Moose Continue Eight Game Homestand

December 16, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


Last week, the Moose lost to Manchester on Wednesday by a 2-1 result then bounced back for a thrilling 4-3 overtime win against the Monarchs but lost 3-2 to the Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday. This week Manitoba continues the eight-game homestand with three more home matches as they host Grand Rapids on Tuesday and a weekend series against the St. John's Maple Leafs on Friday and Saturday. Manitoba remains in second spot in the Canadian Division with 31 points.

Last week: Wednesday, Dec. 11 - Manchester 2 vs. Manitoba 1: In the first, Manitoba scored the first goal of the game for the fourth straight match when Steve Kariya redirected a point shot from Jaroslav Obsut. It was Kariya's ninth of the season and it came while the team was shorthanded. Manchester equalized later in the period with a goal from their team leading scorer Joe Corvo. After one, 1-1. There was no scoring in the second but the Moose had several good chances, outshooting the Monarchs 10-4 in the period. In the third, the visitors scored the eventual game-winner from Derek Bekar. Manitoba tried to score the tying goal but could not and their three-game winning streak ended with a 2-1 home loss. The Moose outshot Manchester 29-20. Manitoba went 0-8 on the power play while the Monarchs were stopped on their three PP chances.

Friday, Dec. 13 - Manchester 3 vs. Manitoba 4 (OT): The visitors jumped out to an aggressive start and led the shots at one point 12-1. Moose goalie Tyler Moss made some outstanding saves to keep the match scoreless after one. In the second, the Moose scored the first goal of the game for the fifth straight match when Ryan Ready snapped a wrist shot for his 13th of the season. The Monarchs responded with two very quick goals in a span of 10 seconds. Just before the period ended, Jason King rushed the net and pocketed his tenth of the season. After two, 2-2. In the third period, captain Brian Chapman was fed a beautiful pass by Jeff Farkas and scored his first of the year. Manchester tied the score with five minutes left. In overtime, Fedor Fedorov made a solo rush and fired home the game-winner at 2:15. This was his sixth goal and second game-winner (tied for best on the team). Manchester outshot Manitoba 32-24. Tyler Moss made 29 saves for his fifth win of the season. Chapman (first), Nolan Baumgartner (second) and Fedorov (third) were the stars.

Saturday, Dec. 14 - Grand Rapids 3 vs. Manitoba 2: Grand Rapids opened the scoring when Mark Mowers netted his tenth. This was the first game in six matches that Manitoba did not open the scoring. Mowers scored his second of the night just over a minute later and the visitors had a two goal advantage. The hosts scored their first power play goal of the eight-game homestand when Jeff Farkas converted a fine pass by Nolan Baumgartner. After one, Grand Rapids 2-1. In the middle frame, The Griffins increased their lead to two with a power play goal from Bryan Adams. Manitoba rallied with a tally from Zenith Komarniski. It was his ninth of the season and John Craighead and Fedor Fedorov assisted on the play. After two, Grand Rapids 3-2. There was several good chances for the home side to tie the score but they could not find the equalizer and lost 3-2 to the Griffins. Manitoba outshot the visitors 28-19. Both teams went 1-5 on the power play.

Up Next: Grand Rapids (14-7-4-2) vs. Manitoba (14-13-3-0) - Tues., Dec. 17 - 7:30 p.m.

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

Griffins Watch: Grand Rapids lost on Friday to Hamilton by a score of 4-0 before playing in Winnipeg on Saturday. The Griffins hold the top spot in the Central Division with 34 points, good for a third place tie in the Western Conference. This will be the third meeting of the season between the two squads with Grand Rapids leading the series 2-0 after winning 4-0 at home on Nov. 12 and defeating the Moose on Saturday. The Griffins are 7-2-1-2 on the road going into Tuesday's match. The club is led by Mark Mowers (11g, 18a) with 29 points, good for a tie for seventh in the league. Mowers and Michel Picard lead the team in goals with 11 while Mowers has the team lead with 18 assists. David Van Drunen has the league's third best plus/minus at +16. Netminder Joey MacDoanld leads the team among active Griffins with a 2.69 Avg. and has four wins. The Griffins hold the third best goals against per game at 2.41 (27gp/65g) and the fifth AHL best shots against per game at 28.04 (27gp/757s).

Up Next: St. John's (8-18-2-1) vs. Manitoba (14-13-3-0)- Fri., Dec. 20 & Sat., Dec. 21 - 7:30 p.m.

