Moose Win One Of Three In Week 12

Published on December 31, 2007 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


Following a short break over the holidays, the Moose played three games in three nights in Week 12, splitting losses to Hamilton and Syracuse with a 3-1 victory over Lake Erie Friday night.

Thursday, December 27, 2007: Moose 1 - Bulldogs 3 L

The Moose suffered their 24th loss in 30 overall games at Copps Coliseum Thursday night, as Hamilton defeated Manitoba 3-1. Mike Keane scored Manitoba's lone goal, while Jaroslav Halak stopped 32 of 33 shots for his second win in three straight games vs. the Moose.

Friday, December 28, 2007: Moose 3 - Monsters 1 W

Midway through a three-games-in-three-nights stretch, the Manitoba Moose scored three unanswered goals on the Lake Erie Monsters Friday night to complete a 3-1 come-from-behind victory. Moose captain Mike Keane scored his second goal in as many games, while Cory Schneider stopped 25 of 26 shots for his fifth professional win.

Saturday, December 29, 2007: Moose 2 - Crunch 3 L

An early two-goal deficit proved to be too much for the Moose to overcome Saturday night, as the club dropped a 3-2 decision to the Crunch in Syracuse. Jimmy Sharrow and Michael Grabner scored goals for Manitoba, while three Syracuse players posted multi-point nights, including Zenon Konopka who tallied a goal and an assist.

This week, the Moose host the Monsters New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, and then conclude their 11-game stretch vs. divisional opponents with games vs. Rochester Friday and Saturday nights.

MOOSE NOTES

DECEMBER DETAILS: Manitoba's New Year's Eve game vs. Lake Erie marks the 12th and final game of the 12th month for the Moose. So far this month, the Moose are 5-5-0-1 for 11 of 22 possible points (.500). A loss New Year's Eve vs. the Monsters would put the Moose below .500 in December for the first time in seven AHL seasons. Last season, Manitoba played a franchise-record 17 games in the month of December, going 8-5-2-2 (.588) to tie the club record for most December wins. Manitoba's best-ever December was in 2004-05 when the team went 6-3-1-0 for a .650 win percentage, and the club's worst year-ending performance was in 2001-02, when the team earned 17 of 32 points to finish .531.

KICKING OFF THE NEW YEAR: Starting with Manitoba's New Year's Day contest vs. Lake Erie, the Moose will play 11 games through the month of January. Seven of those games will be played at the MTS Centre and six will be against West Division opponents (@ Houston Jan. 10 & 12; @ San Antonio Jan 13 & 15; vs. Peoria Jan. 17 & 18). The Moose also play Rochester (Jan. 4 & 5) and Syracuse (Jan. 24 & 25) this month. Last season, the Moose kicked off the 2007 calendar year with five consecutive wins enroute to finishing 5-3-1-0. Since joining the AHL, Manitoba's best January record was in 2004-05 when the team went 11-2-0-3 for 25 of 32 possible points. The Moose started that January run with a resounding 6-0 home victory over the Chicago Wolves on Jan. 1/05, Manitoba's only previous New Year's Day game.

POWERPLAY SPUTTERS: By going 0-for-7 on the powerplay Saturday night at Syracuse, the Moose failed to score a powerplay goal in three games in Week 12. In 28 powerplay opportunities over the past five games, the Moose have only one powerplay goal, scored by Milan Gajic in the second period Dec. 22/07 vs. Hamilton (3-2 OTW). On the heels of a productive stretch in late November in which the Moose scored at least one PPG in five consecutive games, Manitoba has slipped from 10th to 15th in the AHL's powerplay rankings through December. At home, the Moose sit 17th in the league with 13 goals on 82 man-advantages (15.9%).

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

New Year's Eve and Day games mark the second and third games in four days between Lake Erie and Manitoba. Last Friday night, the Moose scored three unanswered goals to beat the Monsters 3-1 in Cleveland, improving Manitoba's record to 3-1-1-0 vs. the Colorado Avalanche affiliate. Earlier this month, Manitoba split a two-game series with Lake Erie at the MTS Centre, meaning the club carries a 1-1-0-0 home record vs. the Monsters into tonight's contest. Tyler Weiman leads all Monsters goaltenders with a 4-6-1 record, 2.80 GAA, and .927 SV%, while Eric Healey leads all Lake Erie skaters with eight goals and 20 points in 31 games played.

Registering back-to-back-to-back victories Oct. 16, 17, & 19/07 and another win Nov. 21 at Rochester, the Moose carry four consecutive wins (eight wins when including the 06-07 season) an all-time record of 18-11-3-0 (.609) into Friday and Saturday's games vs. the Americans. Last season, the Moose were 4-3-1-0 when hosting the Amerks, bringing their overall home record to 8-7-1-0. The last time the Moose lost to the Americans was at home on Dec. 6/06, when the club fell 3-2 in the final of two back-to-back losses. Adam Dennis has spent the most time in net for Rochester, registering a 9-8-1 record, 3.33 GAA, and 0.895 SV%, while the club's leading scorer is Clarke MacArthur with 11 goals and 29 points in 25 games.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE

#12 Mike Keane - Right Wing

Captain Mike Keane earned his first nomination as Moose Player of the Week this past week... He appeared in all three games for the injury-depleted Moose where he scored a pair of goals and registered 12 shots on net... He scored Manitoba's only goal in their 3-1 defeat Thursday in Hamilton, and then opened the scoring for the Moose Friday in their 3-1 victory over Lake Erie... Keane now has four goals on the season combined with two assists for six points this year... He was also +2 this week and is now -6 for the year.



American Hockey League Stories from December 31, 2007


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