DEC. 3, 2010: AEROS VS. ROCKFORD
OVERVIEW
The Houston Aeros (12-9-1-2) play host to the Rockford IceHogs (8-11-0-3) in the second game of back-to-back meetings. The clubs met yesterday in a matinee game at Toyota Center with the Aeros coming out on top 4-3 in a shootout. The win bumped Houston, which has won two in a row, one point past Texas into fifth place in the West Division standings. The Aeros now sit one point out of fourth place and just four points off the Division lead held by San Antonio. Rockford is winless in two games (0-1-0-1) and occupies the bottom spot in the West.
 
UPCOMING GAMES
Dec. 3 vs. Rockford    7:35 p.m. CST      
Dec. 4 at Texas    7:00 p.m. CST      
Dec. 7 at OKC    7:05 p.m. CST     
 
AEROS AT A GLANCE
RECORD: 12-9-1-2, 27 pts., 5th, West Division
HOME: 6-4-1-0
ROAD: 6-5-0-2   
STREAK: WON 2   

NHL AFFILIATES
Houston Aeros (Minnesota Wild)
Rockford Ice Hogs (Chicago Blackhawks)

FULL GAME NOTES    
GAME DAY AUDIO CLIPS
AHL STATS

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
HOMELY --- Houston has won six of seven at home dating back to an Oct. 31 victory over Texas. Four of those wins have been by one goal; the other pair has been decided by two goals...Seven of Houston’s 11 home games have been one-goal decisions (4-2-1-0) and three have been decided by two goals (2-1)…Except for an 8-2 loss to Peoria and a 5-3 defeat by San Antonio, the Aeros have not allowed more than three goals in a home game…Goals allowed (1 – 2X; 2 – 4X; 3 - 3X; 5 – 1X; 8 – 1X).

KHUDOBIN AT HOME --- Anton Khudobin has won five-straight home starts, posting a 1.90 GAA and .938 save percentage over that span (152 shots/162 saves, 315 minutes).

NOREAU AMONG D-LEADERS --- Max Noreau leads AHL defensemen in power play goals (5) and shots (67) and is second in goals (7).

WESTWARD --- The Aeros are 10-8-1-0 against the West Division this season. Nine of the team’s last 12 games have been against West rivals; Houston is 5-4-0-0 in those games.

CUMA MAKES DEBUT --- Tyler Cuma made his pro debut on Dec. 2. The Wild's first round pick (23rd overall) in 2008 missed the first 23 games of the season on the injured reserve.

COME BACK NOW --- The Aeros earned their first win of the season when trailing after two periods on Dec. 2; they were 0-9-0-0 when trailing after the second period.

HEATIN’ UP --- Cody Almond’s game-tying goal Dec. 2 was his first tally in 10 games dating back to Nov. 8 at Abbotsford...Almond has at least one assist in three of his last four games.

FOUR-SCORE --- When scoring at least four goals the Aeros are undefeated (7-0-0-0).

SCORE FIRST! --- Houston is 12-2-0-2 when scoring first this season and 0-7-1-0 when allowing the first goal. Both first-goal regulation losses have been against the San Antonio Rampage.

FIRST-GOAL STREAK ---The Aeros have scored the first goal in 14 of the last 17 games and are 10-5-0-2 in those games. 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 9-4-0-2 when being outshot and 3-4-1-0 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 Aeros are fifth in AHL average attendance at 5,749.

SCHEDULE NOTES --- Seven of the next eight games are on the road…The Aeros closed a 7-in-11 stretch last Saturday that dated back to Nov.17 (4-3-0-0)…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 had 11 callups up to Minnesota (Gillies, Wellman, Kassian-3x, Almond-2x, Scandella, Earl, Falk, Spurgeon).

RECENT ROSTER MOVES --- F Brock McBride was signed to a PTO on Dec. 1…F Matt Kassian was reassigned by Minnesota on Nov. 30…F Matt Kassian was recalled by Minnesota on Nov. 29…F Robbie Earl was reassigned by Minnesota on Nov. 29…D Jared Spurgeon was recalled by Minnesota on Nov. 28.

LAST GAME QUICK RECAP
Cody Almond had a goal and two assists and Jon DiSalvatore scored the decisive shootout tally as the Houston Aeros took a 4-3 victory over the Rockford IceHogs in front of 7,535 fans in a  Kid's Day matinee Thursday at Toyota Center.

BROADCAST INFO
Follow the Aeros all season long on News Talk 1070 KNTH and online at AEROS.COM with Joe O’Donnell providing the play-by-play call. Watch every game, in its entirety, online at www.ahllive.com.