by Marc Ciampa, moosehockey.com
The Hamilton Bulldogs defeated the Manitoba Moose 4-3 to put a halt to their three-game winning streak to start the season. Wade Flaherty stopped 25 of 29 shots for the Moose, and Jason King added to his league-leading totals with a goal and an assist.
Manitoba received the first powerplay opportunity of the game when Corey Locke received two minutes for slashing.
On the ensuing man advantage, Yann Danis stood tall in making several big stops off Jason King. The Moose kept the pressure on throughout the two minutes but were unable to capitalize.
Shortly after the penalty expired, the Moose found themselves on another powerplay after a Gavin Morgan hooking penalty.
However, it was Hamilton that capitalized. Chris Higgins stripped Nolan Baumgartner of the puck and skated down the ice all alone, beating Flaherty stick side for a shorthanded marker. For the fourth time in as many games, the opposition scored first on the Moose.
With Duncan Milroy just about to come out of the box, Jason King took a feather pass from Peter Sarno and slipped it short side just by the post past Yann Danis. Tying the game at 1-1, it was King's seventh of the year.
Just over a minute later, Goren fed Josh Green who beat Danis with a wrist shot but rang it off the goal post.
Corey Locke scored his first professional goal near the end of the first period as he wristed one from the top of the left faceoff circle that travelled over the stick side of Wade Flaherty.
Jimmy Roy and Steve Ott dropped the gloves in the dying seconds of the opening frame, with Roy getting the decision but an additional two minutes for instigating and a ten-minute misconduct to go along with it.
After one period of play, the Moose trailed Hamilton 2-1 and the Bulldogs held an 11-9 edge in shots.
The Bulldogs started the second period on the powerplay, but the Moose were able to prevent any further damage by killing off the penalty.
Jeff Heerema netted his second of the year 7:12 into the middle frame to tie the game at 2-2. Lee Goren and Ryan Kesler drew assists on the play. Heerema wristed one short side on Danis to net his second of the year.
It didn't take long for the Bulldogs to regain the lead. Jonathan Ferland had the puck behind the net and scored on the wraparound attempt 37 seconds after the Moose had tied it.
Manitoba peppered 20 shots at Yann Danis in the second period but were only able to score once. After 40 minutes of play, the score was 3-2 Bulldogs with the Moose holding a 29-19 shot advantage.
Early in the third, Andrew Archer went off for slashing to put the Moose on their sixth powerplay of the game.
On that powerplay, Nolan Baumgartner let a blast go that went past the glove of Yann Danis. Sarno and King drew the assists as the game was knotted up for the third time on the afternoon.
Hamilton took the lead for the fourth and final time on the afternoon after a powerplay goal by Duncan Milroy with Peter Sarno in the box for hooking.
>> View full box score
NOTES: Jimmy Roy and Kent Huskins drew back into the lineup, as Johnathan Aitken and Tim Smith were healthy scratches... Heerema, Kesler, King and Sarno each have active four-game point scoring streaks.
