by Marc Ciampa, moosehockey.com
Jimmy Roy scored two goals, including the game winner, and Wade Flaherty stopped all 15 shots he faced as the Manitoba Moose defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 6-3 Wednesday night.
The game didn't start the way the Moose had anticipated, as Ramzi Abid scored 2:52 in. Abid stripped the puck from Kirill Koltsov at centre, came down the right side and blasted a shot that deflected off Nolan Baumgartner and past Auld.
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Manitoba received their first powerplay of the game at the 7:24 mark as defenceman Drew Fata was ticketed for elbowing. The Moose had several chances with the man advantage, but Wilkes-Barre netminder Andy Chiodo made some big stops for the hosts.
Shortly after the Fata penalty expired, it looked as if Auld had robbed Shane Endicott in close with a great glove save. However, referee Dean Morton ruled that Auld's glove was past the line and the Pens were awarded a goal on the play.
At 12:53, King ripped a shot from the hash marks of the right circle that eluded Chiodo to make it a 2-1 game. Sarno and DiPenta drew assists on the play, with the latter making a great play to keep the puck in the zone.
The Moose continued to pressure the Penguins, and Ryan Kesler scored his first of the season late in the opening frame. Jeff Heerema and Josh Green got assists on the play.
After one period, the Moose and Penguins were tied 2-2 with Manitoba carrying the majority of the play. With an 11-3 edge in shots and all the momentum, the Moose were looking good going into the first intermission.
Early in the second period, Abid potted his second of the game. Picking up the puck along the boards, he evaded Koltsov and wristed it over Auld's shoulder. The goal was the third Auld allowed on four shots, prompting head coach Randy Carlyle to replace him with Wade Flaherty.
Flaherty is no stranger to the Penguins, backstopping the Milwaukee Admirals to a four-game sweep of Wilkes-Barre back in June. Shortly after coming into the game, Flaherty was forced to make several big stops from in-close as the Pens continued to press.
The tide turned just past the halfway point of the game as Jimmy Roy fed Jason King on a breakaway. King fired the puck top corner to elude Chiodo and tie the game up once again, 3-3.
As the second period wound down, Roy scored one of his own to give the Moose their first lead of the game. Mojzis and Josh Green drew the assists.
The high-flying offence that characterized the first two periods was nowhere to be seen in the third. Through the first 14 minutes of the final frame, each team had four shots in the period.
Jimmy Roy scored his second of the game and third point at the 14:03 mark of the period to make it a two-goal game. Just over a minute later, with the Moose on the powerplay, Peter Sarno did some fancy stickhandling before firing the puck past Chiodo to make it a 6-3 affair.
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NOTES: Nathan Smith left the game in the third period with an undisclosed injury, which resulted in extra ice time for Jesse Schultz, who excelled in his role and even saw some powerplay time in the third period... It was only the second time in franchise history that the Moose have won a season opener on the road. The other time was a 6-4 win October 9, 1998 at Orlando... All four games on this road trip are the home opener for Manitoba's respective opponents... With his two goals, Jimmy Roy increased his franchise-high career goals total to 84... Roy also notched his 12th game-winning goal as a Moose, moving into a tie for second all-time with Pat Kavanagh and one behind Scott Thomas for top spot.
