Knights win four of five on the road

Published on February 27, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Abbotsford Heat News Release


Omaha, NE - The Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights return home on a roll after finishing off a five-game road trip with three straight wins. The Knights earned victories in Manchester, Rochester and Toronto last week to finish their longest road trip of the year with a record of 4-1-0-0. Those wins helped boost the Knights' record to 26-24-2-7, good for 61 points. They now hold down fourth place in the West Division an have extended their lead to five points over the Iowa Stars. The top four teams in each division take part in the Calder Cup Playoffs. In all, the Knights have won eight of their last nine games, including eight of their last nine on the road. The Knights now get ready for five straight home games. On Friday, they'll host the Manitoba Moose at 7:00 p.m. and then welcome the Peoria Rivermen on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. Tickets for all home games are on sale all week at the Civic Auditorium box office from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., at all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 422-1212 and at Ticketmaster.com. The box office is open through the opening face-off on game nights.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS:
Wednesday, February 22: Ak-Sar-Ben Knights 2, Manchester Monarchs 1
In the finale of the two-game season series, the Ak-Sar-Ben Knights fell behind 1-0 on a powerplay goal by the Monarchs' Lauri Tukonen halfway through the second period. Omaha responded in the third period with a powerplay goal from Craig MacDonald in the first two minutes and the game winner from Dave Moss at 11:47, also on the powerplay. The Knights allowed the Monarchs only three third period shots to secure the win. Brent Krahn picked up the win with 18 saves. The road team won each game of the season series.

Friday, February 24: Ak-Sar-Ben Knights 3, Rochester Americans 2
The Knights opened the scoring on a goal by Derek Couture just 5:41 into the first, converting a feed from Justin Taylor. Matt Hendricks answered for the Amerks 1:23 later. The Knights broke the tie at 4:55 of the second period when Dave Moss scored off a pass from Ajay Baines. With goalie Jean-Marc Pelletier pulled for an extra attacker late in the third period, Zenith Komarniski scored into an empty net to make it 3-1. The Amerks scored with an extra attacker with 1.9 seconds remaining for the final score. Brent Krahn earned the win with 20 saves.

Saturday, February 25: Ak-Sar-Ben Knights 3, Toronto Marlies 2 SO
In the last game of the five-game road trip, the Knights played their fourth game with a scoreless first period before forging ahead in the second. Cam Severson slammed home a pass from Derek Couture to make it 1-0. On a powerplay later in the period, Severson earned an assist, setting up Tim Hambly at 6:23. Toronto enjoyed six powerplays in the third period and tied it on goals 48 seconds apart from Brad Leeb and Brett Engelhardt. The Knights had a chance to win in overtime when the Marlies' Jay Harrison picked up a hooking penalty, but they couldn't convert the ensuing powerplay. In the shootout, Brett Palin scored the only goal, and Brent Krahn stopped all five shots to pick up the win. Krahn had 37 saves through regulation and overtime.

KRAHN NAMED CCM VECTOR/AHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
The Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights goaltender Brent Krahn was named the CCM Vector/AHL Player of the Week for the week ending February 26, 2006. In three games last week, Krahn posted a record of 3-0-0, a 1.62 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage. On Wednesday, Krahn allowed one goal on 19 shots in a 2-1 win at Manchester. On Friday, the native of Winnipeg, Manitoba stopped 20 of 22 shots in a 3-2 win over the Rochester Americans. Krahn finished the week with perhaps his best performance. He turned aside 37 of 39 shots and then stopped all five shooters in a 3-2 shootout win over the Toronto Marlies. Krahn has now started nine of the last ten games, posting a record of 7-2-0 in those starts. He has allowed two goals or less in those seven wins.

THE WEEK AHEAD:
DAY/DATE EVENT TIME BROADCAST
Mon., Feb. 27 Day Off
Tues., Feb. 28 Practice @ TIA 10:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Wed., Mar. 1 Practice @ OCA 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Thurs., Mar. 2 Practice @ TIA 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Fri., Mar. 3 Morning Skate @ OCA 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Game vs. Manitoba 7:00 p.m. 1420 AM, Web, B2
Sat., Feb. 4 Practice TBA TBA
Sun., Mar. 5 Game vs. Peoria 5:00 p.m. 1420 AM, Web, B2

Legend
TIA--Tranquility Ice Arena
OCA--Omaha Civic Auditorium
Web-Free live audio broadcast of game at omahaaksarbenknights.com (Choose "Listen Live" link from home page)
B2-B2 Networks live, pay-per-view webcast, available at omahaaksarbenknights.com for $6 per game by clicking on B2 Networks link.

