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Moose Complete Six-Game Road Trip, Ready to Begin Six-Game Homestand

February 10, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


Last week, the Moose completed their six-game road trip with a 2-2 tie on Wednesday against Manchester, a 5-1 loss to the Monarchs on Friday, a 3-3 tie in Springfield and a 4-2 loss to the Providence Bruins. Manitoba will embark on a six-game homestand beginning on Thursday verus the AHL-leading Hamilton Bulldogs. The season series is tied at two games apiece (Moose 3-2OTW on Feb. 1, 5-3W on Jan. 24 and Bulldogs 3-2L on Jan. 31, 8-5W on Jan. 25). The Moose remain in second spot in the Canadian Division with 54 points.

Last week: Wednesday, Feb. 5 - Manitoba 2 vs. Manchester 2 (OT): In the first, the home side wasted little time in scoring the first goal on the power play. Derek Bekar scored his fifth and the Moose battled back with a tally from Justin Morrsion. This was Morrison first of the night and extended his point streak to five consecutive games in the AHL. The hosts went ahead with a goal from third star Yanick Lehoux to end the period scoring. After one, Manchester 2-1. In the second, first star Morrsion used his speed and strength to his advantage and potted his fifth of the AHL season and second of the game. After two, the score was deadlocked at two. There was no scoring in the third as Moose goalie Alex Auld stopped all 18 shots directed his way. Overtime would not solve anything and both teams earned a point from the 2-2 result.

Friday, Feb. 7 - Manitoba 1 vs. Manchester 5: There was no scoring in the first. Manchester scored the first goal. The hosts extended their lead when Eric Healey fired his 20th and Richard Seeley scored his third on the power play. Manitoba broke the goose egg when Tyler Bouck notched his seventh of the campaign. This was Bouck's first goal in his last 16 matches. Pat Kavanagh and Jason King assisted on the play. After two, the home side led 3-1. In the third, the Monarchs received the second goals of the game from Healey and Derek Bekar to round out the scoring. At the end of the game, Bouck received a sucker punch from Joe Rullier and this sparked a fight-filled final four seconds at Verizon Wireless Arena. The final score, Manchester 5-1.

Saturday, Feb. 8 - Manitoba 3 vs. Springfield 3 (OT): In the first, the home side scored first at the one minute mark. Manitoba answered back with a power play goal from defenceman Nolan Baumgartner. This was his fifth of the season and third with a man-advantage. Herbert Vasiljevs scored his sixth to put the visitors ahead 2-1 after the first. In the middle frame, Springfield fought back with two goals from Sheldon Keefe and Jeff Taffe. Manitoba replied late in the period when Pat Kavanagh notched a power play marker. Justin Kurtz and Baumgartner assisted on the play. After two, 3-3. There was no scoring in the third and overtime as the Moose peppered Springfield goalie Jean-Marc Pelletier with 16 shots in the third and three in OT. Manitoba earned their fourth point of the road trip with a 3-3 tie against the Falcons.

Sunday, Feb. 9 - Manitoba 2 vs. Providence 4: In the first, Lee Goren put the home side ahead with his 20th. This was the ninth consecutive game that the Moose have allowed the opposition to score the first goal. After one, Providence 1-0. In the second, the hosts extended their lead before Manitoba replied with a power play tally from Nolan Baumgartner. This was his sixth of the season and fourth with the man-advantage. The Bruins scored late in the period and for the first time this year, the Moose changed goalies during a match. Tyler Moss replaced Alex Auld. After two, the home side led 3-1. In the final frame, Ryan Ready notched his first goal since returning from injury. It was his team-leading ninth PPG of the campaign. Goren added another goal and the Bruins beat Manitoba in the first-ever meeting between the two clubs by a score of 4-2.

Up Next: Manitoba (24-26-6-0) vs. Hamilton (38-8-5-4) - Thur. Feb. 13 & Fri., Feb. 14 - 7:30 p.m.

