JAN. 15, 2011: AEROS VS. GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS
PREVIEW
The Houston Aeros (23-18-1-2) continue a four-game-in-five-day stretch at home against the Grand Rapids Griffins (18-18-1-4). The Aeros are coming off a 4-3 shootout win Friday night over Chicago at Allstate Arena. The win pushed the Aeros into fourth place, one point ahead of both Oklahoma City and Texas, in the AHL’s West Division race. Houston has now won three-in-a-row and trails the first place Peoria Rivermen by just four points. The Griffins last played Thursday at San Antonio in a 5-2 win over the Rampage. Tonight’s game is the third of five-in-a-row on the road for the Griffins, who sit seven points out of second place in the North Division.

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UPCOMING GAMES
Jan. 15 vs. Grand Rapids, 7:35 p.m. CST
Jan. 16 vs. Grand Rapids, 4:05 p.m. CST
Jan. 21 vs. Texas, 7:35 p.m. CST

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

AEROS AT A GLANCE
RECORD: 23-18-1-2, 49 pts.,4th West Division
HOME: 11-6-1-0
ROAD: 12-12-0-2
STREAK: WON 3

NHL AFFILIATES
Houston Aeros (Minnesota Wild)
Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit Red Wings)

AEROS SPECIAL TEAMS
PP: 16.8% (15th)
PK: 84.9% (10th)

AEROS LEADERS:
POINTS: Earl (11-17-28)
GOALS: Earl (11)
ASSISTS: Noreau (18)
PIM: Kassian (100)

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

VS. GRAND RAPIDS --- All-Time Series 36-31-7-2 (Home 20-11-5-2, Road 16-20-2-0)…Season Series 1-1-0-0 (Home 0-0-0-0, Road 1-1-0-0)…The teams meet four times…Next meeting is Jan. 16 at HOU.

SERIES BASICS --- PP: 4/14 (28.6%)…PK:  9/10 (90.0%)…HOU leader (Noreau 2-3-5)…GR Leaders (Johnson/Pare 1-2-3).

SERIES NOTABLES: The teams last met Dec. 15 at GR, a 5-2 GR win…The Aeros shut out the Griffins on Nov. 19 at GR. Anton Khudobin made 28 saves for his sixth career goose-egg…The teams meet four times this season…HOU’s Max Noreau had a pair of goals on Nov. 19…The Aeros set a season-high with three power play goals on Nov. 19.

IF YOU ONLY KNEW --- Cody Almond and Carson McMillan each played their  100-pro game at CHI on Jan. 14…Chad Rau played his 100th pro game at SA on Jan. 8…JM Daoust needs five games to reach 400 pro and two points to reach 300…Houston’s Max Noreau is second among AHL defensemen with five PPG…Last night’s win improved the Aeros to 5-1-0-0 in January…The Aeros are 5-2 in shootouts…Houston has won five straight shootouts…Jon DiSalvatore has three shootout goals, all game-winners.

NOREAU TO ALL-STAR GAME --- Maxim Noreau has been selected to participate in the 2011 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross. The game is scheduled for Jan. 31 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa. Noreau, 23, will be a member of the 2011 Western Conference All-Star Team.. He also represented the Aeros at the 2010 AHL All-Star Classic as a member of Team Canada.

ON THE SHELF --- Casey Wellman has missed the last 10 games with a lower body injury.

ROAD RAGE --- Houston has won two of their last three road games... The team dropped four-of-five during a five-game road trip from Dec. 12-18 and was outscored 17-10 during that run…The Aeros are 5-for-43 on the power play away from home since Dec. 12.

HOMEBOYS --- Houston has won eight of 11 at home dating back to a Nov. 21 victory over Texas. Four of those wins have been decided by one goal; a trio has been decided by two goals.

SCORE FIRST! --- Houston leads the AHL in first goals (27) and is
19-6-0-2 when scoring first. Cody Almond leads the club with three first-goals. Five other players have two game-opening tallies.

TURNSTILE TIDBITS --- Through 18 home games, the Aeros are seventh in the AHL with an average attendance of 6,003…The 10,552 on hand for the Jan. 1 game was the largest crowd for an Aeros contest since Dec. 3, 2009, when 11,291 watched the Aeros and Rampage at Toyota Center.

HEATIN’ UP --- Robbie Earl has points in six straight (2-5-7) and in eight of his last nine games (3-7-10)...Chad Rau has points in five of six (4-1-5)…J.M. Daoust has two game-winning goals in his last five outings…Jed Ortmeyer has at least a point in four of six games since joining the team…Matt Hackett has wins in four of his last five decisions.

SCHEDULE NOTES --- The Aeros play 13 games in January with seven of those games at home. Six games this month are against West rivals.

RECENT ROSTER MOVES --- G David Brown was released from his PTO on Jan. 15…G Matt Hackett was reassigned by MIN on Jan. 15…C Patrick O’Sullivan was reassigned by MIN on Jan. 14…D Jarod Spurgeon and G Matt Hackett were recalled my MIN on Jan. 14…D Jarod Spurgeon was reassigned by MIN on Jan. 10…G Anton Khudobin was recalled by MIN on Jan. 8.
 
LAST GAME QUICK RECAP
Jon DiSalvatore scored in regulation and added the shootout winner while goalie Josh Tordjman turned aside 19 shots plus five more in the extra-extra as the Houston Aeros edged the Chicago Wolves 4-3 Friday night at Allstate Arena. DiSalvatore scored the only goal of the shootout and collected his third shootout-winner of the season. In his first Aeros start, Tordjman earned his first win in an Aeros sweater.