Race for first in North heating up

Published on January 10, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


If the past few weeks are any indication, the race for first place in the North Division should be a good one as the season wears on. The Manitoba Moose, with three wins and one loss, were able to gain two points on Rochester this past week and now trail their North Division rivals by a single point.

The week began with a sweep of Cleveland, with a come-from-behind 3-2 win on Tuesday followed by a 3-0 victory Wednesday. Edmonton came to town on the weekend, winning on Saturday but the Moose responded with a shootout win Sunday to gain the split.

Manitoba's busiest month of the season continues this week with a sevenday road trip through Texas. The Moose face San Antonio January 11 and 13 before meeting Houston January 14 and 16.

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

San Antonio Rampage

Tuesday, January 11, 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, January 13, 7:00 p.m. Radio: CJOB 68

Venue: SBC Center

The Moose face the San Antonio Rampage for the first and second time in 2004-05 this week... Entering the week, the Rampage sat in a tie for fourth place in the West Division with a 15-18-2-4 record. They are tied with Cincinnati and four points back of third-place Grand Rapids... This past weekend, San Antonio split a pair of 2-1 games with Chicago, winning Sunday in overtime... The Rampage are led in scoring by Stephen Weiss, who has nine goals and 19 assists for 28 points in 38 games... Gregory Campbell leads the team with ten goals and is second in scoring with 21 points in 38 games... Other notables include Jay Bouwmeester (38gp, 3g, 10a, 13pts, -3) and Nathan Horton (18gp, 5g, 3a, 8pts, +3)... Goaltender Travis Scott has a 9- 12-3 record with a 2.46 GAA and .929 save percentage in 28 appearances.

Houston Aeros

Thursday, January 14, 7:35 p.m.

Sunday, January 16, 5:05 p.m.

Venue: Toyota Center Radio: CJOB 68

The Moose face the Houston Aeros for the first and second time this season... Entering the week, the Aeroes were in sixth place in the West Division with a 16-14-2-1 record, one point behind San Antonio and Cincinnati for the final playoff spot although with six and five games in hand on both teams respectively... The Aeros have yet to score a goal in the 2005 calendar year. This past weekend, they dropped a 2-0 decision to Milwaukee Saturday followed by a 1-0 loss against Worcester Sunday. Overall, Houston has lost four of its last five games... The Aeros leading scorer is Stephane Veilleux, who has 12 goals and 21 points in 33 games this season. No other player on the team has more than seven goals... Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who spent each of the last two seasons with the parent Minnesota Wild, has five goals and 12 assists in 23 games... Goaltender Mike Smith has carried the load in goal this season with an 11-8-0 record with a 2.54 GAA and .910 save percentage... Former Brandon Wheat King Josh Harding is having a solid season with a 2.01 GAA and .932 save percentage. His record is 5-7-1.

MOOSE NOTES

Shootout Win: Sunday's 2-1 shootout win over Edmonton was the first time Manitoba won in a shootout since the AHL adopted the rule this season. The last time the Moose had a shootout win was back in the IHL days, a 1-0 victory over Utah on March 18, 2001.

Flaherty Streak Shattered: Manitoba Moose goaltender Wade Flaherty had his consecutive shutout minutes streak ended at 9:28 of the first period by Edmonton defenceman Jeff Woywitka in the Road Runners' 3-2 win over the Moose on Saturday. Thus, Flaherty's streak lasted 139:23 which is the third longest in Moose history. Former Moose goaltenderTyler Moss owns the franchise mark at 177:32 set last season while Moose goalie Alex Auld is second at 158:28 consecutive shutout minutes set back in 2002-03.

Special Teams?: Saturday's 3-2 victory by the Edmonton Road Runners over the Moose featured the lowest total penalty minutes combined in a Moose game this season as both teams combined for only eight minutes in penalties and two powerplays each. While the Moose finished 50% on the powerplay for the second time this season, they also finished only 50% when Edmonton had the man-advantage for also the second time this season.

Carlyle Part of 200 Club: Manitoba Moose Head Coach Randy Carlyle accomplished a milestone in his coaching career Wednesday night when his Manitoba Moose beat the Cleveland Barons 3-0. Carlyle has now won 201 games in professional coaching career, all with the Manitoba Moose. In his 396 games as head man of the Moose dating back to their days in the International Hockey League, Carlyle has a record of 201-143-1-51. Carlyle returned to the Moose bench this summer after two seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL's Washington Capitals. He originally took over as Moose head coach back in 1997 when he succeeded Jean Perron during the initial season of the Moose in Manitoba.

Middle Frame Pictured the Wrong Way: Saturday's 3-2 defeat to the Road Runners marked the first time this season the Moose have entered the second period tied in a game and ended up losing in regulation. They entered the game with an 8-0-1-1 record in such situations with their only overtime loss coming after a first period tie in Cleveland (Dec. 28/04) and a shootout loss coming after a scoreless first period against the Utah Grizzlies at the Winnipeg Arena (Nov. 6/04). The Moose have lost twice in regulation this season when holding the lead entering the second period of play.

Two-and-Two's: The Manitoba Moose embark on a four-game road trip this week which features a pair of back-to-back games in both San Antonio and Houston. So far this season, the Moose are 4-1-9 in such series, including a split this past weekend with the Edmonton Road Runners. The Moose have an 11-5-0-0 record in the first game, but are only 7-4-1-1 in the second game. The Moose have only been swept by the Road Runners back on Oct. 22nd & 23rd/04, while they have swept Cincinnati twice, Cleveland at home this past week, and Edmonton once on the road.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE

Jason King

4 GP, 0 G, 6 A, 6 PTS, +3, 11 SHOTS

This past week's Player of the Week nominee for the Manitoba Moose is forward Jason King. In four games, King registered six assists including a pair of multi-point games. On January 4 against Cleveland, King assisted on two of Manitoba's three goals as the team scored three in a span of 3:52 in the third period to defeat Cleveland 3-2. On January 5, King assisted on all three Moose goals in a 3-0 win over the Barons. He also added an assist Saturday against Edmonton. King's six-point lead has vaulted back on top among Moose scoring leaders. King is also fifth in the league in goals and ninth in points.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 10, 2005


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