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Moose continue battle for playoff spot

March 25, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Moose went 2-1 over the week. They defeated Saint John on Wednesday, lost to Houston on Friday and avenged the loss with a Sunday afternoon victory against the Aeros. The team went 4-1 on their five game homestand. The Moose are still battling for a playoff spot and sit with 76 points with eight games remaining. Manitoba starts an important seven game homestand with a match in Milwaukee on Wednesday and then a weekend series with the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Last week: Wednesday, Mar. 20 - Saint John 0 vs. Manitoba 6: At the start, forward Jimmy Roy notched his team leading third shorthanded marker of the season before the three minute mark. For the third straight match, Manitoba scored three goals in the middle frame. Brandon Reid fired his 16th on the power play. Defenceman Bryan Allen fired a low screamer from the point for his sixth and Rene Vydareny potted his third. After two, the Moose led 4-0. In the third, Andre Savage fired his team leading 29th marker and Denis Martynyuk added his first Moose and AHL goal of his career. Reid assisted on the play to collect three points in the game. Alfie Michaud protected the 6-0 lead and registered his second shutout in three games with a 43 save performance. Michaud had been in the nets for all games of a three game home winning streak.

Friday, Mar. 22 - Houston 4 vs. Manitoba 3: Houston started the scoring with a goal by newly acquired Greg Crozier at the 1:17 mark of the first. The visitors went ahead 2-0 with a power play tally. In the second, Ryan Ready popped his 21st and eighth on the power play. Moose forward Andre Savage notched his 30th of the season to tie the contest. Houston registered another goal to take the lead but the hosts responded with a late second period marker by Steve Kariya. The Moose scored three goals in the second frame for the fourth consecutive match. In the third, Houston accounted for the only goal of the period. Brendan Yarema fired his 13th for the game winner. Manitoba's three game home streak ended as Houston won 4-3. This was the fourth straight game Manitoba had been outshot by the opposition. Both teams went 1-6 on the power play.

Sunday, Mar. 24 - Houston 2 vs. Manitoba 5: In the first, Manitoba jumped into a 1-0 lead when Josh Holden scored his 16th. Andre Savage notched his team leading 11th PPG for a two goal advantage. In the second frame, the hosts upped the margin to three with a power play tally by Darrell Hay. In the final period, Houston spoiled the shutout bid of Moose goalie Alfie Michaud with a power play goal. Savage scored his second of the match and his 32nd while Ryan Ready deposited his 22nd on the power play. Defenceman Justin Kurtz added an assist on the play for his third helper of the contest. Houston added one more, but the home side prevailed with a 5-2 decision. The Moose were 50% on the power play with a 3-6 effort while holding Houston to one goal in six PP chances. Michaud captured his team leading 13th win with a 25 save game.

Up Next: Manitoba (35-31-3-3) vs. Milwaukee (28-32-10-4) - Wednesday, Mar. 27 - 7:00 p.m.

T.V.: none Radio: CJOB - 6:35 p.m.

Admirals Watch: During the last week, the Admirals lost on the road to Grand Rapids on Wednesday, lost in overtime to the Griffins on Friday and defeated Cleveland on Saturday. The team has gone 4-3-3 in the last 10 matches. Milwaukee sits in fifth spot in the West Division with 70 points and are five points out of a playoff spot held by Rochester. They have the league third best penalty kill at 86.1. The Admirals have the third most shorthanded goals this season with 16 and the most shorthanded goals on the road with 13. David Gosselin is tied for the most SH goals in the league at five. Milwaukee has the league's eighth best goals against average per game at 2.62. Right winger Petr Sachl is leading the Admirals in scoring with 42 points and assists (13G, 29A). Mark Mowers and Jason Goulet have the most goals with 17. Netminder Jan Lasak has the league's eighth best Avg. at 2.40.

Up Next: Manitoba (35-31-3-3) vs. Hartford (38-22-10-3) - Fri., Mar. 29 and Sat., Mar. 30 - 6:00 p.m.

