home...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...The Aeros have two separate five-game road trips: Nov. 6-Nov. 14 and Dec. 12-Dec. 18. These two road trips are the longest of the 2010-11 season.
RECENT ROSTER MOVES --- 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…C Cody Almond was reassigned by Minnesota on Nov. 13…D Marco Scandella was recalled by Minnesota on Nov. 12…C Cody Almond was recalled by Minnesota on Nov. 10…C Cody Almond and LW Matt Kassian were reassigned to Houston from Minnesota on Nov. 7.
LAST GAME QUICK RECAP
The Houston Aeros had a total team effort against the Grand Rapids Griffins as Maxim Noreau and Jon DiSalvatore totaled three points each and Anton Khudobin recorded 28 saves to lead the Houston Aeros to a 5-0 shutout win in Grand Rapids on Friday Night. Anton Khudobin recorded his sixth career AHL shutout while getting his seventh start in the last 10 games and is now 5-1-1 and has stopped 194 of 206 (.942) during that stretch.
