Irmen and Noreau each score twice as Houston Aeros beat Manitoba 4-1

HOUSTON - Danny Irmen and Maxim Noreau both scored twice to lead the Houston Aeros over Manitoba 4-1 on Thursday in the AHL, extending the Moose's losing streak to three games.

The Aeros scored first when Clayton Stoner broke his way through the neutral zone and fed the puck to Irmen. The right-winger's wrister hit the top of goaltender Daren Machesney's net to open the scoring.

With 1:33 left in the opening frame, Manitoba's Marco Rosa broke his 10-game pointless streak when he beat Anton Khudobin inside the far post to knot the game at one.

Houston came out soaring and scored two-minutes into the second stanza. Irmen snapped the puck off Machesney's doorstep and into the net to put his club on top with his second marker of the night.

With less than a minute left in the second period, Noreau extended his clubs' lead when his shot deflected off of a Moose defender and over Machesney's glove, 3-1.

Heading into the third period, the Aeros were leading the shot clock, 23-9.

At 4:52 of the final frame, the Aeros earned some cushion room. With traffic in front of Machesney's net, Noreau earned his second of the night to put the Moose on top, 4-1.

Machesney stopped 30 of 34 shots for the Moose (8-7-2), while Khudobin only need to make 14 saves for Houston (7-7-0).