All times Central time (Subject to change)

OPPONENTS THIS WEEK:
Friday, March 3 vs. Manitoba Moose (Vancouver Canucks), 7:00 p.m.
Fourth meeting of four; second of two meetings in Omaha
The Ak-Sar-Ben Knights play the first game of their five-game home stand against the Moose, the top development team of the Vancouver Canucks. The Moose haven't been in Omaha since October 12th when they earned a 2-1 win over the Knights. Since then, Omaha swept a pair of games from Manitoba in Winnipeg, winning 4-1 and 5-1 on February 10th and 11th. The Moose begin the week in third place in the North Division with a record of 34-17-4-3, good for 75 points. The Moose are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday. Jesse Schultz leads the Moose in scoring with 29 goals and 17 assists for 46 points. His goal total also leads the team. Veteran Craig Darby is second in scoring with 38 points including a team-high 29 assists. Wade Flaherty assumes most of the workload in the Moose net. In 37 games, he's posted a 20-13-2 record with a 2.36 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage. His goals against average is second best in the league and his save percentage is number one. He also has an AHL-high six shutouts. Friday's game marks the second of eight straight on the road for the Moose. They'll play in Chicago before visiting Omaha.

Sunday, March 5 vs. Peoria Rivermen (St. Louis Blues), 5:00 p.m.
Seventh meeting of ten; third meeting of five in Omaha
The Ak-Sar-Ben Knights return to action against a West Division foe to finish the week. So far, the Knights are 2-3-1-0 against the Rivermen including a 3-2 overtime loss in Omaha in the last meeting on January 29th. The Rivermen begin the week in third place in the West with a record of 32-20-1-4, good for 69 points. They lead the Knights by eight points in the standings and hold two games in hand. The Rivermen are coming off a 4-3 overtime win over Chicago last Sunday. Mike Glumac currently leads the Rivermen in scoring with 57 points including a team high 25 assists, but he is currently on recall to the St. Louis Blues. So too is second leading scorer Trent Whitfield who has 53 points in just 41 games. That leaves Jon DiSalvatore as the leading scorer. He has 49 points in 51 games including seven in five games against the Knights. Reinhard Divis gets most of the work in the Peoria goal. In 24 games, he's posted a record of 11-8-2 with a 2.91 goals-against average and a .893 save percentage. The Rivermen host Rochester on Wednesday, Iowa on Friday and Milwaukee on Saturday before visiting the Knights.

KNIGHTS NOTES:
Center Dave Moss had goals in the Knights' first two games last week to establish a new team season high for consecutive games with a goal: 5.

Defenseman Tim Hambly scored his first AHL goal, a powerplay tally, at Toronto last Saturday.

Rookie defenseman Brett Palin scored the only goal of the shootout in the Knights' 3-2 win at Toronto. It was Palin's first goal of any kind this season.

The Knights finished their season-high five-game road trip with a record of 4-1-0-0.

The Knights allowed two goals or less in all three games last week and have now done so in eight of their last nine games. All eight of those games have been wins.

With an average of 2.76 goals against per game, the Knights are now the top defensive team in the West Division.

TRANSACTIONS:
2/26/06 DELETE Mark Giordano (D), recalled from loan by Calgary (NHL)

IN THE COMMUNITY:
Player Appearance, Tuesday, February 28: Knights' goalie Curtis McElhinney and defenseman Tim Hambly are scheduled to sign autographs at the Runza Restaurant at 90th and Fort Streets in Omaha at 5:00 p.m. The players are taking part in the restaurant's fundraising program for Masters Elementary School.

Player Appearance, Tuesday, February 28: Knights' forward Cam Severson and defenseman Zenith Komarniski are schedule to appear at the Junior Mavericks Pee Wee practice at Tranquility Ice Arena at 6:15 p.m.Radio Appearance, Tuesday, February 28: Knights' play-by-play voice Dave Ahlers will be appearing on Pinnacle Sports Network's "Sports Nightly" program (KFAB AM 1110 in Omaha) at 7:40 p.m. He will speak about the Knights' season to date and look forward to the upcoming week.

Radio Appearance, Thursday, March 2: Knights' center Dave Moss is scheduled to appear with Glennboy and Glo on Star 104.5 at 8:00 a.m.

Player Appearance, Thursday, March 2: Knights' goalie Brent Krahn and forwards Ajay Baines and Eric Nystrom are scheduled to read to school children at Bancroft Elementary School in Omaha at 1:30 p.m. as part of the school's participation in Read Across America.

Player Appearance, Thursday, March 2: Knights' forwards Lynn Loyns, Brantt Myhres and Brandon Prust along with Knights' mascot Nitro are scheduled to visit patients at Children's Hospital in Omaha at 2:00 p.m.

The Ak-Sar-Ben Knights' Speakers Bureau is available to provide speakers to local businesses, civic and church groups and other interested organizations holding weekly or monthly meetings and special events. There is no charge for this program. For more information on the Speakers Bureau or to schedule an appearance for your group's next meeting, call Dave Ahlers at (402) 344-GOAL or contact him by e-mail at dahlers@omahaaksarbenknights.com.

AK-SAR-BEN KNIGHTS TEAM STATISTICS (As of 2.27.06):
Click here to view Ak-Sar-Ben Knights player stats. Click here to view Ak-Sar-Ben Knights goalie stats.

OMAHAAKSARBENKNIGHTS.COM
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American Hockey League Stories from February 27, 2006


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