Home For The Holidays

Published on December 20, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


Moose fans felt the festive spirit on Friday night at MTS Centre by bringing thousands of stuffed toys to Teddy Bear Toss Night in support of the Christmas Cheer Board. The Manitoba Moose returned the favour with a 5-3 win over the visiting Houston Aeros. Then for the third time this season, Manitoba completed the home series sweep giving the Moose a three-game winning streak heading into the holiday season.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010: Manitoba 3, Texas 1 With only one more game to salvage a win on their Southern-U.S. road trip, the Moose produced thanks to a 39-save effort by Eddie Lack and a clutch third period goal by Marco Rosa. Rosa broke an extended goal drought midway through the third and Mario Bliznak sealed the game with a late shorthanded goal into Houston's empty net.

Friday, December 17, 2010: Manitoba 5, Houston 3 The opening 20 minutes looked dim for the Moose with the Aeros outshooting the home team 15-8 and holding a one goal lead. The tables turned in the final two periods and the Moose broke a 3-3 deadlock midway through the third period. Special teams powered Manitoba's rally as three of five Moose goals were scored on the man advantage, including Joel Perrault's game winner. The game winning goal was scored not long after the Teddy Bear Toss in the game's second intermission.

Saturday, December 18, 2010: Manitoba 1, Houston 0 There were a few more fights than goals in this game, especially early on. Moose forwards Stefan Schneider, Garth Murray and Josh Aspenlind all dropped the mitts in the first period. The only goal of the game came off the stick of Sergei Shirokov early in the third. Shirokov's seventh goal of the season stood as the game winner because Eddie Lack was perfect stopping all 20 shots he faced on the night.

Moose Tracks

TOSSING TEDDY BEARS: The Moose hosted their annual Teddy Bear Toss Night on Friday, December 17, when fans were encouraged to bring a stuffed toy to the game to throw on the ice during the second intermission of the game against the Houston Aeros. In all, 2,071 toys were tossed and $3,040 was raised in support of the Christmas Cheer Board.

FLOODING THE SCENE: Even if Eddie Lack was Manitoba's top performer this past week, defenceman Mark Flood put on a display of his own racking up two multi-point games and a +3 rating in three Moose wins. Flood has already missed over a month due to injury this season but has been a factor since returning on December 10. He has four points (1g,3a) in his past three games and half of his six points this season have come on the power play.

POWERFUL PERFORMANCE: Manitoba's last ranked power play moved up to 28th after going three-for-six against the Aeros on December 17 in a 5-3 win. The last time the Moose scored three power play goals in a game was on March 20, 2010 when Manitoba went three-for-five in a 4-0 win against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Manitoba currently has three players tied for the team lead in power play points: Sergei Shirokov (1g, 5a), Joel Perrault (1g, 5a) and Nolan Baumgartner (1g, 5a).

Upcoming Opponents

Following three straight W's, the Moose will get an extended holiday break before their next game on Monday, December 27 when they host the Peoria Rivermen. The Moose play their next four games at MTS Centre. Into late January, the Moose will play 12 of their next 14 games at home.

Player of the Week Nominee

Eddie Lack

Eddie Lack recorded his first AHL shutout on Saturday, Dec. 18 vs. Houston stopping all 20 shots he faced... The 22-year old won all three games he started for the Moose last week... In his last three games, Lack stopped 85 of 89 shots total for a save percentage of 0.955 and goals against average of 1.33... Lack's 39 saves on Dec. 14 at Texas were a season high for the Moose goaltender...

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American Hockey League Stories from December 20, 2010


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