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Moose Skid Reaches Six Games

November 3, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Manitoba Moose concluded the month of October on a low note last week. After 12 games, their record is just 2-7-2-1 for seven points. The seven-point total ties for the worst October in Moose history with the 1995-96 Minnesota Moose, who were 3-9-1 to start the season. The worst October in Manitoba history previously was eight points, set in 1996-97 and matched in 2001-02. The seven points is also the worst month overall in Manitoba history, with the worst overall being the 1994-95 Minnesota Moose who had a 2-5-2 November (six points). Including Sunday's loss in Houston, the Moose have not won now in six games. Last week's high point was a tie with Binghamton at home, followed by two consecutive losses in San Antonio and Houston.

This week, the Moose will wrap up the road trip with return meetings in both Houston and San Antonio before returning home for back-to-back games against the Chicago Wolves Friday, November 7 and Saturday, November 8.

The Moose did make a couple of roster moves last week as forward Sean Pronger was acquired from the Syracuse Crunch (Columbus Blue Jackets) in exchange for left winger Zenith Komarniski. In 10 games this season with the Moose, Komarniski had 35 penalty minutes and no points. Pronger played in both games on the road for Manitoba but did not score a point either. However, he did take four shots in his debut on Friday in San Antonio, which was a team-high.

Last Week

Tuesday, October 28/03 – Binghamton 2 @ Manitoba 2: Two nights after one of their worst performances of the season, the Moose came up with one of their best in a 2-2 tie with the Senators in front of 4,965 at the Winnipeg Arena. Manitoba peppered Binghamton goalie Ray Emery as they outshot the Sens 14-8 in the opening 20 minutes. However, Serge Payer beat Rene Vydareny on a 1-on-1 and then snuck it far-post on Tyler Moss to make it 1-0 after one. Binghamton's Daniel Corso scored a controversial goal in the second, poking it under Moss as he tried to cover it on the power play. That goal made it 2-0 visitors. However, with only 12 seconds left in the second, Brandon Reid fired home a onetimer on the power play to cut the deficit. Then in the third, Ryan Ready collected his second point of the night and first goal of the season from Tyler Bouck to tie the game at two. Jaroslav Obsut and Ryan Kesler had chances to win the game late in the third and in overtime, but Emery stood tall. The Moose outshot Binghamton 40-19, but could only manage a single point and one of a possible eight points on a four-game homestand. 3 Stars: 1.Ray Emery; 2. Jaroslav Obsut; 3. Ryan Kesler

Friday, October 31/03 Manitoba 2 @ San Antonio 3: A late third-period goal from San Antonio's Eric Beaudoin gave the Rampage a 3-2 win over the Manitoba Moose in front of 3,908 at the SBC Centre. The Moose rallied from an early 2-0 deficit as Josh Olson scored 1:32 into the opening period. San Antonio kept pressing in the early going, and just over two minutes later extended their early lead to 2-0 on a goal by Kyle Rossiter. However, Manitoba persevered and carried the play for the remainder of the period, eventually outshooting the Rampage 11-8 in the opening frame. Early in the second, Manitoba's hard work paid off as Justin Morrison put in a Ryan Kesler rebound to cut the home team's lead in half. The Moose continued to carry the play in the third and on the heels of a power play, Mikko Jokela scored an unassisted marker to tie it up. Just over five minutes later though, San Antonio re-took the lead. Beaudoin took a drop pass from Stephen Weiss with 2:58 remaining and blasted a shot on Alex Auld. Auld got a piece of it but the puck managed to trickle into the net for the game winner. He stopped 24 shots on the night while Travis Scott got in the way of 31. 3 Stars: 1.Eric Beaudoin; 2.Ryan Kesler; 3.Travis Scott

Sunday, November 2/03 Manitoba 1 @ Houston 2: A season-long trend of falling behind early once again came back to haunt the Manitoba Moose in a 2-1 loss to the Houston Aeros Sunday evening in front of 3,237 at the new Toyota Center. Jeff Hoggan beat Tyler Moss only 34 seconds into the game as the Moose only managed four shots in the first period. Mark Cullen made it 2-0 3:33 into the middle frame before Tomas Mojzis' first-ever professional goal cut the lead on the only power play the Moose were presented this night. But the Aeros choked off the Moose in the final period, keeping them to a seasonlow three shots on net. Bill Muckalt had two assists while Hoggan had a goal and an assist. Johan Holmqvist stopped 13 of 14 shots in total, while Moss got in the way of 28. With the loss, the Moose fell to 2-7-2-1 on the season.

