Moose Finish Homestand with 2-2-2 Record

Published on December 2, 2002 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


Last week, the Moose finished their six-game homestand with a 2-2-2 record. The team was swept on the weekend by the Utah Grizzlies. The club will now depart for a quick four-game road trip that will see them play four matches in five nights. The week starts with Manitoba travelling to play the Hartford Wolf Pack on Wednesday, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Friday, the Springfield Falcons on Saturday and the Worcester IceCats on Sunday. Manitoba remains in second spot in the Canadian Division with 23 points.

Last week: Friday, Nov. 29 - Utah 5 vs. Manitoba 2: In the opening frame, Utah opened the scoring on the power play when Eric Landry fired his eighth of the season. The Grizzlies increased their lead to two with a marker by Jeff MacMillan and led 2-0 after one period. In the second, Manitoba closed the lead to one when Zenith Komarniski fired his seventh of the campaign. Pat Kavanagh and John Craighead assisted on the play. After two, Utah 2-1. In the third, the hosts tied the score. Jason King fired home his seventh of the season from Brandon Reid and Jaroslav Obsut. Manitoba had a couple of good opportunities but Utah notched the eventual game-winner from Landry. Utah scored a couple of late period markers to make the final score 5-2 for the Grizzlies. Both teams took 27 shots apiece. Manitoba went 0-5 while stopping Utah on six of seven power play chances. Tyler Moss earned third star for his 22 save performance.

Saturday, Nov. 30 - Utah 4 vs. Manitoba 2: In the first, the home side pressed for a marker and fired 18 shots on goal but the period went scoreless. In the middle frame, Utah scored twice on the power play from Greg Hawgood and Eric Chouinard. Manitoba rallied with a goal from Zenith Komarniski. This was Komarniski's fourth consecutive game with at least one goal and becomes the team-high so far this season. After two, Utah 2-1. In the third, Utah scored again before the Moose closed the gap to one with a power play tally from Jason King. This was the second night in a row that King and Komarniski registered the goals for the hosts. Utah finished the scoring with an empty netter and won 4-2. Manitoba outshot Utah by a wide margin, 48-29. The Moose went 1-5 on the power play while the Grizzlies were 3-7 with the man-advantage. Komarniski was selected third star.

Up Next: Manitoba (10-10-3-0) vs. Hartford (11-6-3-2) - Wed., Dec. 4 - 6:05 p.m.

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

Wolf Pack Watch: Hartford is on a three-game winning streak after last week's results. They started the week with a 1-0 win on Wednesday against Worcester, then won twice in St. John's by scores of 5-3 and 3-1. The Wolf Pack stands in second spot in the East Division with 27 points. This will be the second meeting between the two teams. The Moose captured the first match on the road with a 4-3 OTW on Oct. 30. Hartford is 5-1-1-1 at home so far this season. The Wolf Pack are led by Dixon Ward (8g, 15a) with 23 points, good for a tie for 15th in the league. He has the team lead in assists. John Tripp leads the club with 12 goals while Mike Mottau has the second highest +/- rating with a +16. Joel Bouchard has the league's fourth-most points for a defenceman at 18. Goalie Johan Holmqvist leads with a 1.75 Avg. And has the AHL's second best Save Pct. at .940.

Hartford has the league's second best power play at 20.4 % (23/113). They are tied for the second most shorthanded markers with six. The Wolf Pack leads the AHL in goals for per game at 4.05 (22gp/89g). Hartford has fired the sixth most shots per game at 32.86 (22gp/723s). Ted Donato is on a six-game assist streak while Dixon enters the game on a five-game assist streak.

Up Next: Manitoba (10-10-3-0) vs. Bridgeport (13-5-5-1) - Fri., Dec. 6 - 6:35 p.m.

T.V.: none Radio: CJOB - 6:05 p.m.

Sound Tigers Watch: Bridgeport started the week with a 3-2 OTW over Manchester and then beat Springfield 4-2 on Fri. The Sound Tigers went on the road and won 3-2 vs. Lowell on Sat. and tied Hershey 3-3 on Sun. They hold top spot in the East Division with 32 points and only two points back of the lead in the Eastern Conference. This is the first-ever meeting of the regular season between the two clubs.

Bridgeport is 6-1-3-0 in their last 10 games and hold a home record of 8-2-2-0 so far this season. The club is led by Trent Hunter (11g, 13a) with 24 points, good for a tie for 11th in the league. Hunter is also the team leader in goals and assists. Netminder Rick DiPietro has the AHL's fifth best Avg. at 2.19 and is tied for the league lead with nine wins. Di Pietro is third in minutes played with 1043 and fourth in the league with 435 saves. The Sound Tigers hold the second best penalty kill in the AHL with a 89.8 % (14/138). Bridgeport has the fifth best goals against per game at 2.58 (24gp/62g).

