Moose alone in first place

Published on February 26, 2007 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Manitoba Moose season-long winning streak came to an end at nine games but the team got right back on the winning track to win 3-of-4 games in Week 21 and leave Manitoba alone at the top of the North Division standings with 75 points two points ahead of the Rochester Americans and Hamilton Bulldogs. The Moose closed out their six-game road trip by defeating Toronto on Wednesday, and Rochester on Friday, before snapping their second longest winning streak in franchise history in a 3-0 shutout loss to the Syracuse Crunch. The Moose got right back on track the next day though, by earning a 3-1 win over the Marlies at Ricoh Coliseum. The Moose went 5-1-0-0 on their road trip and finished with their best February ever at 10-1-1-0.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007: The Moose visited the Toronto Marlies for the third time this season at Ricoh Coliseum. The Moose surrendered the first goal to the Marlies before responding with four unanswered goals of their own to earn their eighth consecutive victory, and their third straight over the Marlies at Ricoh Coliseum this season. Lee Goren paced the Moose attack with a goal and an assist on his way to first star honours in the game.

Friday, February 23, 2007: The Moose started their third "3-in-3" stretch of the season as they faced the Rochester Americans at the Blue Cross Arena. The Amerks lineup was decimated with callups to the Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers as the Moose eventually overpowered the Americans who were in first place at the time. Eight diffrerent Moose players delivered multi-point performances on the night with Alexandre Bolduc leading the way with two goals and two assists in the 8-3 victory. The eight-goal performance set a new team record for most goals on the road, one better than the previous record of seven goals, which was attained five times in franchise history, most recently Oct. 24/06 at Chicago. The win was the team's ninth in-a-row making it the second longest winning streak in franchise history while moving them into a tie for first place in the North Division with Rochester. This was also the last game of the season series between these clubs as Manitoba finished with a record of 4-3-1-0 versus the Amerks on the year.

Saturday, February 24, 2007: Saturday night the Moose travelled to Syracuse to take on the Crunch for their final matchup of the season. Syracuse scored a powerplay goal early in the second period and never looked back from there as they skated to a 3-0 win over the Moose. Tomas Popperle earned his second shutout this season versus the Moose stopping all 30 shots fired at him. Popperle also out-dueled Julien Ellis earlier in the year on Jan. 26/07 in a 1-0 overtime victory in Syracuse. The loss marked the sixth time the Moose have been shutout this season and snapped their season-long winning streak at nine games. The Moose finished the season 5-1-2-0 versus the Crunch.

Sunday, February 25, 2007: The Moose finished up their road trip with their final game at Ricoh Coliseum this year. The Moose and Marlies play four more times this season but they will all take place at the MTS Centre. The Moose quickly rebounded from their loss the previous night as Brandon Reid scored at the 2:00 mark of the opening period to stake the Moose to an early lead. The Moose led 3-0 heading to the third period and hung on for the 3-1 victory. The Moose won all four games in Toronto this season by a combined score of 17-7. The win put the Moose alone in first place in the North Division with 75 points and a 32-17-7-4 record.

This week Manitoba plays host to the Toronto Marlies for the first time this season on Friday, March 2nd and Saturday, March 3rd at the MTS Centre.

MOOSE NOTES

The streak is over: With Saturday night's shutout loss to the Syracuse Crunch, the second-longest winning streak in Manitoba Moose history came to an end at nine games - one game shy of the franchise record. Back in 2000-01, the Moose won 10 in a row, including two overtime wins, between Oct. 18 - Nov. 17/00.

February Record: The Moose started the month of February third in the North Division standings. After going 10-1-1-0 in the shortest month of the year, the Moose are now alone in first place in the division two points ahead of both Rochester and Hamilton. The Moose had their best February since joining the AHL earning 21 of a possible 24 points and tied the franchise record set in 1998-99 when the team earned 21 of a possible 28 points with a 10-3-0-1 record. The worst February in Moose franchise history was in 1995-96 when the team only managed eight of a possible 22 points, with a 4-7-0-0 record. Last season the Moose were 5-3-1-0, collecting 11 of a possible 18 points.

Visitor victories: The Moose are back in town this week after playing six games in 12 days on the road. The six-game road trip, the team's longest so far this season, resulted in five wins and one loss for 10 out of 12 possible points, improving Manitoba's road record to 14-10-4-2. For road trips of six games or longer, this most recent trip was the team's most successful in six AHL seasons. The team's next best extended road performance was between Mar. 27 - Apr. 6/02 when the team earned the same number of points (10) but in seven games rather than six. Manitoba's longest road trip of the season is yet to come: seven games from Mar. 27 - Apr. 7/07.

Penalty-kill number one again: After falling behind Bridgeport for a game in the overall penalty-kill rankings, the Moose have reclaimed top spot in that category. The Moose have a success rate of 89.3% killing penalties this season allowing 34 goals in 318 shorthanded situations. Manitoba play host to the Toronto Marlies this weekend who they have yet to surrender a powerplay goal to this season, leaving the Marlies 0-for-15 with the man-advantage.

Alone at the top: With Sunday's 3-1 victory over the Toronto Marlies, Manitoba jumped two points ahead of the Rochester Americans to secure the top spot in the North Division standings. This is the first time the Moose have owned first place in over two seasons, since Jan. 21/05 before Game 43 of the 2004-05 season in Edmonton. Earlier this season, Manitoba and Rochester were tied for first on two separate occasions: Jan. 5-6/07 and Jan. 11-12/07. The Moose then sat neck-and-neck with the Americans for two days, starting Feb. 23/07 when Manitoba defeated Rochester 8-3. The tie continued Feb. 24/07, when both teams failed to register a point, but the Moose pulled ahead Sunday afternoon with the win in Toronto. Rochester had no games scheduled that day and doesn't play again until Wednesday, Feb. 28/07 when they host the Grand Rapids Griffins.

UPCOMING OPPONENT

After completing their away games in their series versus Toronto this season the Moose are now 4-0-0-0 against the Marlies. Manitoba will now host Toronto for two games this week Friday, March 2nd and Saturday, March 3rd at the MTS Centre where the Moose are 3-0-0-1 versus the Marlies all-time. Manitoba's overall record versus Toronto is 10-0-1-1 as the Moose have yet to lose in regulation to the Marlies. Manitoba will finish the season with two home games versus the Marlies April 13th and 14th at the MTS Centre.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE

#37 Lee Goren - Right Wing

Lee Goren appeared in all four games played by the Moose this week when they ran their record to 32-17-7-4 and fell just one victory shy of setting a franchise mark with nine wins in a row...Goren collected his 17th and 18th goals of the season this week and collected four assists including a three-point night in Manitoba's 8-3 victory over Rochester on Friday night...The Moose now sit two points up on the Amerks alone in first in the North Division for the first time this season...Goren also fired 12 shots on net this week and finished the week +5 in the plus/minus category...Goren is now second on the current Moose roster, 10 points back of linemate Jason Jaffray...He has 18 goals and 34 assists for 52 points on the season in 52 games to maintain his point-per-game pace that he has accomplished since joining the Moose back in 2004.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 26, 2007


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