Sat. March 3, 2012

The Houston Aeros (26-17-3-9, 64 pts.) continue an 11-game road trip at San Antonio on Saturday at 7 p.m. CST against the Rampage (31-23-2-1, 65 pts.) at the AT&T Center.

AEROS BROADCASTS
Radio: 1070 KNTH-AM
Listen online: www.aeros.com
Watch online: www.ahllive.com
Listen via Smartphone: Download the TuneIn Radio app; search Houston, then KNTH.

LIVE SCORING AND STATS
The AHL provides live scoring and stats via the GameCenter tab at www.theahl.com.

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OVERVIEW
The Houston Aeros (26-17-3-9, 64 pts.) continue an 11-game road trip at San Antonio on Saturday at 7 p.m. CST against the Rampage (31-23-2-1, 65 pts.) at the AT&T Center.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
---Houston is on the longest road trip in franchise history (11 games, 3-5-0-0).
---The Aeros hold the No. 8 spot in the eight-team Western Conference playoff race. Chicago and San Antonio all sit one point ahead of the Aeros. A win tonight could push the team as high as the No. 5 spot.
---Jon DiSalvatore needs one goal to become the Aeros AHL club leader in goals. He is tied at 68 with Kirby Law.
---The Aeros will log over 12,000 miles on the current road trip. By comparison, Aeros broadcaster Joe O’Donnell could take two round trips from Houston to Reykjavik, Iceland, to visit Bjork; or about 23 round trips from Houston to the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, where he could attempt to eat a 72 oz. steak in an hour.

THIS WEEK’S GAMES
Saturday (March 3) --- at SA (7 p.m. CST)

AEROS BROADCASTS
Radio: 1070 KNTH-AM
Listen online: www.aeros.com
Watch online: www.ahllive.com
Listen on Smartphone including BlackBerry: Download the TuneIn Radio App; search Houston, then KNTH.

LIVE SCORING AND STATS
The AHL provides live scoring and stats via the GameCenter tab at www.theahl.com.

AEROS/RAMPAGE HEAD-TO-HEAD
This is the 11th of 12 meetings this season…  HOU is 6-1-1-2 against the Rampage (2-0-1-2 at home, 4-1-0-0 on the road) … HOU PP is 14/42… SA PP is 7/39… All-time HOU is 67-28-9-6 (39-10-4-2 home, 28-18-5-4 road).

RECENT AEROS TRANSACTIONS
---March 3: G Joe Fallon signed PTO
---March 2: G Matt Hackett recalled by MIN
---March 2: F Mike Radja released from PTO
---Feb. 28: D Jamie Fritsch released from PTO

AEROS INJURIES
Jeff Penner has missed the last 16 games… Cody Almond has missed the last two games.

AEROS MILESTONES
---Jon DiSalvatore’s 20th goal will be his 69th as an Aero, placing him first in franchise history (AHL only, 4th AHL/IHL). His 41st game on Jan. 21 at TEX was his 200th as an Aero, placing him 10th all-time in Aeros (AHL) history.
---Jeff Taffe notched his 400th AHL point with an assist on Jon DiSalvatore's goal on Jan. 8 at SA. Taffe had two assists while skating in his 500th AHL game on Jan. 21 at TEX.
---Drew Bagnall played in his 300th AHL game at TEX on Jan. 21.
---Matt Hackett’s 34th game was his 79th as an Aero, moving him into the Top-5 in Aeros (AHL) career games played. His 23rd win will push him into second place in Aeros (AHL) career wins. His 983rd save will place him second in Aeros (AHL) career saves.

