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On the road again

March 13, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Manitoba Moose began the second leg of their eight-game road trip last week, with three games in three nights beginning last Friday in Hamilton. After Manitoba failed to score on a four-on-three powerplay in overtime on Friday night, the Bulldogs took advantage of the momentum and scored the game winner with just under two minutes remaining in the extra period, giving Hamilton a 2-1 overtime win. The lack of offence continued in Saturday night's game against Rochester as the Moose couldn't keep up with the Amerks in a 6-2 loss. Manitoba did regain their form to finish the weekend in Toronto against the Marlies as Jesse Schultz scored the second hat-trick by a Moose player this season, propelling the Moose to a 5-2 win.

The Moose will now conclude their eight-game road trip on Wednesday night in Grand Rapids before returning home to begin an eight-game homestand on Friday night against the Chicago Wolves.

MOOSE NOTES

Homeward Bound: This Wednesday's game in Grand Rapids marks the end to Manitoba's season-high eight-game road trip. The Moose will look to improve upon their 5-3-1 record in games that conclude a road trip of seven games or more in team history. Earlier this year, the Moose wrapped up a seven game road trip between Nov 2nd - 15th with a 5-4 shootout loss in Grand Rapids. The last time the Moose won the final game of a road trip of seven games or longer was a 4-1 win over Binghamton on Mar 24th/04.

Back on Target: After scoring five goals in Sunday's 5-2 win over the Marlies, Manitoba has now scored five or more goals in 12 games this season. The Moose sport a 9-1-1 record when scoring five or more goals this season. This five-goal effort comes after recording only four goals in their previous three games.

Three for Schultz: With three goals in Sunday's 5-2 win in Toronto, Moose forward Jesse Schultz marked only the second hat-trick by a Moose player this season and first to break the 30-goal plateau. Schultz also added an assist to his efforts on Sunday and set AHL career highs for goals and points in a single game. His four-point effort also marks the most points by any Moose player in a game this season. The Strasbourg, Saskatchewan native continues to lead the team in points with 32 goals and 23 assists and also sits first in powerplay goals with 11. He became only the fourth Moose since the team joined the AHL to score 30 goals or more, joining Andre Savage, Ryan Kesler, and Lee Goren. In their overall history, Schultz becomes the seventh Manitoba Moose to top the 30-goal plateau (Greg Pankewicz X2, Steve Thomas, Rusty Fitzgerald, Savage, Kesler, Goren).

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

Grand Rapids Griffins
Wednesday, March 15th - 6:00 PM
Van Andel Arena
CJOB Radio - B2 Networks

The Moose will conclude their eight-game road trip with a Wednesday night game at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. The Moose enter the week trailing the Griffins for first place in the North Division by 12 points. Grand Rapids currently leads the league with a 45-16-1-4 record, good for 95 points and was the second AHL team to clinch a playoff berth. Their powerplay is ranked first in the AHL, scoring on 99 of 451 opportunities for 22.0%. Their penalty kill hasn't been as successful, sitting 15th in the league with a 82.5% kill rating. The teams will conclude their season series with back-to-back games at the MTS Centre on Mar 31st and Apr 1st.

Chicago Wolves
Friday, March 17th - 7:30 PM
Saturday, March 18th - 7:30 PM
MTS Centre
CJOB Radio - B2 Networks

Manitoba will begin an eight game home stand, equaling their longest of the season, with Friday and Saturday night games against the Chicago Wolves. This will be the third and fourth meetings between the teams this season, with the Moose winning the first two games. Chicago has struggled this year sitting sixth in the West Division with a 25-28-3-8 record, good for 61 points in 64 games. The Wolves powerplay ranks 21st in the league with a 15.8% scoring rate while their penalty kill has been slighty better with an 81.3% efficiency rating for 19th spot in the AHL. This two-game series will conclude the season set between the teams.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE

Jesse Schultz

For the second time in three weeks and fifth time this season, right winger Jesse Schultz has been nominated as the Moose Player of the Week. Schultz finished the week in style by scoring a hat trick and adding an assist for a team season-high four points in a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Marlies. The night before, Schultz collected an assist in a 6-2 loss to Rochester. As a result, the Strasbourg, SK native finished the week with five points (3G, 2A) in three games. He fired 14 shots on net this week and ended that span +1 in the plus/minus category. He is still the team-leader in goals scored with a career-high 32. He is seventh in the entire AHL. He now has 55 points which also leads the Moose. He's also the leader in powerplay goals with 11 after scoring one powerplay goal this week. He is also only one of two Moose to have played all 65 games this season.

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