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Updated: Dec. 30, 2006 at 10:11 PM CST

Crunch spoil Moose come-back effort

By Travis Kondratuk
www.moosehockey.com

Mark Hartigan spoiled the Moose come-back attempt as he scored on Wade Flaherty at 1:50 of overtime to give the Crunch the extra point in the North Division standings. The Moose, down 4-2, scored two goals inside the final 2:00 with Wade Flaherty on the bench just to get the game to overtime, but fell just short. The single point means the Moose have earned at least one-point in the standings in six-straight contests dating back to San Antonio on Dec. 17/06. The Moose will host the Crunch again in their annual New Years Eve game at the MTS Centre tommorow afternoon. Some tickets are still available, so come and start your party plans with an exciting game at the MTS Centre. Remember the Moose have a fantastic indoor fireworks show planned for after the game to kick-off the New Year, so bring the whole family.

>> Click to view photos of tonight's game.

>> Click here to see official scorer's sheet

>> Click to view the ice-times for tonight's game.

First Period

The Moose had a terrific chance, as they created some pressure in the Crunch zone. Syracuse goalie Dan LaCosta used his mask to stop a hard point shot as he was flopping to try and keep the puck out.

Wade Flaherty got his signals crossed with his Moose defenceman for a second time in the period as he tried to leave the puck behind the Moose net, but a Crunch player intercepted and had a good scoring opportunity on the wrap-around attempt. Both times Flats was able to recover to keep the puck out.

Prestin Ryan finished off a nice passing play from Jason Jaffray and Brad Moran for his third goal of the season, to stake the Moose to a 1-0 lead at 10:25 of the first period. With the Moose on the powerplay, Ryan snuck in back-door with his stick on the ice, and Jaffray hit him right on the tape for the easy redirect into the open net.

The Crunch continued to take minor penalties and played the majority of the first period shorthanded, giving the Moose five powerplay opportunities. The Moose took advantage of one of their chances and heavily outshot the Crunch 16-3 after one period of play.

Second Period

With Mike Bown in the box for roughing, Syracuse winger Mark Hartigan stormed in down the left wing and blasted an absolute rocket over the shoulder of Wade Flaherty to tie the game at one goal apiece. Joe Motzko and Derrick Walser drew the assists on the powerplay marker.

The Moose bounced back with another powerplay goal of their own shortly after to restore their one goal advantage. Jason Jaffray finished off a nice give-and-go with Brad Moran, re-directing home his team-leading 19th goal of the season past Dan LaCosta at 5:23 of the second period. Yannick Tremblay drew the second assist on the goal his fourth of the season.

Jason Jaffray was given a 5:00 major for high-sticking as he clipped a Syracuse Crunch player on the follow-through with his dump-in attempt.

A bit of confusion at the end of the second period as the Crunch scored just before time expired on the second period. The goal counted and was credited to defenceman Jekabs Redlihs, his first goal of the season at 19:59. Filip Novak and Geoff Platt drew the assists on the game-tying goal.

Third Period

The Crunch took there first lead of the game as Syracuse winger Adam Pineault blasted a cannon over the glove of Wade Flaherty from just outside the right face-off circle. Marc Methot drew the lone assist on the go-ahead goal at 5:24 of the third.

Joe Motzko and Ben Simon broke in two-on-one on the Moose net, and Simon finished off the play to put the Crunch up 4-2. Motzko stole the puck at the Crunch blue line and then skated down the right wing, where he fired a shot on Flaherty from just outside the right face-off circle. Flaherty kicked out his right pad to make the save but Simon outraced the Moose back-checker to tap the rebound past the Moose netminder. The insurance marker came at 12:50 of period three.

With Darcy Verot in the box for tripping and the Moose down by two goals, Manitoba pulled Wade Flaherty with over 2:30 left to give them a 6-on-4 advantage. The move payed off as Lee Goren scored his tenth goal of the season to cut the Crunch lead to one goal. Prestin Ryan fired a wrist shot from the point through a screen that Le Goren tipped past Crunch goaltender Dan LaCosta just as the penalty had expired.

