Goren hat trick helps clinch playoff berth

April 6, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


Lee Goren netted his third hat-trick of the season and Alex Auld stopped 24 of 25 shots as the Manitoba Moose defeated the Syracuse Crunch 3-1 Tuesday night to clinch a berth in the 2005 Calder Cup Playoffs.

The Moose got out to a fast start when Lee Goren skated into the Syracuse zone alone and wristed a shot low past Crunch starting netminder Andrew Penner blocker side.

Moose starting netminder Alex Auld made a big pad stop off Tim Jackman several minutes later.

Jesse Schultz and Peter Sarno had a good scoring opportunity midway through the period. Sarno fed Schultz, who redirected it on net but Penner slid across to make the save.

On the next shift, Goren had several scoring chances. He skated out to the high slot, pivotted and fired on Penner. Heerema scooped up the rebound and fed Goren but Penner stopped that shot as well.

Goren potted his second of the game just past the midway point of the period while on the powerplay. Schultz drew the lone assist.

Late in the period, the line of Jesse Schultz, Peter Sarno and Justin Morrison had several scoring opportunities.

After the first period, the shot count was 13-6 in favour of Manitoba.

Ryan Kesler had a good scoring chance early in the period. He split the Syracuse defence and broke in alone but his shot fired high over the Crunch net.

The Crunch cut Manitoba's lead in half on a beautiful individual effort by Nathan Robinson. Robinson skated into the Moose zone, cut in front of the net and fired it by Auld blocker side to make it a 2-1 game.

Syracuse almost tied it on a shorthanded breakaway by Joe Motzko. He tried to go five-hole on Auld but was stopped.

Through the remainder of the Moose powerplay, Penner was instrumental in keeping it a one-goal game. He made several saves off Heerema and Sarno in close.

Late in the period, Steven Goertzen had two shots on Auld. The Moose netminder kicked out both with his pads to preserve Manitoba's lead.

After two, the Moose continued to hold their shot advantage at 26-15 (13-9 in the second) with the score 2-1 Manitoba.

The Crunch poured on the pressure in the early portions of the third. Francois Beauchemin had a wide open net that Auld had to slide across to keep out.

Peter Ferraro spun around Johnathan Aitken to create a scoring chance. He couldn't get off a quality shot with Aitken hooking from behind, drawing a penalty. The Crunch didn't score on the man advantage but continued to put the pressure on the Moose.

After the Moose penalty expired, Auld made a big stop on Aaron Johnson, who cut in front of the net and let off a backhand. Auld then turned away the rebound as pressure mounted.

Manitoba looked to go ahead by a pair when Peter Sarno rang a shot off the far post while skating in on a two-on-one with Jeff Heerema along the right side.

With three minutes to play in the game, Auld saved the day extending out his right pad to stop Johnson on a one-timer from the slot.

Lee Goren completed the hat trick with an empty-netter in the final minute.



American Hockey League Stories from April 6, 2005


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