Moose Take Five In Week 21

Published on March 3, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Manitoba Moose earned five points in four home games this past week, splitting a series to the Hershey Bears and then registering a shootout loss and victory vs. the Quad City Flames.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008: Hershey 4 - Manitoba 3 L

Two powerplay goals, a shorthanded goal, and perfect penalty killing helped push the Bears past the Moose 4-3 Wednesday night. After taking an early 2-0 lead, the Bears staved off multiple Moose attempts to tie things up and held on for the win.

Thursday, February 28, 2008: Hershey 2 - Manitoba 4 W

With eight combined points, Manitoba's top line came up big in Thursday night's rematch vs. the Hershey. Led by Jason Jaffray's hat trick and multiple assists by Jannik Hansen and Brad Moran, the Moose powered past the Bears 4-2. In net, rookie Cory Schneider stopped 24 shots for his 11th win of the season.

Saturday, March 1, 2008: Quad City 3 - Manitoba 2 SOL

Though the Moose rallied from a two-goal deficit to force extra time, the Flames persisted through overtime and dominated the shootout with three straight goals to beat the Moose 3-2 Saturday night. Flames goaltender Curtis McElhinney stopped 33 shots for the victory, while Moose netminder Drew MacIntyre stopped 29 for his second shootout loss of the season. (view game recap)

Sunday, March 2, 2008: Quad City 1 - Manitoba 2 W

Manitoba carried a 1-0 lead through to the final minutes of the third period Sunday afternoon, but a goal by Quad City threatened the home team's chances for victory. But with three minutes left in the game, Jannik Hansen beat Curtis McElhinney to secure a 2-1 win for Manitoba. With 26 saves, goalie Cory Schneider earned his fourth straight win, 12th of the season, and first-star honours.

This week, the MTS Centre preps for curling as the Tim Horton's Brier takes over the home of the Moose. As a result, the hockey club heads on a five-game road trip starting Friday night in Hamilton and concluding Mar. 16 in Hershey. This week, the Moose play three games against their neighbours in the North Division standings: first place Toronto and third place Hamilton. Manitoba's next home games are scheduled for Mar. 19 & 20 vs. the San Antonio Rampage.

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

Friday, Mar. 7 & Sunday, Mar. 9: The Moose and Hamilton Bulldogs (31-23-2-5, 3rd North) meet Friday night and Sunday afternoon for the final time this regular season. The Moose carry a 2-3-0-1 record into tonight's game, having earned wins in Hamilton on Oct. 21 (5-1W) and Winnipeg Dec. 22 (3-2OTW). Manitoba's all-time record sits at 20-31-2-5 overall and 6-20-2-1 at Copps Coliseum. Last season, the Moose went 4-2-0-2 vs. the Bulldogs and 1-2-0-1 in Hamilton.

Saturday, Mar. 8: Saturday night's game in Toronto marks the midway point of the eight-game season series between the Moose and Toronto Marlies (38-14-2-5, 1st North). Manitoba is 1-2-0-0 against Toronto so far this season, having earned their lone win Feb. 17 at the MTS Centre (5-2W). The club is 14-3-1-1 overall vs. the Marlies and 7-2-0-1 at Toronto. Prior to this season's two losses in Toronto, the Moose had earned at least one point in every match-up at the Marlies, including going 4-0-0-0 at Ricoh Coliseum last season.

MOOSE NOTES

NECK-AND-NECK IN THE NORTH: With just under 20 games remaining in the regular season schedule, the Moose are keeping a close eye on their divisional opponents and teams in the West Division. Because the fifth team in the West and fourth team in the North compete for the final spot in the North Division playoffs, only the top three Northern teams are guaranteed a spot in the post-season. By earning five points this past week, Manitoba (71 pts) maintained sole possession of second place but sit only two points up on Hamilton (69 pts) and four points ahead of Syracuse (67 pts). The Moose and Crunch each play three games this week, with two of Manitoba's match-ups coming against the Bulldogs. Hamilton's pair of games vs. Manitoba will be the Bulldogs' only action this week. In the West, only two points seperate fifth-place Milwaukee (69 pts) from seventh-place Quad City.

SCORING ON THE DISADVANTAGE: Moose forward Alexandre Bolduc scored two shorthanded goals in two consecutive games this past week, bringing his totals to a team-leading three SHG this season. Bolduc's goals on Feb. 28 vs. Hershey (4-2W) and Mar. 1 vs. Quad City (3-2SOL) were Manitoba's fourth and fifth shorthanded goals of the season, following shorties by Greg Classen (Nov. 16), Mason Raymond (Nov. 21), and Bolduc's original marker (Dec. 1). Bolduc is now tied for ninth in the AHL with three shorties and is also now two goals shy of tying Mike Brown's franchise record of five shorthanded goals in a single season (2005-06, his rookie year). The most shorthanded goals the Moose have scored in a season is 16 (2001-02), while the fewest the club has tallied is four (three times, most recently in 2004-05). Among all AHL teams, Manitoba is now tied with Iowa for 21st in shorthanded goals for, while the club is tied for 16th in shorthanded goals against with eight.

HAT TRICK, THE SEQUEL: Jason Jaffray scored three goals Thursday night vs. Hershey to record his second hat trick of the season and third hat trick in 237 career AHL games. Jaffray's first hat trick came on the heels of the team's overall first hat trick of the season. On Nov. 21/07, rookie Mason Raymond scored three goals and five points, and in the following game on Nov. 23 at Syracuse, Jaffray posted his own three-goal night. The back-to-back hat tricks marked only the third time in franchise history that two Moose players have scored hat-tricks in two consecutive games. Last season, Jaffray scored Manitoba's lone regular-season hat-trick (a four-goal performance on Oct. 24/06 at Chicago) and only playoff hat-trick (May 1/07 vs. Grand Rapids).

BACK IN BLACK: The Moose head on a five-game road trip this week, starting Friday night in Hamilton. Manitoba is 15-12-1-0 on the road so far this season and have earned a 6-2-0-0 record on their last two four-game road trips (Feb. 5-10 & Feb. 20-24). Manitoba's most-recent road game was Feb. 24 at Peoria (4-2W). Over six AHL seasons, the club's best road record was 22-12-2-4 (.625) in 2004-05. Last season, the Moose were 20-13-4-3 when playing away from the MTS Centre.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE

#15 Jason Jaffray - Left Wing

Jason Jaffray appeared in all four games for the Moose this week and extended his five game points streak with seven points this week... This is Jaffray's second player of the week nomination of the season... In Wednesday's 4-3 loss to the Hershey Bears, Jaffray collected an assist before exploding for his second hat trick of the season and third of his pro career on Thursday when the Moose beat the Bears 4-2... The hat trick snapped a 10-game goal-less drought... He followed that up with a goal in Saturday's shootout loss to the Flames, but led the way with two assists in Sunday's 2-1 win... As a result, Jaffray now is tied once again for the team-lead in goals with 17 goals and is second in team scoring with 42 points... After finishing the week at +5, he also leads the Moose with a +17 rating in the +/- category.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 3, 2008


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