The first good scoring chance came for Houston as the speedy Patrick O'Sullivan streaked down the left wing but couldn't get enough wood on the shot and Flaherty made the save.
The Moose took the first powerplay of the game after Clayton Stoner was called for hooking. Prestin Ryan got his second of the season as he took the puck at the side of the net, walked in on Harding and snapped a shot by the Houston keeper.
Seconds later the Moose went up two courtesy of Mike Keane as he jumped on a huge rebound off of Jimmy Roy's initial shot.
At 13:40 of the first Manitoba took a two man advantage for 35 seconds after Olson and Stoner were given minor penalties. Manitoba controlled the Aeros zone with nice one-touch passing but couldn't beat Harding on this occasion.
Action heated up in the first as Rick Rypien left the penalty box and creamed an unsuspecting Aeros player. The entire Houston team took exception but all that resulted was some pushing a shoving, and five minor penalties. Three to Houston and two to the Moose.
Jozef Balej had a great chance to put the Moose up three with just over a minute to play in the first. Darby made a beautiful pass to find Balej, who spun around and fired forcing harding into a quick reflex save.
The first finished with Houston on the powerplay, and Manitoba leading 9-6 in shots.
Houston came out firing on the powerplay in the second as Wade Flaherty gave up a rebound right onto Curtis Murphy's stick who put the puck into a wide open net.
Manitoba took their sixth powerplay of the game at 4:20 of the second after Josh Olson was called for hooking. Manitoba could only manage one shot on goal however, as Houstono was able to kill it off.
Brett Skinner came inches from giving the Moose another two goal lead midway through the second as he took a pass from Darby, wide open between the hash marks but fired it just outside the left post.
With just under a minute to play Roy and Rypien broke out 2 on 1, Roy tried to get around Curtis Murphy but Murphy played it perfectly.
The second period finished with the score 2-1 Manitoba and Houston leading the shot count 20-17.
Houston started the third period just as they started the second, with a goal. After a scramble in front Westrum was able to wrist the puck up and over a sprawled out Wade Flaherty.
After almost 19 minutes of hockey without penalties, the teams skated 4 on 4 after Bieksa and Kinkel were both assessed minor penalties with just under five minutes gone in the third.
The Moose took their seventh powerplay of the game midway through the third after Taticek was given the gate for boarding. The Moose had a couple good chances while working in the Aeros zone but the game remained tied as the penalty expired.
Flaherty came up huge to keep the game tied with Houston on the powerplay, making two key saves on Taticek and Westrum.
Houston took their first lead of the game after Flaherty had made the initial save and tried to cover up, Petr Taticek jumped on the loose puck and poked it in.
Josh Harding made the save of the game with just over a minute to play as Craig Darby ripped a shot from in close and Harding made an outstanding glove save to keep his team up.
The Moose pulled Flaherty with about a minute to play as Manitoba put heavy pressure on the Aeros. The Moose couldn't net the equalizer however as the Aeros edged out the Moose 3-2. The shots finished 34-25 for Houston.
1
2
3
TOTAL
Houston
0
1
2
3
Manitoba
2
0
0
2
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: MTB - 4:23 P. Ryan (2) A. Burrows, J. Balej PP MTB - 4:35 M. Keane (1) J. Roy, S. Butenschon
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: HOU - 0:41 C. Murphy (3) P. O'Sullivan, P. Taticek PP
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: HOU - 0:27 E. Westrum (10) P. Taticek, C. Murphy HOU - 16:11 P. Taticek (6) P. O'Sullivan, P. Olvecky
PENALTIES: 1st HOU - C. Stoner 2.00 Hooking 3:37 1st HOU - J. Olson 2.00 Cross-checking 4:55 1st HOU - C. Stoner 2.00 Hooking 6:21 1st MTB - R. Rypien 2.00 Holding 9:47 1st HOU - B. Kinkel 2.00 Roughing 11:51 1st HOU - B. Kinkel 2.00 Roughing 11:51 1st HOU - J. Tetarenko 2.00 Roughing 11:51 1st HOU - J. Tetarenko 2.00 Roughing 11:51 1st MTB - J. DeMone 2.00 Roughing 11:51 1st MTB - P. Ryan 2.00 Roughing 11:51 1st MTB - P. Ryan 2.00 Roughing 11:51 1st HOU - C. Murphy 2.00 Interference 14:06 1st MTB - C. Darby 2.00 Hooking 14:48 1st MTB - C. Darby 2.00 Holding 18:47
2nd HOU - J. Olson 2.00 Hooking 4:20 2nd MTB - M. Bernier 2.00 Hooking 6:40
3rd HOU - B. Kinkel 2.00 Goaltender interference 3:58 3rd MTB - K. Bieksa 2.00 Hooking 4:25 3rd HOU - P. Taticek 2.00 Boarding 8:59 3rd MTB - K. Bieksa 2.00 Interference 12:59 3rd MTB - R. Rypien 2.00 Roughing 19:35 3rd HOU - D. Wood 2.00 Roughing 19:35
ATTENDANCE:
8552
SHOTS ON GOAL
1
2
3
TOTAL
Houston
6
14
14
34
Manitoba
9
8
8
25
POWER PLAY STATS
Houston (1 for 6)
Manitoba (1 for 8)
GOALIES
HOME TEAM
S
SV
PCT (%)
Flaherty
34
31
91.1%
McVicar
0
0
00.0%
AWAY TEAM
S
SV
PCT (%)
Harding
25
23
92.0%
Kotyk
0
0
00.0%
1. HOU - C. Murphy 2. MTB - P. Ryan 3. MTB - W. Flaherty
Manitoba will take the rest of the weekend off before taking on Grand Rapids on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Get your tickets today or listen to the games live on CJOB.
Photos by Rusty Barton, Manitoba Moose. Click on one of the thumbnails at right to reveal a larger version of this image.
Photos by Jonathan Kozub, Manitoba Moose. Click on one of the below thumbnails to reveal a larger version of the image above.
