By Travis Kondratuk
www.moosehockey.com
Nathan Smith did his best Gordie Howe imitation on Old Time Hockey Night as he had a goal, two assists and a scrap pacing the Moose to a 5-2 win over the Syracuse Crunch. Jason Jaffray had three points on the night and Jesse Schultz broke out of his funk with two goals to lead the Moose to their third straight win. The Moose drew their energy from the largest crowd of the season of 14,015 screaming fans.
>> 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
Well, this one got off to a spirited start in front of a huge crowd of 14,015 as Nathan McIver and Steven Goertzen dropped the gloves right off the opening face-off. McIver landed some serious bombs on Goertzen as the Crunch forward went down to a knee, but to his credit he got back up and landed a few shots of his own. The decision in this one would have to go to McIver.
Jamie Pushor took a hooking penalty just seconds later to put the Moose on the powerplay at the 0:25 mark.
Jason Jaffray just missed opening the scoring for the Moose as he fired a shot on net and the loose puck sat waiting in the crease. Jaffray circled the net and just missed slapping the loose puck into the open cage.
Adam Pineault then took a high-sticking minor to put the Moose on an abbreviated 5-on-3 advantage.
Jaffray just missed scoring again as he was fed a pass at the side of the net and he just fanned on the one-timer. The Crunch were able to kill off the penalties as the Moose led 8-0 in shots through 5:00 of play.
Drew Macintyre looked sharp again in net for the Moose as the Crunch appeared to get a little momentum from their penalty kill, and forced D-Mac to make a series of nice saves.
Jesse Schultz took the first penalty for the Moose as he went to the box for hooking. On the ensuing man-advantage the Crunch almost capitalized, as on a scramble in front of the Moose net, the puck trickled to the goal line. Fortunately for the Moose, Mike Brown was in the right place at the right time as he shoveled the puck out of harms way, preventing a sure goal.
Curtis Glencross was given a hooking penalty of his own on the play ending the Crunch powerplay.
After the Moose led 8-0 in shots to start the period, the Crunch battled back to finish the opening 20:00 ahead on the shot clock 13-10 as the two teams played a scoreless first.
Second Period
Jesse Schultz ended an eight game scoreless drought as he patiently stepped around a Crunch defender and wristed a shot low glove side on Ty Conklin to open the scoring. Tommi Santala earned his first point as a Moose as he was given the lone assist on the goal at 0:44 of the second.
Exactly 2:00 later the Moose struck again, as Jason Jaffray notched his 25th goal of the season, re-directing a Goren shot through the legs of Ty Conklin. Nathan Smith drew the second assist on the goal for his first point in five games.
The Crunch got into penalty trouble as first Alexandre Picard took an interference penalty and then Marc Methot took a hooking penalty to give the Moose another 5-on-3 advantage.
This time the Moose would make them pay as Jesse Schultz set up shot in the slot and blasted home his second goal of the game, one-timing a pass from Jason Jaffray.
The Moose capitalized on the powerplay again just 0:02 before the Methot penalty expired as J.J. Hunter backhanded his second goal in two games past Conklin, putting the Moose up 4-0.
Geoff Platt responded for the Crunch just 0:19 later to get the visitors on the board, as he stormed into the Moose zone and fired a shot that beat MacIntyre through the legs.
With only 0:26 left in the period Jason Jaffray carried across the Crunch blueline and fed a nice cross-crease pass to Nathan Smith who was barreling towards the goal. Smith made a beautiful redirection on the feed over the shoulder of Conklin to give the Moose a 5-1 lead. Colby Genoway was given the second assist on the goal, registering his first point as a member of the Moose.
After a scoreless first period the teams broke out, combining for six goals in the second. The Moose regained the lead in the shots department 20-17 after the Crunch staked the Moose to four consecutive powerplays in the period, with the Moose capitalizing on two of those chances. The Moose lead 5-1 after 40:00 of play.
Third Period
The Crunch changed goalies to start the third period as they replaced Ty Conklin with Dan LaCosta.
Mike Brown forced Jamie Pushor into dropping the gloves as he jumped the Crunch defenceman and started raining blows in his hear. Brown got the early upperhand but once Pushor decided to drop his mitts, his size advantage became evident as he won the last part of the fight. Call this one a draw, but Mike Brown was given the extra 2:00 for instigating.
