AEROS STYMIED BY WOLVES, MANNINO IN 3-1 FINAL

HOUSTON ---Jon DiSalvatore scored the only goal for the Houston Aeros in a 3-1 loss to the Chicago Wolves Thursday at Toyota Center. Wolves goaltender Peter Mannino stopped 34 shots while Jason Krog and Jared Ross each chipped in with two assists.

Houston outshot the Wolves 28-5 in the second and third periods combined. DiSalvatore finally ruined Mannino’s shutout bid on the power play with 3:12 left in the game.

The loss was the first in regulation for the Aeros at Toyota Center since Dec. 21. Despite the loss, Houston maintains their hold on first place in the West Division by one point.

Chicago’s Andre Deveaux bagged his 17th goal of the season, on the power play, 5:57 into the first period to give the Wolves the lead.

The Wolves upped their lead to 3-0 on a pair of goals just 37 seconds apart. Noah Welch scored his first of the season at 12:24 and Riley Holzapfel followed up at 13:01, tapping home a back door feed from Ross past Aeros goaltender Anton Khudobin.

The Aeros travel to Milwaukee to face the Admirals on Friday night at 7 p.m. and then visit Rockford on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. The team returns home on Tuesday, Feb. 22, against Milwaukee. Call 713-974-7825 (PUCK) for more information on Aeros tickets and other promotions.

DECIDING GOAL
Holzapfel (13:01, 2nd)

POWER PLAYS
HOU: 1/6
CHI: 1/5

GOALIES
HOU: Khudobin (14/17, L)
CHI: Mannino (34/35, W)

TEAM RECORDS
HOU: 32-21-1-3
CHI: 28-23-24

AEROS STARTERS
LW – O’Sullivan, C – Almond, RW - DiSalvatore
D: Noreau, Bagnall
G: Khudobin

AEROS SCRATCHES
Wellman, Kalus, Buck, Cuma

NEXT GAME
Feb. 18 at Milwaukee; 7:00 p.m.

BOMB DROPPINGS
The Aeros allowed the first goal for the third time in four games. Hershey has taken over the AHL-lead in first goals with 37; the Aeros have scored 36… Casey Wellman missed his seventh-straight game with an upper body injury. He has lost 17 games to injury this season… Petr Kalus sat out his 19th consecutive game as a healthy scratch… Brandon Buck sat out his seventh consecutive game as a healthy scratch and the 12th out of the last 13 games…  Chicago’s one shot in the third period was an opponent season-low in any period...DiSalvatore’s goal capped off a pretty play. Patrick O’Sullivan’s shot hit the post, but he kept the puck alive. Maxim Noreau then collected the pass, spun and backhanded it to Chad Rau in the left circle, who then touched it across to DiSalvatore... Today's game was the second and final weekday contest of the season.