T.V.: none Radio: CJOB - 7:05 p.m. on both games

Bulldogs Watch: Hamilton started last week with a 4-2 win against Albany and tied Philadelphia 4-4 on Friday. The Bulldogs sit atop the AHL with 85 points, 10 points clear of the next AHL team. They have an impressive 19-5-2-1 away record. This will be the fifth and sixth meeting of the season and the season series is tied at two games each. The club is led by AHL leading scorer Jason Ward (24g, 37a) with 61 points. Ward is tied for second in the league in assists. Injured Benoit Gratton (19g, 36a) is still tied for third in league scoring with 55 points. Jarret Stoll (15g, 22a) has the seventh most points among AHL rookies at 37 points. Francois Beauchemin and Mike Komisarek are leading the AHL with a +27 rating. Hamilton has five active players with a plus/minus rating over 20. Goaltender Ty Conklin is 11th in the AHL with a 2.47 Avg. and has 16 wins. The Bulldogs have the second best penalty kill in the league at 88.1 % (33g/277a) and seventh best power play at 18.2% (59g/324a). They have the league's best goals for per game at 3.75 (55gp/206g) and best goals against at 2.20 (55gp/121g). Hamilton holds the league's sixth most shots for per game at 32.78 (55gp/1803s) and have allowed the seventh least amount of shots per game at 28.60 (55gp/1573s).

Moose Notes:

- Justin Kurtz was named AHL Player of the Week for the week ending Feb. 2. He was the first Moose selected for the award this season and the third overall (Steve Kariya and Alex Auld in 2001-02 season). The defenceman has now moved into eighth place for Moose all-time points with 127.

- Defenceman Nolan Baumgartner registered his fifth and sixth goals of the season this week. Both were on the power play and he now has four power play tallies on the season. Baumgartner has now reached the second highest season goal total for his professional career. He added an assist in the Sat. match and notched his fourth multi-point game of the campaign. He has scored at least a point in nine of the last 12 contests.

- Ryan Ready scored his first goal since coming back from his injury. It was a power play marker on Sun. Versus Providence. He has now extended his team lead in power play goals to four with his ninth PPG.

- Forward Pat Kavanagh added his ninth of the season on the power play on Sat. in the 3-3 tie versus Springfield. He is perched to be the eighth Moose this season to accumulate 10 or more goals during the 2002-03 season. Kavanagh is now only four markers away from his Moose high set last season. He has nine goals and six assists and is currently on a two-game point streak.

- Manitoba continued their impressive streak of not losing in an overtime contest this season. In nine contests that continued past regulation time, they have built a 3-0-6 record. The last time the Moose have lost in overtime occurred on March 30/02 in Hartford by a 4-3 score.

- The Moose have allowed the opposition to score the first goal in all six road games during the trip. Manitoba has not scored the first marker in a game since Jan. 24 at home to the Hamilton Bulldogs (a span of nine games). They hold a record of 9-21-5-0 when not scoring first this season and a 15-5-1-0 mark when leading 1-0 in a match.

- Defenceman Bryan Helmer had three assists in the last four matches. He has a point in six of the last seven contests since his reassignment from Vancouver on Jan. 29. He is third among Moose defencemen with 24 points (4g, 20a).

- Forward Tyler Bouck registered his seventh marker of the season against Manchester of Friday. This is his highest total as a professional during his three-year career. His goal ended a 15 game scoreless streak and moved him into an eighth place tie among active Moose with 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists).

- The Moose earned their fifth tie of the season on Wednesday against the Monarchs and sixth tie on Saturday against Springfield. This is the most ties in franchise history during a season. The previous mark of four was set last season.

- Alex Auld made 36 saves in the 2-2 tie against Manchester on Wed. This tied the team season-high for saves in a single game established by Tyler Moss on Jan. 19 at Houston. The second-year pro has now played in 54 games for the Moose and has moved to within five games of fourth place in career games played by a Moose goalie. The mark is held by Tom Draper set from 1994-96.

- Forward Justin Morrsion had a five game point streak and defenceman Bryan Helmer had a four game point streak end in the 5-1 loss to Manchester on Friday.

- Brandon Reid (13g, 25a) remains in the team lead with 38 points.

- Jimmy Roy leads with 84 PIM.

- Brian Chapman leads the team with a +5 rating.

- The team's penalty kill ranks 24th with 80.2% (58g/293a).

- Manitoba ranks 16th in power play with 16.2% (55g/340a).

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American Hockey League Stories from February 10, 2003


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