Sports stats



Moose Increase Home Undefeated Streak to Four Games

November 18, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


Last week, the Moose played three games and registered two ties and a road loss. Tuesday, Manitoba lost 4-0 to Grand Rapids and then earned two points with two ties at home against San Antonio. The team remains in a battle for first spot in the Canadian Division with 19 points. This week, the Moose look to extend their four game home undefeated streak when they host their Canadian Division rival the Saint John Flames. The weekend doubleheader series is on Friday and Saturday with game time both nights at 7:30 p.m. CT.

Last week: Tuesday, Nov. 12 - Manitoba 0 vs. Grand Rapids 4: In the first, a slow start by the visitors was evident with Grand Rapids outshooting the Moose by a margin of 14-4. The Griffins opened the scoring when Sheldon Brookbank fired a long shot that beat netminder Alex Auld. After one, the Moose were down 1-0. In the second, Auld make some spectacular saves against Grand Rapids, especially Tim Skarperud, to keep the team in the contest. At the end of the second, the home side pocketed their second goal. Heading into the third, Grand Rapids led 2-0. The hosts scored two more power play markers to finish the game by a score of 4-0. Manitoba was outshot 37-15. The Moose went 0-8 while Grand Rapids were 3-9 on the power play. Alex Auld made 33 saves in a losing cause. This was the first game that the Moose were shut out during the 2002-03 season and they fell back to a .500 record (8-8-1-0).

Friday, Nov. 15 - San Antonio 2 vs. Manitoba 2 (OT): In the first period, both Manitoba and San Antonio had a couple of chances but were thwarted by the goalies. This marked only the second time this season for the Moose that the first period went scoreless by both clubs. All the scoring took place in the second. The Rampage opened with a quick shorthanded tally by Serge Payer at the 40 second mark. Manitoba responded with a power play marker by recent Deutschland Cup gold medalist Steve Kariya. Jimmy Roy put the hosts ahead with a blast from the slot that cleanly beat Rampage goalie Chris Mason. San Antonio pocketed their own power play goal and at the end of two, it was 2-2. In the third, there was no scoring. The five-minute session was barnyard hockey with rushes going back-and-forth but did not produce a final score and the game finished a 2-2 tie. Manitoba outshot San Antonio 35-30. San Antonio was stopped 3-4 times on the PP while Manitoba scored once in six power play tries. Roy was named first star with Jeff Farkas selected third star.

Saturday, Nov. 16 - San Antonio 2 vs. Manitoba 2 (OT): Saturday's game started very similarly to Friday's match with both teams having some decent chances without finding the net. Heading into the second, San Antonio broke the scoreless tie with a nice 2-on-1 play with Jeff Toms picking up his third of the season. After two, the visitors led 1-0. In the third, the Rampage scored halfway though and increased their lead to two. The Moose rallied late in the period with two unanswered goals just 52 seconds apart. Jason King scored his sixth while Ryan Ready notched his team-leading 11th of the season. Overtime would settle nothing and both teams earned another point with a 2-2 score identical to Friday night's. Manitoba outshot San Antonio 33-26. The Moose went 2-7 on the power play while the Rampage were shutout in six PP opportunities. King was named first star while Zenith Komarniski was selected third star.

Up Next: Saint John (7-7-1-0) vs. Manitoba (8-8-3-0) - Fri., Nov. 22 & Sat., Nov. 23 - 7:30 p.m.

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

Flames Watch: Saint John had an extremely busy week as they played five times in seven days. The Flames started on the road with road victories against Albany (4-3 OTW) and Worcester (5-3 W). They stayed on the road and beat Manchester 5-2 on Friday, lost to Springfield 5-3 on Saturday and lost to Lowell 4-2 on Sunday. They sit in third place in the Canadian Division with 15 points and are four points behind the Moose. This is the third and fourth meetings of the season between the two clubs. The Flames beat Manitoba 4-2 twice earlier this season in Saint John. Last season, Manitoba held a 5-2-0-1 record last season versus Saint John. The Flames are led by Oleg Saprykin (11g, 8a) with 19 points which is also good for a tie for sixth in league scoring. He has the team high in goals with 11 which is tied for the second best in the AHL. Saprykin is tied for the team lead in assists with Jason Morgan at eight. Saprykin is tied for the league's fourth best shot total at 65. Last week, Saprykin had a hat trick against Worcester. Saprykin has a four game goal streak entering this weekend's action. Darcy Verot leads the Flames with 81 PIM which is fourth highest in the league. Micki DuPont is tied for the league lead in power play goals for a defenceman with three. Goalie Peter Aubry leads the team with a 2.19 Avg. while goalie Dany Sabourin leads the team with four wins. Saint John has the league's fourth best PP at 19.0% (16g/84a). The team is the AHL leader in shots for average per game at 35.93 (15g/539s).

Moose Notes:

- The undefeated home streak has reached four games - longest so far this season.

- The Moose had their third tie in their 19th game of the season. Last season, Manitoba did not earn a tie until the 25th contest and only registered four all season.

- Forward Jimmy Roy blasted a goal and earned first star honours on Friday versus San Antonio. His second goal of the season moves him into a third place tie in career Moose goals with 66. He is one goal behind second spot in this category.

- On Sun., Nov. 10, Canada's National Men's Team captured the 2002 Deutschland Cup with a perfect 3-0 record in Hannover, Germany. Moose forward Steve Kariya was instrumental in the gold medal effort as he contributed two assists. After recovering from a bout of food poisoning on the way back from Germany, Kariya played last Friday in his first Moose game since Nov. 3. He made an impact as he notched his sixth marker of the season on the power play and extended his point streak to six games.

- The club was shut out by Grand Rapids on Tuesday. This was the first time this occurred this season and had not happened since Jan. 19 @ Utah by a score of 2-0. All of last season, Manitoba was only shut out twice and both were on the road. The last time the Moose have been shut out at home was on April 15/01, during the last regular season IHL game for the Moose, against Chicago when they lost 3-0.

- The Tuesday game versus Grand Rapids did not produce a barrage of shots by the Moose. They entered the game with the league's highest shots average per game but could only produce 15 towards the Griffins' keeper. The 15 shot total is tied for the fourth lowest single game total in franchise history.

- Ryan Ready (11g, 9a) leads the team with 20 points which is good for a tie for third in the AHL scoring race. His 11 goals is a team high and second in the league. Ready has scored seven PPG which leads the league.

- Goalie Tyler Moss set a new scoreless streak at 75:43. (Nov. 9-15)

- Jason King is tied for second place in rookie power play goals at three.

- Brandon Reid leads the Moose with 11 assists.

- Tyler Bouck leads with 43 PIM.

- Alex Auld has five wins and has a team-leading 3.07 Avg.

- Justin Kurtz (3g, 9a) leads Moose defenceman with 12 points and sits in a tie for sixth spot for AHL defenceman scoring.

- Defenceman Darrell Hay leads the team with a +5 rating.

- Manitoba has taken 34.63 shots per game (19g/658s), good for third in the league.

- The team's penalty kill ranks 21st with 82.4 % (18g/108a)

- Manitoba ranks 14th in power play with 16.3% (21g/129a)

- Inferno Update: With Columbia, Justin Morrison (11g, 13a) is third in East Coast Hockey League scoring with 24 points. Tim Smith (6g, 7a) has 13 points while Denis Martynyuk (4g, 5a) has nine points.

• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...

American Hockey League Stories from November 18, 2002


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central