With Yannick Tremblay in the box for holding, the Crunch cut the Moose lead to three as Steven Goertzen wristed a shot on net through a screen that found its way past Drew MacIntyre. Ryan Caldwell drew the lone assist on the powerplay marker for the visitors.
J.J. Hunter accidentally high-sticked one of the Crunch players deep in their zone, which caused a huge scrum in the corner.
On the ensuing face-off Nathan Smith completed the Gordie Howe hat-trick, dropping the gloves with Andrew Murray of Selkirk, Manitoba. Smith caught Murray off balance landing a few solid shots that sent the two players to the ice. Both got 5:00 for fighting on the play.
Olivier Labelle hit Jannik Hansen from behind in the neutral zone which caused Prestin ryan to step in and defend his team mate. Both players were given fighting majors, but Ryan was given an extra 2:00 for instigating and a game misconduct to end his night for the Moose.
The Moose let it be known that they wouldn't be pushed around on the night as they initiated the rough stuff when called upon.
The Moose held on for the 5-2 victory, improving their record versus the Crunch this season to 4-0-2-0, and moving their overall record to 25-16-7-4. The Moose are in action again this Monday at the MTS Centre as they host the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights.
Moose scratches: Rick Rypien, Tyler Bouck, Patrick Coulombe, Alexandre Bolduc
Crunch scratches: Tomas Popperle, Zenon Konopka, Andy Canzanello, Jekabs Redlihs, Trevor Frischmon
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| SCORING |
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| Syracuse |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Manitoba |
0 |
5 |
0 |
5 |
Feb 10, 2007 - MTS Centre FIRST PERIOD:No Scoring Penalties - S. Goertzen Syr (fighting) 0:04, N. McIver Mtb (fighting) 0:04, J. Pushor Syr (hooking) 0:25, A. Pineault Syr (high-sticking) 1:34, J. Schultz Mtb (hooking) 8:01, C. Glencross Syr (hooking) 9:38 SECOND PERIOD:1. Manitoba, J. Schultz (11) (T. Santala) 0:44 2. Manitoba, J. Jaffray (25) (L. Goren, N. Smith) 2:44 3. Manitoba, J. Schultz (12) (J. Jaffray, Y. Tremblay) 12:36 PP 4. Manitoba, J. Hunter (4) (N. Smith, Y. Tremblay) 14:02 PP 5. Syracuse, G. Platt (22) (O. Labelle, J. Lindstrom) 14:21 6. Manitoba, N. Smith (10) (J. Jaffray, C. Genoway) 19:34 Penalties - T. Santala Mtb (holding) 7:06, A. Pineault Syr (high-sticking) 8:49, A. Picard Syr (interference) 11:38, M. Methot Syr (hooking) 12:12, J. Lindstrom Syr (holding) 15:04 THIRD PERIOD:7. Syracuse, S. Goertzen (5) (R. Caldwell) 11:18 PP Penalties - J. Pushor Syr (fighting) 2:11, M. Brown Mtb (instigating, fighting, misconduct - instigating 47.10) 2:11, D. Walser Syr (slashing) 7:25, Y. Tremblay Mtb (holding) 11:06, A. Picard Syr (holding) 14:41, J. Pushor Syr (roughing) 14:41, M. Fortunus Mtb (roughing) 14:41, J. Hunter Mtb (high-sticking) 14:41, A. Murray Syr (fighting) 14:55, N. Smith Mtb (fighting) 14:55, O. Labelle Syr (fighting) 17:14, P. Ryan Mtb (instigating, fighting, game misconduct - instigator (last 5:00) 47.11) 17:14
| SHOTS |
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| Syracuse |
13 |
4 |
10 |
27 |
| Manitoba |
10 |
10 |
6 |
26 |
POWER PLAYS:Syracuse Crunch 1-5. Manitoba Moose 2-8. GOALTENDERS:Syracuse Crunch Conklin 3-12-3 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 40:00 SV: 15 GA: 5 [L] LaCosta 5-7-1 Start: 3rd 0:00 Min: 20:00 SV: 6 GA: 0 Manitoba Moose MacIntyre 24-12-2 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 25 GA: 2 [W]
Attendance:
14,015
- MTB- #19 Nathan Smith
- MTB- #15 Jason Jaffray
- MTB- #22 Jesse Schultz
- No rest for the Moose as they get right back on the horse Monday at the MTS Centre, starting a two-game series with the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights.
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Updated: Feb. 10, 2007 at 10:13 PM CST
