ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- As one streak was snapped, another was extended.
Thanks to an impressive all-around effort, the Manitoba Moose were able to brush aside a four-game winless skid on the road and extend their current AHL winning streak to five games with a 3-1 victory over the Rochester Americans before a crowd of 5,107 at Blue Cross Arena last night.
Manitoba hadn't posted a road win since Dec. 9, when they knocked off the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
"We limited one of the best power plays in the league to nothing," said Moose head coach Alain Vigneault, whose penalty-killers were a perfect 5-for-5. "And if it weren't for a giveaway in the third period, we could have shut them down completely."
Goalie Wade Flaherty made 24 saves to beat the Americans for the first time this season.
The Moose got an opportunity on a lengthy 5-on-3 advantage just past the seven-minute mark of the second period and needed only 19 seconds to strike.
Rookie blue-liner Brett Skinner showed great patience in gaining the zone, Jason King slid a pass over to defenceman Prestin Ryan and Ryan found a streaking Jesse Schultz with a pass on the backdoor.
Schultz's goal was his second power-play marker in as many games and gives him a team-leading 22 on the season.
The Americans took advantage of a defensive zone blunder by Tomas Mojzis when Clarke MacArthur tied it at 8:31 of the third.
But the Moose replied seven seconds later when Ryan snuck a floater from the left point past Michael Leighton.
King added a goal at 10:27, two seconds after an Americans penalty had expired, to put the game away.
There was some bad news for the Moose, who lost all-star defenceman Sven Butenschon to a shoulder injury in the second period.
Butenschon took a puck in the face with 56.5 seconds left in the first period, but came back in the second before heading to the dressing room for good, leaving the Moose to go with five blue-liners.
"When you lose a guy like Boots it makes your job harder, but the guys stepped up and did the job," said Moose defenceman Maxime Fortunus. "That's part of our game plan, you've got to block shots and win every one-on-one battle on the ice."
MOOSE TRACKS: The Moose announced yesterday they have sold just under 12,000 tickets for next week's 2006 AHL All-Star Classic at MTS Centre ... Fans can purchase a lower bowl ticket for any remaining home game and receive an upper bowl seat for the skills competition and all-star game, all for $30 ... Alexandre Burrows scored his fourth NHL goal of the season in the Vancouver Canucks 6-5 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
