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Moose earn three of hour, but can't gain ground on Hamilton

December 27, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


MOOSE EARN THREE OF FOUR, BUT CAN'T GAIN GROUND ON HAMILTON

The Moose earned three of a possible four points in week 12, as they took on their North Division rival Hamilton Bulldogs in back-to-back games at the MTS Centre. The Moose went into the two-game series trailing the Bulldogs by one point in the standings. Even though they were able to secure three of four points in the two games by virtue of an overtime victory and a shootout loss, they allowed Hamilton to earn the same 3-of-4 points to maintain their hold on second place. The series leaves the Moose third in the North Division standings at 15-13-4-3 for a total of 37 points. The Moose play a visit to Copps Coliseum this week and will look to cut into Hamilton's second-place lead.

Wednesday night the Moose played the first of back-to-back contests versus the Bulldogs at the MTS Centre. Brandon Reid was the hero of the day as he scored with just :14 left in overtime to give the Moose the valuable extra point in the standings and move them into a temporary tie for second place in the North Division standings. (see the recap)

Thursday night the two teams faced-off again in the final game for the Moose before the Christmas break. For the second straight game the Moose and Bulldogs needed more than 60:00 to decide a winner. This time not even OT could decide things as the Moose failed to capitalize on a powerplay in the extra frame. The two teams went to a shootout where it took ten shooters from each side to finally declare a victor. Matt D'agostini scored the game-winner as he roofed a shot over the glove of Wade Flaherty. Captain Mike Keane had a chance to tie it, but Yann Danis made a nice save with his left pad to steal the extra point for the visitors and give them back sole possession of second place in the standings. (see the recap)

The Moose wil play back-to-back road games in Hamilton and Toronto on Dec. 27/06 and Dec. 28/06 before returning home to host Syracuse in their final two games of 2006. The Moose have special indoor fireworks planned for the annual New Year's Eve game, and have opened the upper bowl for the first time this season. The team is expecting a complete sell-out as people look to kick-off their New Year's with the Moose. Game time is 4:00PM CDT at the MTS Centre.

MOOSE NOTES

Moose shootout record: The Manitoba Moose were involved in their third shootout of the season last Thursday versus the Hamilton Bulldogs - a 4-3 loss at the MTS Centre. The Moose are now 0-3 in shootouts after losing their first two shootouts of the season, Oct. 26/06 to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 3-2 at the MTS Centre and then Nov. 04/06 to the Grand Rapids Griffins 5-4 at the Blue Cross Arena. Drew MacIntyre was the goaltender in the first two shootouts, allowing four goals on nine attempts, while Wade Flaherty saw his first shootout action of the season versus the Bulldogs, in a ten shooter marathon. Flaherty allowed four goals on ten attempts in the loss. Brandon Reid currently leads the team in shootout conversions, having scored on 2-of-4 attempts this season. Last season the Moose were involved in nine shootouts finishing with a record of 4-5.

Reid continues hot play at Spengler: Brandon Reid started his 2006-07 Moose campaign slowly, registering only six points in his first 17 games played this year. However in his last 14 games, Reid has scored seven goals and nine assists for 16 points vaulting him into fourth in team-scoring. Reid is currently on a five-game-goal-scoring streak, the longest of the season for any Moose player. He now has points in eight of his last nine games. Reid was invited to join Team Canada at the Spengler Cup beginning last nigth (Dec. 26/06) in Davos, Switzerland, where Reid carried his strong play into the tournament scoring a goal, the first of the game for Team Canada. Reid was a spark plug all over the ice, creating several good scoring chances on the night, as Team Canda defeated Mora IK 4-3 in a shootout.

Record vs the North: With last week's match-ups against the Bulldogs, the Moose began a 10-game stretch against North Division opponents. They still face Hamilton three more times during this 10-game stretch. So far this season, the Moose have played 14 games versus North Division opponents and are currently 6-5-1-2 in those games. The Moose are 3-3-1-1 on the road this season versus their North Division opponents. Last season, Manitoba was 23-11-5-5 within their own divison.

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

The Moose will look to cut into Hamilton's hold of second place as they tangle with the Bulldogs one more time on Dec. 27/06. The Moose and Bulldogs split their first two meetings at Copps Coliseum, with Hamilton winning the first matchup 5-3 on Oct. 6/06, and the Moose winning at Copps Coliseum for the first time in over two years with a 5-4 victory on Nov. 21/06. The Moose currently hold a record of 2-1-0-1 versus the Bulldogs this season.

The Moose will play their second game of the season versus the Toronto Marlies at Ricoh Coliseum Dec. 28/06. The last time these two clubs faced each other in Toronto the Moose scored three first period goals and then added singles in the second and third to hold off the Marlies 5-2, enroute to their first victory of the 2006-07 season. Last season the Moose held a 3-0-1-0 record on the road vs the Marlies, winning in a shootout in their last meeting at Ricoh Coliseum.

The Moose will host the last place Syracuse Crunch for their final two games of 2006 on Dec. 30/06 and Dec. 31/06 at the MTS Centre. The Moose have only played the Crunch once this season, a 1-0 shutout victory at Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter on Nov. 18/06. Jason Jaffray scored with :05 left in regulation to steal the points for the Moose, and Dany Sabourin, down with the Moose on a conditioning stint earned the first shutout of the season for Manitoba in the victory. The Moose will face the Crunch seven more times this season.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE

#10 Brandon Reid - Center

Brandon Reid appeared in both games for the Moose this week, collecting two goals and one assist for three points including the game-winning-overtime goal versus the Hamilton Bulldogs on Dec. 20/06... As a result, Reid now sits fourth in team scoring with 10 goals and 11 assists for 21 points in 30 games played...Reid is currently on a five-game-goal-scoring streak, the longest of the season for any Moose player, and has added two assists in that five-game stretch...Reid was recently invited to play for Team Canada at the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland starting Dec. 26/06, becoming the third Moose representative at the Spengler Cup in consecutive seasons, as goaltender Alex Auld helped backstop Canada to a silver medal in 2004, and defenceman Brett Skinner also won silver with Team Canada in 2005 where he was actually a teammate of Reid's....



American Hockey League Stories from December 27, 2006


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