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Moose stretch win streak to season-high seven

February 19, 2007 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Manitoba Moose carried their winning streak to a season long seven games as they won all four of their matchups in week 20 to improve their record to 29-16-7-4. The Moose closed out a six-game home stand by hosting the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights for two games on Monday and Wednesday. In game one Manitoba battled out of a two-goal hole in the first period to score four unanswered goals of their own, enroute to a 4-2 win. Then in the rematch on Valentine's Day the Moose scored two quick goals before the game was even a minute old and never looked back as they held on for a 4-1 victory. Friday's game in Syracuse was the start of a six-game road trip for the Moose, the second longest road trip of the season for the team. Once again Manitoba fell behind 2-0, but the team dug deep, scoring the game-tying goal with the goalie pulled and 0:46 left in regulation and then stealing the extra point when Mike Keane scored 1:49 into overtime. Sunday the team travelled to Rochester to take on the first place Americans. The Moose jumped out to a two-goal first period lead and then Wade Flaherty took over as he earned his first shutout of the season, stopping all 28 shots fired his way.

Monday, February 12, 2007: The Moose hosted the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights for the first time this season at the MTS Centre. Wade Flaherty made his first start since returning from a knee injury sustained Jan. 4/07 versus the Rochester Americans. He looked a little shaky at first as the aggressive Knights came out guns-a-blazing and staked themselves to a 2-0 lead after the first period. The veteran goaltender settled down and the team came to life around him as the Moose slowly clawed their way back, scoring two goals of their own in the second period to pull even with the Knights. Alexander Bolduc, just recalled from Bakersfield of the ECHL, scored his first game-winning goal as a member of the Moose early in the third before Jason Jaffray added to his team leading goal total, scoring into the empty net with 0:09 left to seal the victory for the Moose.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007: In the rematch on Valentine's Day, the Moose jumped out to an early lead as Jason Jaffray scored from behind the net, catching the Omaha goaltender Curtis McElhinney off-guard by deflecting the puck off the back of his leg just 0:43 into the game. Then before they could announce the first goal Lee Goren let a shot go off the subsequent face-off that fooled McElhinney, and just like that the Moose were up 2-0 before the game was even a minute old. The two goals set a record for the fastest two goals to start a game for the Moose and tied a record for the fastest two goals ever in franchise history. The Moose poured it on from their, staking themselves to a 4-0 lead before they went into a defensive shell in the third period, holding on for the 4-1 victory. The Moose ended their six-game home stand earning 11 of a possible 12 points to stay in the hunt for first place in the North Division standings.

Friday, February 16, 2007: Friday's game in Syracuse kicked off a six-game road trip to end the month of February for the Moose. Things didn't look good early for Manitoba in this one as they fell behind by two goals to the Crunch. The Moose got better as the game went on though as Brad Moran, just returned to the Moose after spending two-games with the Canucks, chipped into the Crunch lead by scoring his 17th goal of the season on a nice unassisted effort. Then queue the dramatics as the Moose pulled Drew MacIntyre with 1:15 left in regulation to give the team a 6-on-4 advantage, as Marc Methot was in the penalty box for the Crunch. Manitoba cashed in on their gamble as Jesse Schultz, playing the point on the powerplay, blasted a shot past Ty Conklin with just 0:46 left in the game to send the game into overtime. In OT, Nathan Smith made a nice play carrying the puck end-to-end before dishing a pass off to Mike Keane. The Moose Captain made no mistake as he backhanded the game-winner over the shoulder of Conklin to steal the extra point for Manitoba and tie their season long win streak at six games.

Sunday, February 18, 2007: The Moose finished the week versus the Amerks who were playing their third game in three nights at the Blue Cross Arena Sunday night. Manitoba jumped out to a two-goal first period lead as Jason Jaffray notched his team-leading 29th goal of the season and Jesse Schultz added his 15th marker of the year. Wade Flaherty stepped up from there for the Moose as he made some spectacular saves to keep the Moose on top. As the game wore on, the Amerks started to run out of gas. They pulled Craig Anderson with 1:35 left as a last ditch effort to get back in the game, but Jesse Schultz sealed the victory for the Moose by picking off a pass in the Moose zone and backhanding his 16th goal into the empty net. Wade Flaherty earned his first shutout of the season for the Moose and extended the team's winning streak to a season long seven games. The victory was the first of the season for the Moose at the Blue Cross Arena in three tries and improved their season record to 29-16-7-4.

The team heads to Toronto on Wednesday, February 21st to take on the Marlies. That game will be televised on Rogers Sportsnet at 6:30PM CDT. Then Manitoba plays their fourth three-games-in-three-nights stretch of the season as they play Friday in Rochester, Saturday in Syracuse, and then Sunday in Toronto to close out the road trip. Sunday's game will also be televised on The Score at 3:00PM CDT.

MOOSE NOTES

Rapid fire forwards: Jason Jaffray and Lee Goren set a new franchise record for fastest two goals scored by the Moose when the pair combined to score :07 apart at 0:43 and 0:50 of the first period vs. the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights on Wednesday. The previous mark was set by Bill Bowler and Jason MacDonald on Oct. 3/99 vs. Kansas City of the old IHL. Prior to Wednesday's game, Manitoba's fastest two goals this season were scored by Lee Goren 0:23 seconds apart Dec. 30/06 vs. Syracuse. The goals also established the new mark for the fastest two goals to begin a game for the Moose. The previous mark was 1:22 held by Doug Doull and Corey Spring on Dec. 18/99 at Kansas City.