This Week

Tuesday, November 4/03 1:00p.m. Manitoba (2-7-2-1) @ Houston (3-3-1-0) – The Moose wrap up their two-game series with the Houston Aeros as they try to put an end to a six-game winless skid. The Houston win evened their record at 3-3-1-0 with Sunday's win over Manitoba. Rickard Wallin and Stephane Veilleux lead the defending Calder Cup Champs in scoring with six points each, while playoff MVP Johan Holmqvist has appeared in all six games this season with a goals against average of 2.50 and save percentage of .901. The Aeros are on a two-game win streak but are still tied for 6th in the Western Conference's West Division with the Utah Grizzlies. They boast the league's best penalty-killing unit with only one power play goal against in 32 shorthanded situations. That goal came by Tomas Mojzis in Sunday's 2-1 Houston win. The Aeros hold an edge in the series-history between the two at 33-22-1.

Wednesday, November 5/03 7:00 p.m. Manitoba @ San Antonio (6-2-0-1) – The Moose will look to avenge Friday's loss in San Antonio against the Rampage, who are the AHL affiliate of the Florida Panther, are also one of the top teams in the AHL. Entering the week, they were second in the West Division with 13 points, one point behind the Chicago Wolves. The Moose met San Antonio four times last season, with the Rampage winning three of those meetings and one ending up in a tie in San Antonio. Stephen Weiss entered the week still riding a six-game scoring streak at home and still leads the team, along with Eric Beaudoin. Each has seven points. Michel Periard is among the league's leading scorers amongst defenceman with six points. Travis Scott has led the way in net with all six wins and only one loss. He boasts a goals against average of 1.60 and a save percentage of .952. Overall in their history, the Moose have yet to beat the Rampage in five meetings, managing only one tie.

Friday, Nov. 7/03 & Saturday, Nov. 8/03 7:30 p.m. Chicago (6-2-1-1) @ Manitoba: The Moose and Wolves will renew their old rivalry when they meet for a pair at the Arena on the weekend. The two have already met once this season with Chicago winning it 4-3 in overtime. That night, Chicago jumped out a 3-1 second period lead on goals by Simon Gamache, Bill Lindsay, and Eric Healey. But after Jimmy Roy and Chris St. Croix tied it in the third, Gamache ruined the comeback in overtime with Fedor Fedorov in the penalty box. The Wolves outshot Manitoba 41-26 that night as Alex Auld was strong in net for the Moose. The win dropped Manitoba's record against Chicago to 28-31-7-1. After Saturday, the two will meet one time this season in Chicago. The Moose will also try to snap a four-game winless skid at home, which is currently tied for the longest in the league this year.

Moose Notes

- This is Sean Pronger's second go-around with the Moose. The left winger/center was acquired Thursday, Oct. 30/03 in exchange for Zenith Komarniski. He played parts of two seasons with the Moose back in their International Hockey League days. He played 14 games in 1999-2000, scoring three goals and eight points, before returning to play 82 games in 2000-01, scoring 18 goals and 39 points to finish fifth in team scoring.

- The Manitoba Moose line-up underwent a couple of changes last week. Rookie Tomas Mojzis returned for the first time after injuring his finger in the season-opener on Oct. 11/03. He missed a total of 10 games and celebrated with his first-ever pro goal in Sunday's 2-1 loss to Houston. Defenceman Jaroslav Obsut also returned to the line-up after missing one game when he has recalled to the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 29/03.

- Fedor Fedorov entered the week fourth in league scoring with 12 points. He has six goals and six assists. Defenceman Kirill Koltsov is tied for seventh in scoring amongst rearguards with seven points. Jaroslav Obsut is tied for ninth in the same category with six points. Both are tied for the league lead in power play goals amongst blue-liners with two. Koltsov is tied for sixth in rookie scoring.

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