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

Maple Leafs Watch: St. John's went 0-3-0-1 last week. They started the week by losing to Hamilton on Tues. and Wed. by scores of 5-4 and 3-0. On Friday, they lost 2-1 in overtime to Springfield and on Saturday lost 3-2 on the road to Portland. The Maple Leafs stands in fourth spot in the Canadian Division with 19 points, 12 points behind the Moose. This will be the third and fourth meetings of the season with St. John's leading the series 2-0 after winning in St. John's by scores of 5-4 and 4-1. The Baby Leafs are 3-10-1-1 on the road so far this season. St. John's are led by former Moose Brad Leeb (14g, 8a) with 22 points. He has the team lead in goals while Aaron Gavey and Anders Eriksson lead with 13 assists. Leeb has eight power play tallies which is good for a second place tie in the AHL. Brad Boyes (9g, 11a) has 20 points, 11th best for AHL defenceman. Mikael Tellqvist has the fifth most saves in the league at 543 and his four wins is tied for the team lead with Sebastien Centomo. St. John's has the ninth best goals for per game at 3.07 (29gp/89g) in the AHL. The Baby Leafs will play Worcester on Wednesday before flying to Winnipeg for the weekend series.

Moose Notes:

- On Thur., Dec. 12, the AHL announced that Moose defenceman Brian Chapman will serve as the team captain of the Canadian AHL All-Star Team for the 2003 Dodge AHL All-Star Classic at Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine. Captains for the American Hockey League All-Star teams are selected by the league in recognition of their outstanding service and leadership to the AHL.

- Brian Chapman notched his first goal of the season on Friday. His goal, five shots and +1 night were rewarded with a first star honour. The Brockville, ON native registered his 21st Moose goal, 153rd point as a Moose and is now only two points away from reaching 200 in the AHL.

- Fedor Fedorov took the puck from his own zone and made a solo rush to pot the game-winning goal in overtime against Manchester on Fri. His sixth goal of the campaign came at the 2:15 mark and was his second game-winner of the season (both in overtime). This moves him into a tie for the team lead in this category.

- Ryan Ready increased his team lead in goals with his 13th of the season on Friday. This was his first shorthanded marker of his four-year career. This also happened to be his 50th goal of his AHL/IHL career. Ready now stands in a tie for fifth in league scoring with 30 points.

- Goaltender Tyler Moss made 29 saves to earn his fifth win of the season. In the first period, he was peppered with 13 shots as Manchester came out with an early 12-1 shot advantage. His outstanding saves kept the score at zero and gave the team a lift heading into the middle frame. His record is now 5-5-2 with a 3.12 Avg. and .898 Save Pct. He now is on a two-game winning streak (12/07-)

- Forward Steve Kariya returned to action after missing four games due to injury. He scored the lone Moose goal and earned second star honours on Wednesday. His goal was a shorthanded tally and was his first SHG this season. The last time Kariya notched a shorthanded goal was with Kansas City during the 2000-01 campaign on Jan. 12/01 vs. Milwaukee.

- Alex Auld has 19 wins in his Moose career. He now stands four wins away from fifth spot in most wins by a Moose goaltender (Dave Gagnon, 1994-96). Auld has eight wins and has a team-leading 2.76 Avg.

- Jeff Farkas had four shots against Manchester on Wednesday but could not find the back of the net. His goal streak ended at four games which matches the team high so far this season (Zenith Komarniski 11/22-30). The goal streak was also the longest so far in his professional career. He notched five goals during the four games.

Farkas did score in Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Griffins.

- The Moose held Grand Rapids to 19 shots on Sat. This was the first time the Moose had held the opposition to under 20 shots in a home match since Dec. 12/01 vs. Chicago.

- Manitoba scored the first goal in five consecutive games (12/06-13). During that span, the team went 4-1.

- Jason King scored on Fri. to increase his goal total to ten. King is tied for the fifth best shooting percentage by an AHL rookie at .208 (10g/48s).

- Justin Kurtz (4g, 13a) leads Moose defencemen with 17 points. He now sits in a tie for 11th spot among AHL defencemen scoring.

- Tyler Bouck leads with 62 PIM.

- Defenceman Darrell Hay leads the team with a +4 rating.

- Manitoba has taken 32.70 shots per game (30gp/981s), good for a fifth place in the league.

- Manitoba stands in a tenth place tie in the AHL with 3.00 goals per game (30gp/90g).

- They rank sixth in the league for shorthanded markers with six.

- The team's penalty kill ranks 20th with 82.2 % (30g/169a).

- Manitoba ranks 16th in power play with 16.2% (32g/198a).



American Hockey League Stories from December 16, 2002


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