We're going streakin'!The Manitoba Moose have proven to be a streaky squad this season after Sunday's 3-0 shutout victory over the Rochester Americans extended the team's current winning streak to a season long seven games (7-0-0-0, from Feb. 3/07 - Feb. 18/07). Prior to that stretch, the Moose had been on a five-game winless streak (0-3-2-0, from Jan. 19/07 - Feb. 2/07), which was preceeded by the team's longest winning streak of the season of six straight victories (6-0-0-0, from Dec. 31/06 - Jan. 17/07). Earlier in the year the team proved equally as streaky, as they went on a stretch that saw them earn points in seven straight (5-0-2-0, from Nov. 17/06 - Dec. 1/06)) before going on a four-game losing streak to start the month of December (0-4-0-0, from Dec. 2/06 - Dec. 6/06), and then rattling off four straight wins immediately after (4-0-0-0, from Dec. 8/06 - Dec. 15/06).

Moose set new season high for shots against: The 43 shots on goal surrendered against the Syracuse Crunch on Friday was the most the Moose have allowed an opponent all season. The previous high this year was 42 shots allowed against the Rochester Americans on Jan. 5/07. However, that night, Drew MacIntyre was big again as he stopped 40 shots for a 3-2 victory.

T.G.I.M: Monday's 4-2 victory over the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights was the first and only Monday night match-up for the Moose this season. The last time Manitoba played a regular-season Monday night game was Jan. 2/06 when the team defeated the Rochester Americans 1-0 at the MTS Centre. In the post-season, Manitoba earned another two victories on Monday nights, defeating the Syracuse Crunch 2-1 on Apr. 24/06 in Game 3 of the North Division SF, and topping the Grand Rapids Griffins 3-1 on May 15/06 in Game 6 of the North Division Final. In 13 regular season and playoff Monday night match-ups since the 2003-04 season, the Moose are 11-2-0-0. Manitoba's only regular-season loss on the first day of the work week was Mar. 15/04 when the team dropped a 5-2 decision to the Bulldogs in Hamilton.

Record in 3-in-3's: This week the Moose will play their fourth "three-games-in-three-nights" stretch of the season. So far the Moose have struggled in those stretches going 3-5-1-0, and have yet to finish with a winning record in any 3-in-3 stretch this year. The Moose went 1-2-0-0 (Oct. 6-8/06), 1-2-0-0 (Dec. 1-3/06), and 1-1-1-0 (Dec. 15-17/06) in their three previous 3-in-3's this season.

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

The Manitoba Moose play the Toronto Marlies twice at Ricoh Coliseum this week, first Wednesday night and then again Sunday to finish off their six-game road trip. Both games in Toronto will be televised with Wednesday's game being broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet at 6:30PM and Sunday's game on The Score at 3:00PM. The Moose are currently 2-0-0-0 versus the Marlies this season with both of those victories coming on the road at Ricoh Coliseum. Manitoba's overall record versus Toronto is 8-0-1-1.

The Moose return to Rochester on Friday night to start their fourth 3-in-3 of the season. The Moose earned their first victory in three tries at Blue Cross Arena with their 3-0 shutout win on Sunday. Manitoba improved their season record to 3-3-1-0 versus the Amerks this season. The Moose currently hold a record of 2-1-0-0 in first games of a 3-in-3 stretch this season.

The Moose head to the Onandoga County War Memorial at Oncenter in Syracuse to take on the Crunch on Saturday. The Moose earned a 3-2 overtime victory over the Crunch last Friday to improve their record this season to 5-0-2-0 versus the Crunch, with a 2-0-1-0 record on the road at the War Memorial.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEES

#1 Drew MacIntyre - Goalie

#33 Wade Flaherty - Goalie

Goaltenders Drew MacIntyre AND Wade Flaherty are both this week's nominations for Manitoba Moose Player of the Week...Flaherty returned from a knee injury which had sidelined him for over a month and won both of his starts, while MacIntyre continued his stellar play by also winning both of his games...As a result, the Moose are currently enjoying a season-high seven-game winning streak...Monday night, Flaherty's first start since Jan. 4/07 featured 29 stops on 31 shots and his 11th win of the season...On Sunday, Flaherty stopped all 26 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season and his fourth win in a row...As a result, Flaherty finished the week with a 2.00 goals against average and a .964 save percentage...This season, Flaherty has a 2.65 goals against average - good for 16th in the AHL - and an .897 save percentage...Drew MacIntyre stopped 19 shots for a 4-1 victory over the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights Wednesday and then followed that up by stopping a season-high 41 shots Friday in Syracuse...As a result, MacIntyre has now won five games in a row and 10 of his last 11 starts with his lone defeat coming in overtime...He finished the week with a 1.48 goals against average and a .968 save percentage...Overall, MacIntyre is now fourth in the AHL in both goals against average with a 2.18 goals against average and save percentage at.923...



American Hockey League Stories from February 19, 2007


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