Up Next: Manitoba (10-10-3-0) vs. Springfield (11-14-0-0) - Sat., Dec. 7 - 6:35 p.m.

T.V.: none Radio: CJOB - 6:05 p.m.

Falcons Watch: Last week, Springfield lost 4-3 at Bridgeport on Fri., beat Binghamton 3-0 at home on Sat. and captured a 2-1 road win in Lowell. The Falcons are in fourth place in the East Division with 22 points. They hold a 7-5-0-0 home record. The two teams split a weekend series in Winnipeg in late October. The club is led by Ramzi Abid (13g, 9a) with 22 points. He holds the team lead and is tied for second in the league with 13 goals. Abid is tied for the league-lead with eight power play tallies. Darren Rumble has the team lead with 17 assists, good for a fourth place tie in the league. Rumble has 21 points, in a tie for the best among AHL defenceman. Jeff Taffe has the sixth most points for an AHL rookies at 17. Goalie Zac Bierk leads the team with 2.89 Avg. and five wins. Springfield hosts Syracuse on Friday before playing Manitoba.

Up Next: Manitoba (10-10-3-0) vs. Worcester (12-7-3-1) - Sun., Dec. 8 - 3:05 p.m.

T.V.: none Radio: CJOB - 2:35 p.m.

IceCats Watch: The IceCats went 2-1-1-0 last week. On Saturday, Worcester scored a franchise and league-high this season with their 11-0 drubbing of Providence. Worcester has 28 points which lands them in a tie for second in the North Division. Worcester is undefeated in three games and hold a 6-5-0-1 home record. Justin Papineau (14g, 13a) leads the team scoring with 27 points, good for a third place tie in the AHL. Papineau leads the league with 14 goals. Sergei Varlamov and John Pohl lead the team with 16 assists. Varlamov leads the AHL with a +17 rating. Blake Evans is tied for the league-lead with three shorthanded markers. Pohl is second in the league for rookie scoring with 25 points. Goalie Curtis Sanford has a team-leading 2.56 Avg. while Phil Osaer has a team-high seven wins.

Worcester has the fourth best power play at 19.3% (27/140). The IceCats are second in the AHL for goals for per game at 3.78 (23gp/87g). They have the fifth most shots per game at 33.04 (23gp/760s). Worcester plays in Hartford on Fri. and hosts Lowell on Sat., before playing Manitoba.

Moose Notes:

- Zenith Komarniski has now extended his goal streak to four games (Nov. 22-) with two goals over the weekend. This is the team-high so far this season in this category.

- Jason King scored on Friday and Saturday to increase his goal total to eight, which is tied for third on the Moose. King is tied for the second most power play goals by an AHL rookie at four.

- Brandon Reid had an assist in both games last week and now has extended his personal assist streak to three games (Nov. 23-). Reid (5g, 14a) is now three points from the Moose scoring lead with 19 points. He holds the team lead with 14 assists.

- Tyler Moss made 22 saves to earn third star against Utah last night. He was called upon to make some spectacular saves to keep the team within striking distance all night in his first start since Nov. 15.

- Ryan Ready (11g, 11a) leads the team with 22 points. His 11 goals is a team high and Ready's seven PPG is tied for the second most in the league.

- Alex Auld has six wins and has a team-leading 3.06 Avg.

- Tyler Bouck leads with 60 PIM.

- Justin Kurtz (4g, 10a) leads Moose defencemen with 14 points and sits in a tie for 13th spot for AHL defenceman scoring.

- Defenceman Darrell Hay leads the team with a +6 rating.

- Manitoba has taken 34.00 shots per game (23g/782s), good for third in the league.

- The team's penalty kill ranks 25th with 80.5 % (28g/142a)

- Manitoba ranks 15th in power play with 16.9% (26g/154a)

Inferno Update: Columbia is in second spot in the Southeast Division with 26 points. Justin Morrison (14g, 17a) is tied for fourth in ECHL scoring race with 31 points. He had four points against Roanoke and had six total points for the week. Tim Smith (8g, 8a) sits with 16 points which is tied for tenth best among ECHL rookies. Denis Martynyuk (4g, 5a) has nine points, defenceman Chris St. Croix (0g, 6a) has six points and Regan Darby added his first assist last week.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 2, 2002


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