Scott Arniel called his timeout immediately after the goal to talk strategyon how they could tie the game.

With Flaherty still on the bench, and just :23 after Goren's first goal of the game, Goren cleaned up his own rebound in front of the Crunch net for his second goal, tying the game for the Moose.

Overtime

Mark Hartigan spoiled Manitoba's come-back however, as he roofed a shot from just outside the Moose crease to give the Crunch the victory. Hartigan's second goal of the game came at 1:50 of the overtime period to give the Crunch the extra point in the North Division standings.

The Moose will get another crack at the Crunch tommorow afternoon as they host Syracuse for the annual New Year's Eve game at the MTS Centre.

Moose scratches: Joe Rullier, J.J. Hunter, Dustin Wood, Tyler Bouck, Patrick Coulombe

Crunch scratches: Andrew Murray, Phillippe Dupuis, Janne Hauhtonen, Ryan Caldwell, Jamie Pushor

Game Summary

SCORING	1	2	3	OT	T
Syracuse	0	2	2	1	5
Manitoba	1	1	2	0	4

Dec 30, 2006 - MTS Centre

FIRST PERIOD:

1. Manitoba, P. Ryan (3) (J. Jaffray, B. Moran) 10:25 PP

Penalties - F. Novak Syr (holding the stick) 0:19, P. Ryan Mtb (cross-checking) 5:31, D. Walser Syr (hooking) 6:18, T. Kloucek Syr (hooking) 8:40, G. Platt Syr (cross-checking) 12:33, S. Goertzen Syr (hooking) 17:20

SECOND PERIOD:

2. Syracuse, M. Hartigan (13) (J. Motzko, D. Walser) 3:06 PP
3. Manitoba, J. Jaffray (19) (B. Moran, Y. Tremblay) 5:23 PP
4. Syracuse, J. Redlihs (1) (F. Novak, G. Platt) 19:59

Penalties - M. Brown Mtb (roughing) 2:05, A. Pineault Syr (high-sticking) 4:44, Served by M. Bernier Mtb (bench minor - too many men) 10:52, F. Novak Syr (slashing) 16:19, J. Jaffray Mtb (major - high-sticking) 16:31, T. Kloucek Syr (hooking) 18:27

THIRD PERIOD:

5. Syracuse, A. Pineault (5) (M. Methot) 5:24
6. Syracuse, B. Simon (6) (J. Motzko) 12:50
7. Manitoba, L. Goren (10) (P. Ryan, Y. Tremblay) 18:18
8. Manitoba, L. Goren (11) (B. Moran, Y. Tremblay) 18:41

Penalties - D. Verot Syr (tripping) 16:17

OT PERIOD:

9. Syracuse, M. Hartigan (14) (D. Walser, J. Motzko) 1:50

Penalties - No Penalties

SHOTS	1	2	3	OT	T
Syracuse	3	9	8	2	22
Manitoba	16	4	11	1	32

POWER PLAYS:

Syracuse Crunch 1-5. Manitoba Moose 2-8.

GOALTENDERS:

Syracuse Crunch
LaCosta 5-7-1
Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 61:50 SV: 28 GA: 4 [W]

Manitoba Moose
Flaherty 17-9-2
Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:40 SV: 17 GA: 5 [L]

Attendance:
7285

Three Stars

Three Stars

SYR- #3 Mark Hartigan
MTB- #37 Lee Goren
MTB- #6 Prestin Ryan

What's Next

The Moose will play their final game of the 2006 calendar year versus the Crunch at the MTS Centre tomorrow afternoon at the MTS Centre. The team has a special indoor fireworks display planned for after the game to kick-off the New Year's Eve celebrations. The MTS Centre has opened the upper bowl for the game and the Moose are expecting their largest crowd of the season.

Moose Image Gallery

Photos by Rusty Barton, Manitoba Moose. Click on one of the thumbnails at right to reveal a larger version of this image.

Photos by Rusty Barton, Manitoba Moose. Click on one of the below thumbnails to reveal a larger version of the image above.

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