Wins Continue In Week 24

Published on March 24, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Manitoba Moose extended their winning streak to eight games with two victories over the San Antonio Rampage this past week, putting the club only two wins away from tying the franchise record for its longest winning streak (10 games, Oct. 18 - Nov. 17/00).

Wednesday, March 19, 2008: San Antonio 2 - Manitoba 3 W

Two powerplay goals and a two-point performance from Brad Moran helped Manitoba edge San Antonio 3-2 Wednesday night for their seventh straight win. With 17 saves on 19 shots, rookie goalie Cory Schneider also earned his ninth straight victory.

Thursday, March 20, 2008: San Antonio 2 - Manitoba 4 W

Buoyed by Drew MacIntyre's 32 saves and Jannik Hansen's four points, the Moose rose above the Rampage 4-2 Thursday night. The win swept the club's home series vs. the Rampage and extended Manitoba's winning streak to eight games.

This week, the Moose head back on the road to play four games vs. Divisional opponents, starting Tuesday night in Lake Erie. The club will look to keep two winning streaks alive: an eight-game overall winning streak and a six-game road winning streak.

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

Tuesday, Mar. 25: Following up Manitoba's New Year's Eve and New Year's Day victories over Lake Erie, the Moose and Monsters (25-32-5-7, 5th North) meet for the first time in nearly three months to close out their season series Tuesday night. After seven meetings this season, the Moose are 5-1-1-0 overall vs. the Monsters and 2-0-1-0 in Cleveland. Eric Healey is the Monsters' leading scorer with 20 goals and 49 points, while Mike Wall is the club's top netminder with a 12-12-4 record, 2.92 GAA, and 0.915 SV%.

Wednesday, Mar. 26 & Friday, Mar. 28: By winning all six games played vs. the Americans so far this season, Manitoba carries 10 straight wins over Rochester (20-39-6-4, 7th North) into this week's two games. Manitoba's all-time record sits at 20-11-3-0 (.632) vs. Rochester, while 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. The last time the Moose lost a regular-season game at Blue Cross Arena was Nov. 17/06 (4-3 OTL). Adam Dennis is Rochester's top goalie with a 16-21-2 record, 2.98 GAA, and 0.902 SV%, while Mark Mancari is their leading scorer with 16 goals and 48 points.

Saturday, Mar. 29: Heading into Saturday night's game, the Moose and Marlies (43-18-3-5, 1st North) earned two wins apiece against eachother this season. Manitoba has won the past two contests, including a 3-0 shutout victory (their third of the season and second in a row) at Toronto on Mar. 8/08. With the win, Manitoba improved to 1-1-0-0 at Toronto this season, bringing their all-time record to 8-1-0-1 at Ricoh Coliseum. Last season, Manitoba had a near-perfect 7-1-0-0 record vs. Toronto and went undefeated in four games at the Ricoh Coliseum. David Ling leads Toronto in scoring with 13 goals and 51 points, while Justin Pogge is the club's best backstopper with a 22-9-4 record, 2.38 GAA, and 0.906 SV%.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE

#17 Jannik Hansen - Right Wing

For this first time this season, Moose forward Jannik Hansen has been nominated for AHL Player of the Week. This past week, Hansen scored a goal and added four assists for five points in just two games. As a result, the Harlev, Denmark native has now collected points in his past four consecutive games, has 24 points (11G, 13A) in his past 21 games dating back to Feb. 8, and has not gone two consecutive games without collecting at least a point in that time. He is now sixth in team scoring with 14 goals and 17 assists for 31 points in only 39 games. He has four game-winning goals (third on the team), including the winner in Thursday's 4-2 victory over the Rampage. His three shots this week give him 78 on the season for a whopping shooting percentage of 17.9. He is also near the top of the team in plus/minus with a +17 ranking so far this season.

MOOSE NOTES

MAKE IT EIGHT: Manitoba's two victories over San Antonio this past week stretched the club's winning streak to eight games, their point streak to 10 games, and maintained their status as the hottest team in the AHL. Syracuse has the next-best current winning streak with five straight wins, while the league record for most consecutive wins this season is nine games, set by Wilkes-Barre and Peoria. The last time the Moose won eight games in a row was Feb. 25 - Mar.18/07. That streak came on the heels of nine consecutive wins (Feb. 3-23/07), only one win short of tying the franchise record (10 games, set Oct. 18 - Nov.17/00). The Moose are now 13-2-0-1 in their past 16 games, while the last time the club lost a game in regulation time was Feb. 27/08 vs. Hershey (4-3L).

THE BIG 4-0: Last Thursday vs. the Rampage, the Moose registered their 40th win in their 69th game of the season, marking the earliest the club has hit the 40-win mark in franchise history. Last season, the Moose earned their 40th win in their 70th game, matching the number of wins they registered after 70 games of the 1998-99 IHL season. That season, the Moose finished with a franchise-record 47 wins and 108 points in 82 games. In an 80-game AHL season, the franchise record is 45 wins and 102 points, which the team accomplished last season. The Moose have now earned 40+ wins in four straight seasons, further distancing themselves from a five-season stretch (1999-04) of failing to break the 40-win threshold.

TOP LINE TEARS IT UP: Although left winger (and Manitoba's leading goal scorer) Jason Jaffray missed last week's two games due to injury, linemates Brad Moran and Jannik Hansen continue to rack up points. While playing with rookie Mark Derlago, Moran and Hansen tallied a combined 10 points in two games last week, maintaining Moran's position atop the Moose leaderboard and pushing Hansen to sixth on the club's scoring list. Throughout Manitoba's eight-game winning streak dating back to Mar. 2/08, Moran, Hansen, Jaffray, and Derlago have tallied 12 goals and 21 assists and joined forces for 11 of the team's 25 scoring plays.



American Hockey League Stories from March 24, 2008


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