DEC. 4, 2010: AEROS AT BARONS
OVERVIEW
The Houston Aeros (13-10-1-2) visit the Oklahoma City Barons (14-8-1-2) for the fifth meeting between the clubs this season. This is the fourth time the Aeros have visited the Barons; they are 3-1-0-0 overall and 3-0-0-0 on the road. The Aeros occupy fourth place in the West Division and sit two points behind both the Barons and Milwaukee Admirals. Coming off a 4-3 overtime win at Texas on Saturday, Houston will try for its second straight road win. The Barons have earned points in two straight (1-0-0-1) and last played to a 4-0 win at Manitoba on Saturday.
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UPCOMING GAMES
Dec. 7 at OKC 7:05 p.m. CST
Dec. 10 vs. San Antonio 7:35 p.m. CST
Dec. 12 at Lake Erie 2:00 p.m. CST
AEROS AT A GLANCE
RECORD: 13-10-1-2, 29 pts., 4th, West Division
HOME: 6-5-1-0
ROAD: 7-5-0-2
STREAK: WON 1
NHL AFFILIATES
Houston Aeros (Minnesota Wild)
OKC Barons (Edmonton Oilers)
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
HOMELY --- Houston has won six of eight 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...Eight of Houston’s 12 home games have been one-goal decisions (4-3-1-0) 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 – 5X; 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 is second in shots (76) and goals (7).
WESTWARD --- The Aeros are 11-9-1-0 against the West Division this season. A total of 11 of the team’s last 14 games have been against West rivals; Houston is 6-5-0-0 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 scored the GWG at TEX on Dec.4 in overtime.
FOUR-SCORE --- When scoring at least four goals the Aeros are undefeated (8-0-0-0).
SCORE FIRST! --- Houston is 13-3-0-2 when scoring first this season and 0-7-1-0 when allowing the first goal. The other was against Rockford. The Aeros lead the AHL with 18 first goals. Two of the first-goal regulation losses have been against the San Antonio Rampage.
FIRST-GOAL STREAK ---The Aeros have scored the first goal in 16 of the last 19 games and are 11-6-0-2 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 4-5-1-0 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 sixth in AHL average attendance at 5,642.
SCHEDULE NOTES --- Nine of the final 12 games of 2010 are on the road…A total of 18 of Houston’s final 27 games in the calendar year of 2010 are away from Toyota Center…The team plays five games in seven days from Dec. 12-18.
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 --- D Justin Falk was reassigned by Minnesota on Dec. 6…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 scored the power play game-winner in overtime as the Houston Aeros nipped the Texas Stars 4-3 Saturday night at Cedar Park Center before a crowd of 5,009. Fabian Brunnstrom’s high-sticking penalty put the Aeros on a 4-on-3 advantage 50 seconds into extra time and Almond cashed in, banging home a rebound, to give the Aeros their fourth win in five tries over the Stars. J.M. Daoust and Scandella earned assists on the winning goal.
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.
