Moose Split Week 24 with IceHogs

Author: Christina Caligiuri

March 16, 2010

The Manitoba Moose split Week 24 with the Rockford IceHogs after earning a 6-1 victory on Friday night followed by a 6-3 loss in the rematch on Saturday.  Matt Pope and Marco Rosa both tallied three-point nights on Friday while Guillaume Desbiens potted a pair of goals on Saturday.  Cory Schneider appeared in both games to close out Manitoba’s four-game regular season series against the IceHogs.

Friday, March 12, 2010: Manitoba 6 – Rockford 1 W
The Moose scored five consecutive goals on Friday night to beat the visiting Rockford IceHogs 6-1 in front of 7,751 fans at MTS Centre.  Matt Pope scored two goals, including the game-winner, and added an assist for his first-ever AHL three-point night.  Matt Pettinger and Marco Rosa both notched singles while newcomers Yan Stastny and Peter Olvecky rounded out the scoring.  Goaltender Cory Schneider also created some offence when he earned his third assist of the season while stopping 28 of 29 shots in his 28th victory this campaign.

Saturday, March 13, 2010: Manitoba 3 – Rockford 6 L
The Manitoba Moose split their final regular season series against the Rockford IceHogs with a 6-3 loss in front of 10,177 fans at MTS Centre on Saturday night.  Guillaume Desbiens scored a pair of goals, Michael Grabner earned his 15th of the season and Cory Schneider stopped 28 of 32 shots in his 20th loss this campaign.

LOOKING AHEAD:
After splitting a two-game away series vs. Grand Rapids earlier in the month, the Moose are 1-1-0-0 (19-21-4-5 all-time) vs. the Griffins heading into this weekend’s double header.  This is the first time Manitoba will host Grand Rapids this season -- an opponent they are 11-10-2-1 against historically on home-ice.  Moose defenceman Lawrence Nycholat leads all Manitoba skaters with two points (1g & 1a) against the Griffins while goaltender Cory Schneider has appeared in both games against the club this campaign (1-1-0, 1.95 GAA, 0.949 SV%).

PENALTY SHOTS TO PONDER:
Manitoba was awarded their third penalty shot of the season on Saturday night but Yan Stastny’s attempt was denied by Corey Crawford in the third period.  So far this season, the Moose are 0/3 when getting a penalty shot opportunity.  However, the club is also 2/3 when it comes to stopping a penalty shot.  The only opposing penalty shot allowed this season was when Dustin Jeffrey got one passed Daren Machesney on October 29 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (2-1SOW).  Historically, the Moose have capitalized on 7/19 penalty shot opportunities and allowed 8/16.

A PK SLIP UP:
After a perfect two-game streak on the penalty kill, the Manitoba Moose allowed three opposing powerplay markers in Saturday’s 6-3 loss to the IceHogs.  The last time the Moose allowed three powerplay goals in a single game was on January 30, 2010 against the Penguins.  In fact, the club has allowed three opposing powerplay goals in a single game on three separate occasions this season.  As a result, Manitoba’s penalty kill standing has dropping to 18th overall at 81.5 per cent.

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