Try as he might, the inability to dent the twine this season is beginning to wear on Alexandre Bolduc.
The Manitoba Moose forward has been limited to only 12 games this season (eight with Moose and another four with the parent Vancouver Canucks) because of a shoulder problem, but that's little consolation for a guy who scored 18 during the 2007-08 campaign and is on the door of perhaps graduating to the next level.
"The shoulder is feeling better and now I just have to put one in," said Bolduc, a 24-year-old from Montreal who is in his fifth season with the Moose. "I can't get too frustrated, but I need to score right now."
As the Moose begin a two-game road trip against the Norfolk Admirals tonight, Bolduc will be given every opportunity to break the goose egg while he skates on the top line between Russian sniper Sergei Shirokov and the versatile Marco Rosa.
That trio generated plenty of chances and Bolduc recorded his first assist of the campaign in his last game against the Rockford IceHogs.
"It's definitely fun, it was a physical game and I was crashing the net," said Bolduc. "That's the way I need to play. It's fun to play on a scoring line when you know you're going to get chances if you work hard.
"I want to score, but as long as I'm helping the team in other ways, that's good too."
Moose head coach Scott Arniel understands Bolduc's frustration when it comes to the current drought.
"You can tell now that it's in his head and he's thinking about it," said Arniel. "He just needs to get that first one and move on from there. He's missed a lot of hockey but he's starting to get himself back up to speed. The game against Rockford was his best game back. He really showed his speed and was dangerous."
Last week was a busy one for Bolduc, who played in four of the five games with the Moose over a six-day period after returning from his latest shoulder injury -- suffered on Oct. 30 in a game against the Los Angeles Kings.
"I was a little rusty for sure, it had been a month-and-a-half that I didn't play," said Bolduc, who had 12 goals and 33 points in 63 games with the Moose last season.
During his most recent recall, Bolduc had an opportunity to play a more expanded role, sometimes seeing up to 15 minutes a game while playing on the checking line and occasionally being used on the penalty kill.
Slowly but surely, he seems to be earning the trust of Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault.
"I was really starting to find my place on the team there," said Bolduc, who is in the second year of the two-year deal he signed with the Canucks on July 2 of 2008. "I would have got into a few more games if I hadn't got hurt but it happens. It was nothing but positive things when I got sent down. I just have to keep working hard and not change my game when I got up there. They want me to be physical and crash and bang. I was a lot less nervous and I was starting to make plays. That comes with confidence.
"It's nice to know that hard work pays off and that's what I have to keep doing here. Working hard always pays off, that's what I've learned over the years."
HOOF PRINTS: This is the first ever visit for the Moose to face the Admirals, who are 12-14-1 this season and sit fifth in the East Division. The primary affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning swept the Moose earlier this season in a pair of games at the MTS Centre, both by 3-1 scores. "They were pretty stingy and didn't give us a lot to work with, we have to throw it back at him," said Arniel.
ken.wiebe@sunmedia.ca
