Eakins plays game 1000

Published on April 5, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


Manitoba Moose captain Dallas Eakins played in his 1000th professional game on Sunday against St. John's - a game in which a Harold Druken penalty shot goal with 12 seconds to play tied the game at 5-5 and dashed the team's playoff hopes. The Moose were victorious Friday night against the Leafs 7-4 to remain alive in the playoff hunt at the time.

With no playoffs in sight, this week will wrap up the Manitoba Moose season.

The Hamilton Bulldogs come to town with games on Thursday and Saturday, both at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 10 is fan appreciation night.

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

Hamilton Bulldogs

Thursday, April 8th 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 10th 7:30 p.m. Winnipeg Arena

Hamilton entered the week with only the two remaining games in Winnipeg left on their schedule...They entered the week first in the North Division (40-24-10-4), only three points ahead of the Syracuse Crunch who have two games in hand on the Bulldogs...This is Hamilton's second consecutive 40-win season and third overall in the seven-year history of the franchise...Hamilton is 16-16-5-1 on the road, but won both games at the Winnipeg Arena earlier this year on Oct. 22/03 (2-1) and Oct. 24/03 (5-0)...The Bulldogs have swept all six meetings so far this season between the two teams...As a result, Manitoba's historical record vs. Hamilton is 7-17-1-1...Hamilton has won five of their last seven games (5-2-0) and is 6-4-0 in their last 10...The Bulldogs have also won five of their last 12 road games...Their leading scorer is Tomas Plekanec with 21 goals and 60 points in 72 games...Plekanec is Hamilton's leading active scorer vs. Manitoba this year with five goals and nine points...Jimmy Roy is Manitoba's leading scorer vs. Hamilton with two goals and four points in six games...Jean-Francois Damphousse and Eric Fichaud have split duties in goal this season for Hamilton...In 33 appearances, Damphousse has 18 wins and a 2.33 GAA, while in 31 appearances, Fichaud has 16 wins and a 2.29 GAA...Against the Moose, Damphousse has three victories with a 1.33 GAA, while Fichaud has two with a 1.50 GAA...Plekanec and Chris Higgins are the team's top +/- players at +17...Benoit Gratton leads the team with 111 PIM...The Bulldogs ranked 10th in the AHL on power play with a 15.8% success rate...Hamilton also sits 10th in penalty killing at 86.6%.

MOOSE NOTES

Friday's contest between the Manitoba Moose and the St. John's Maple Leafs was the first pro game for Manitoba defenceman Kevin Bieksa. Bieksa signed an Amateur Try-out Contract with the Moose on Mar. 23/04. In four seasons at Bowling Green State University, the 22-year old played in 147 games and scored 24 goals and 78 points to go along with 318 PIM. Bieksa recorded an assist in each of Friday's and Sunday's games.

While Bieksa played his first ever pro game this past week, Moose captain Dallas Eakins played in his 1000th professional game on Sunday. In his career, Eakins has played in 120 NHL games, recording nine assists and 208 penalty minutes with the Winnipeg Jets, Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues, Phoenix Coyotes, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Islanders, and Calgary Flames. He has appeared in 607 AHL games in his career, as well as 273 games in the International Hockey League (IHL). In 1000 games as a professional, Eakins has registered 232 points (42 goals, 190 assists) and 1591 penalty minutes.

In Friday's 7-4 win over the St. John's Maple Leafs, the Moose not only set the season-high for the fastest three goals, they also broke the franchise record. Beginning with Peter Sarno's goal at 9:40 of the second period, the Moose scored three goals in just 47 seconds. Sarno's goal was followed by Justin Morrison's marker 15 seconds later. Then Sergei Varlamov scored at 10:27 of the second, making it three goals in 47 seconds. The old mark was 58 seconds set back on Mar. 13/96.

The Moose also set a season-high for the number of goals in one period this season with five in the second period in Friday's 7- 4 victory. The Moose turned a 2-1 deficit into a 6-3 lead after two periods of play thanks to goals from Pat Kavanagh, Sean Pronger, Peter Sarno, Justin Morrison, and Sergei Varlamov. The previous high for goals in a period was four set three different times (1st period vs. Houston 1/31/04; 2nd period at Syracuse 12/12/03; 3rd period at Binghamton 3/24/04).

With nine second period goals over two games last week, the second period has become the team's most potent. They have scored 72 goals in total this season in the second period, while netting 71 in the third so far this year. The team has scored 60 so far in the opening frame. Last season, the second period was also the highest scoring period for the Moose with 84 goals for. Entering this season, the highest scoring period in team history has been the second period with 767 goals over nine seasons. (1st-713; 3rd-738).

Friday's 7-4 triumph over the Maple Leafs and Sunday's 5-5 tie marked the two highest scoring games of the season for the Moose. The two teams combined for 11 goals Friday and 10 goals Sunday which is more than the previous high of nine set on four different occasions (7-2W vs. Houston 1/31/04; 7-2L at Cleveland 12/13/03; 5- 4OTW at Syracuse 12/12/03; 5-4L vs. St. John's 10/11/03).

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American Hockey League Stories from April 5, 2004


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