Auld blanks Griffins

January 31, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


Jason King's goal in the first period to end a 14-game scoreless drought stood up as the winner as the Manitoba Moose defeated the Grand Rapids Griffins 2-0 at the MTS Centre Monday night. Alex Auld stopped 18 shots for the shutout.

Alex Auld was back in goal tonight for the Moose, while recently named AHL All-Star Joey MacDonald was between the pipes for Grnad Rapids.

Grand Rapids had the best scoring chance early after a Moose turnover created a two-on-one with Brent Kelly and Eric Himelfarb. Kelly elected to shoot and Auld deflected the shot into the corner with his glove.

On the next shift, Jesse Schultz stripped a Griffins defender of the puck and broke in alone on MacDonald. He deked around him but his backhander rang off the post.

Jason King finally broke his 14-game scoreless drought to put the Moose up 1-0. Peter Sarno skated into the corner, chasing a Joe DiPenta dump-in and backhanded the puck into the slot where King one-timed it through MacDonald's legs.

The Moose almost scored at the end of the period on a Ryan Kesler rush with seconds ticking off the clock. Kesler tried to go around MacDonald short side but was unable to get a handle on the puck in time to beat the buzzer.

Blake Sloan took a high-sticking penalty at the end of the period to put the Moose on a five-minute powerplay to start the second.

Shots after one period were 5-5.

The Moose carried the majority of the play in the first eight minutes of the second period thanks largely to Sloan's major penalty and a two-minute minor to Peter Vandermeer. Manitoba managed six shots on goal during this time but Joey MacDonald was sharp in keeping the puck out while the Griffins were under siege. He was very solid in stopping Jeff Heerema and Peter Sarno on successive chances. Both Moose forwards rifled the puck low on net but couldn't get it by the Grand Rapids all-star.

Manitoba had a four-on-one opportunity with Sarno, Burrows, Fitzpatrick and Bieksa on the rush that didn't come to fruition after Sarno shot the puck wide.

Things boiled over in the second period between Wade Brookbank and Ryan Barnes as the two dropped the gloves. Brookbank got the advantage early in the fight, dropping Barnes in short order.

MacDonald rose to the occasion again with a dazzling glove stop off Kesler from point-blank range.

Grand Rapids then skated right back to create a chance of their own. Eric Himelfarb and Matt Ellis came in on a two-on-one. Ellis' shot went off Auld's blocker.

After two periods, shots were 18-15 for the Moose with the home team still clinging to a one-goal lead.

In the third, Niklas Kronwall had Grand Rapids' best chance, ripping a shot from the high slot. Auld snagged it out of the air to preserve Manitoba's one-goal lead.

The Griffins buzzed around Manitoba's zone in the final minutes of the game, cycling the puck behind the net but Manitoba's defenders did a solid job protecting Alex Auld in front.

Nathan Smith potted an empty-netter to seal the deal at the end of the game.



American Hockey League Stories from January 31, 2005


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central