T.V.: none Radio: CJOB - 5:35 p.m. for both games

Wolf Pack Watch: Last week, Hartford had a busy weekend. They lost to Bridgeport at home to start the week on Friday. Then they beat Springfield at home on Saturday and were victorious against Worcester on Sunday. The Wolf Pack are in first place in the East Division with 89 points and have clinched a playoff berth. Hartford is tied for tops in the eastern Conference and overall in the league. Right winger Brad Smyth leads the team in scoring, assists and goals (tied with Rico Fata) with 78 PTS (33G, 45A). Smyth currently tops the AHL scoring race and also is tied in the AHL with most shots at 295. Fata has the team lead in plus/minus with a +28 rating - the best in the league. Defenceman Mike Mottau has the league's sixth best scoring total for a defenceman at 49 points (8G, 41A), second most assists at 41 and holds the third highest plus/minus at +20. Fata is currently on a seven game point streak going into this week's action and holds tenth spot in the AHL with 67 pts. (33G, 34A). Jamie Lundmark has 53 points for the team rookie lead in scoring and is third best in the league. The Wolf Pack has the sixth best power play at 18.8%. Hartford has the third best goals per game average at 3.2 and fifth best shots per average at 32.2.

Moose Notes:

- Alfie Michaud stopped all 43 shots on Wed. vs. Saint John for his team leading third shutout and stopped 25 shots on Sun. vs. Houston for 13th victory of the season. Michaud increased his Save Pct. to .907 and lowered his Save Avg. to 2.68 and has won five of the last seven games he has played since his recall on Mar. 4. - Centreman Andre Savage became the first Moose this season to notch 30 goals with a goal against Houston on Friday. His 30th marker is a personal high as a professional and was the 85th AHL goal in his career. Savage had three points (2G, 1A) on Sunday against Houston for first star and had his 13th multi-point game of the 2001-02 season. Savage has the team lead in goals and sits in second spot in Moose scoring with 55 points (32G, 23A).

- Forward Ryan Ready accounted for three points in the 4-3 loss to Houston on Friday. Ready scored his 21st on the power play (his 8th PPG), had two assists and was rewarded with a second star selection. This was the third time he has registered three points in a game this season (previously: Nov. 7 and Dec. 29). Ready has now scored a goal in four of the last five contests and sits in third spot with 51 points (22G, 29A).

- The Moose completed the second of two extended homestands in the last quarter of the season. The team won four out of five home dates while outscoring the opposition 24-8. Manitoba will now not be back at home until the final regular season match on April 7.

- Kurtz had three assists on Sunday for third star honours. He now has 33 points (seven goals and 26 assists) to take the lead for Moose defenceman and stand tied for fourth spot in Moose scoring. He has now set a personal pro career high for points & assists and is one away from tying his goal high of eight.

- The squad potted three goals in the second period on Mar. 20 and Mar. 22.

- Speedy winger Brandon Reid notched a goal and two assists and was awarded second star in Wednesday's contest against the Flames. This is the second time in three games where Reid had registered a three point game (the last was on Mar. 15). He is in fourth place in Moose scoring with 33 points (16 goals, 17 assists).

- The Moose record stood at 34-30-3-3 after 70 games. Last year the squad was 34-26-10. In previous years, the franchise held records of : 33-24-14 ('99-00), 40-20-10 ('98-99), 32-31-7 ('97-98), 29-32-9 ('96-97).

- The Moose had over 19,000 people watch them over the weekend. A crowd of 9,186 attended on Friday and a sold-out audience of 10,084 (14th highest in franchise history) viewed the team defeat Houston on Sunday.

- Andre Savage is working on a four game goal streak (a team high this year) entering this week's action.

- During the 6-0 win over the Flames, the Moose received two point contributions from forwards Jason Cipolla and Jimmy Roy. Cipolla added two helpers. Roy scored a SH goal and an assist for third star honours. He now holds the team lead for shorthanded markers and has now notched seven SHG for his Moose career. This ranks him second in all-time franchise history (Dave Christian with 10 in 1994-96).

- Manitoba stands in first place in the AHL for goals average per game at 3.43 (72GP/247G). The team is first in the league for overall goals scored at 247. The Moose created those goal opportunities by shooting a league fourth best average for shots per game at 32.50 (72GP/2340S).

- Josh Holden leads the team among active Moose with 171 PIM.

- Rene Vydareny leads active Moose with a +19 rating.

- At 81.4% (289 for 355), the Moose penalty killing ranks 22nd in the AHL.

- At 16.6% (61 for 367), Manitoba's power play ranks 15th in the AHL.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 25, 2002


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