AEROS PLAYER NOTES
---Jon DiSalvatore has points in seven of the last eight games (5-3=8) and 12 of the last 14 games (7-6=13).
---Jeff Taffe's two goals on Feb. 25 marked his first multi-goal game of the season and his team-leading 11th multi-point game
---Kris Fredheim scored his first goal of the season on Feb. 24 and first since January 9, 2011 against San Antonio.
---Justin Fontaine has points in five straight games (1-7=8) and points in seven of his last nine games (1-10=11).
---David McIntyre's two points on Feb. 25(1-1=2) marked his fifth multi-point game of the season.
---David McIntyre's penalty shot goal on Feb. 25 at TEX was the first for Houston since Feb. 11, 2011, when Colton Gillies scored against Jake Allen at Peoria.
---Kyle Medvec's tally 2:47 into the second period on Feb. 25 at TEX was his first as a pro.
---The Aeros have been involved in 83 transactions since Jan. 1 involving 31 different players. Overall the Aeros have been involved in 149 transactions since the start of the season.
---A total of 17 different players have been recalled from Houston to Minnesota this season. The Aeros have seen 44 different players log game minutes this season, and another three players who have dressed but didn’t play.

TEAM NOTABLES
---Houston has earned at least a point in 19 of the 33 games (10-14-3-6) in which they have allowed the first goal. They are 16-3-0-3 when scoring first.
---The Aeros finished February with 5-6-0-0 record.
---Out of 26 wins this season, 24 have come when the Aeros allow three or fewer goals and 18 have come when scoring four or more.
---Houston has played 28 games that have been decided by one goal (10-6-3-9).
---The Aeros edged Grand Rapids 3-2 on Jan. 11 for their first shootout victory of the season.
---The Aeros drew 27,048 fans in three games over four days from Feb. 2-5, including a Toyota Center best-ever crowd of 13,390 on Saturday, Feb. 4.
--- The attendance of 13,390 on Feb. 5 was the largest crowd for the Aeros since moving to Toyota Center in the 2002-03 season. It was the largest Aeros crowd since 13,342 on Jan. 16, 2004.

AEROS GOALIES
HACKETT – Is 6-8-3 (2.58 GAA/.904 SV%) at home and 11-5-1 (2.28, .927) GAA/.933 SV%) on the road… Won six-straight road starts from Oct. 28-Dec. 30… Made his NHL debut on Dec. 6 and made 34 saves in a 2-1 win at SJ after entering the game early in the first period to relieve an injured Josh Harding… Last Game: Stopped 21/23 in 5-2W at TEX on Feb. 25.

KUEMPER --- Is 1-1-2 at home (2.47 GAA/.920 SV%) and 5-4-2 on the road (2.51 GAA/ .919 SV%)… Led the ECHL in both GAA (1.74) and save percentage (.941) at the time of his recall on Nov. 29 and posted a 7-1-0 record with the Ontario Reign… Recorded his first pro shutout with 1-0 win on Dec. 9 vs. SAN (33 saves)… Last Game: Stopped 30/33 in 3-2L at TEX on Feb. 24.

FALLON --- Signed PTO on March 3… Appeared in 47 games with Las Vegas of the ECHL this season, posting a 30-10-1-3 record along with a 2.39 GAA and .912 SV%...  Led the ECHL in wins (26) and minutes played (2739) and was tied for second in shutouts (3) when signed by HOU.

POWER PLAY
Is 3/15 in the last three games… Went 8/43 in games 41-50 (18.6%)… Went 7/38 (18.4%) in games 31-40…  Went 5/37 (13.5%) in games 21-30… Went 20/106 (18/9%) in games 1-20… Set a season-high going 3/5 in a 4-2 win at SAN on Oct. 28.

PENALTY KILL
Opponents are 4/16 on the PP in the last three games… Stopped 30/39 (76.9 %) in games 41-50… Stopped 28/36 (77.7%) in games 31-40… Stopped 20/27 (74.0%) in games 21-30… Stopped 80/97 (82.4%) in games 1-20.

AEROS PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
4 – BAGH-nawl
7 – FRED-haym
8 – MED-vekh
14 – deh-SAL-vuh-tohr
20 – ROWH (like now)
22 – TAYF
26 – MACK-in-tyre
27 – mick-MILL-uhn
35 – KEM-per
39 – GEHN-oh-way
41 - ORT-migh-er
61 – KOOH-muh
Torchetti --- TOHR-cheh-TEE
Van Ryn --- VAN-RIGHN
LaPlante --- luh-PLAHNT