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Updated: Mar. 3, 2007 at 9:53 PM CST

Moose defeat the Marlies 6-2, lead the West

By Travis Kondratuk
www.moosehockey.com

Manitoba earned their seventh straight home win and their sixth straight win over the Marlies this season as they moved into sole possession of first place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights. Manitoba improved their record to 34-17-7-4 good for 79 points on the year. The Moose are off until next Friday when they will host the Iowa Stars for the first time this season.

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

>> Click here to see official scorer's sheet

First Period

Drew MacIntyre gets the starting nod in goal for the Moose while Jean-Francoise Racine will start between the pipes for the visiting Marlies tonight.

Nathan Smith started the scoring for the Moose as he potted his 14th of the season at 6:26 of the period. The play started inside the Moose blueline as Alex Edler fired a long pass up the middle to Smith who was straddling the Marlies blueline. Smith controlled the puck steppd across the line and fired a bullet just under the crossbar to put the Moose up 1-0.

Just 0:19 later the Moose added to their lead as Yannick Tremblay blasted home his 11th of the season. Jason Jaffray fed a pass to Tremblay at centre ice, he carried the puck across the blueline and fired a slapper under the arm of Racine to stake the Moose to a quick 2-0 lead.

The Marlies decided to try and switch up the momentum as they replaced J.F. Racine with Justin Pogge who struggled a little bit in net last night for the Marlies.

Pogge's team-mates didn't do him any favours as he would have to get "warmed up" by facing an extended 5-on-3 powerplay. First Steffan Kronwall took a roughing penalty and then Jaime Sifers a cross-checking penalty 0:10 later to put the Marlies in a hole.

Manitoba took full advantage as they peppered Pogge with shots before they were finally able to capitalize with the man-advantage. Alex Edler and Nathan Smith combined again on Smith's 15th goal of the season as Edler blasted a point shot that missed the net but bounced hard off the end-boards right to Smith who was standing at the right side of the net. Smith lifted his one-time shot right into the roof of the net to give the Moose a 3-0 lead.

The Moose didn't let up there as the ice suddenly seemed to be tilted completely to the Marlies' end of the rink.

Jason Jaffray carried the puck down the right-wing boards and fed a soft backhand pass out to Brad Moran who was stopped on his initial shot but stayed with it, whacking the rebound past Pogge to stake the Moose to a 4-0 lead. Yannick Tremblay drew the second assist on Moran's 21st goal of the season.

Then Ben Ondrus continued to dig a hole for the Marlies as he took a tripping penalty to put the visitors on the penalty-kill once again.

This time Marc Chouinard would make them pay as he scored his first goal in his first game as a member of the Moose. Nathan Smith who was parked behind the Marlies goal backhanded a pass out front to Chouinard who was left all alone in front of the net. Chouinard made no mistake as he one-timed his shot past Pogge to put the Moose up by five. Alex Edler drew the second assist on the powerplay marker at 14:14 of the period.

The Marlies would finish the period with more penalty trouble as Dominic D'Amour took a tripping call at 19:30 and then Jay Harrison took a slashing penalty as the period expired to give the Moose their second 5-on-3 advantage of the game.

Despite being up by five goals and having four extra powerplays in the period the Moose only lead 13-12 in shots through 20:00. The five goals ties a franchise record for goals in a period for the Moose.

Second Period

Manitoba started the period with 1:30 left in their 2-man advantage. They moved the puck around well but couldn't find their sixth goal of the game as the Marlies managed to kill off the remainder of the penalties.

The Moose then took a couple of penalties of their own as Nathan McIver took a slashing penalty and Lee Goren took a high-sticking penalty to give the Marlies back-to-back chances with the man-advantage. The number one ranked Moose penalty-kill came up big once again though, as they killed off both minors to maintain their five-goal cushion.

Dustin Wood put the Marlies on their third straight powerplay as he was called for roughing as he gave Tyson Nash a litle "love tap" behind the Moose net.

Drew MacIntyre had to be replaced in goal on the powerplay as he was suffering from the flu. Wade Flaherty stepped in net to finish the game for the Moose.

The Moose killed the powerplay off without incident and then striking again for another goal. This time Lee Goren outworked Marc Moro behind the Marlies goal, he then circled out front of the net and lifted a backhand over the glove of Justin Pogge to give the Moose a 6-0 lead. Brad Moran and Jason Jaffray assisted on Goren's 20th goal of the season at 13:55 of the period.

Manitoba continued to put themselves in penalty trouble as first Ben Ondrus and Jason Jaffray took coincidental minors at 17:13, but then Jannik Hansen took a holding the stick penalty at 17:43 to give the Marlies a 4-on-3 powerplay opportunity.

The Marlies had consistent pressure in the Moose zone but couldn't get anything past Wade Flaherty as the Moose finished the period with a dominant 6-0 lead despite being outshot by the Marlies 26-19.

Third Period

The Marlies made their task of coming back that much harder as they took back-to-back penalty penalties to start the third period. Jeremy Williams took a slashing penalty at 0:30 and then Jay Harrison took an unsporstmanlike conduct penalty at 1:36 to give the Moose their third 5-on-3 advantage of the game.

Toronto killed off the penalties as the Moose gave some players who wouldn't normally get many powerplay minutes their chance with the man-advantage.

Jason Jaffray was fully extended as he reached for a pass at the Moose blueline where he was hit hard by David Cloutier who came from the side to catch Manitoba's leading scorer in an awkward position. Jaffray was visibly shaken up on the play, which saw Lee Goren race to the aid of his team-mate. Goren challenged Cloutier immediately as the two players removed their helmets to square off. Goren landed the initial blow which caught both players off balance as they fell to the ice, but they got back up to continue the good fight. Cloutier got his arm loose first and landed a few shots but then Goren gained the upperhand and fed Cloutier with several good uppercuts to end the fight. Both players were given 5:00 fighting majors on the play.

The Marlies finally broke the shutout streak as they scored at the 16:36 mark of the final period. Jay Harrison stepped across the Moose blueline and fired a shot on goal that was deflected by John Mitchell on its way to the goal up-over the shoulder of Flaherty.

The Marlies scored another goal just over a minute later to make the score respectable for the visitors. Brad Leeb scored on the powerplay as he took a cross-ice pass from Jay Harrison and blasted it past Wade Flaherty who had no chance on the play. The powerplay goal was the first the Marlies have scored against the Moose all season.

That was as close as they would get however, as the Moose won their seventh straight home game and moved into sole possession of first place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights.

Moose scratches: Prestin Ryan, Brandon Reid, Rick Rypien, Brendan Brooks, Tyler Bouck, Patrick Coulombe, Alexandre Bolduc

Marlies scratches: Chris Harrington, Brad Brown, Robbie Earl, Jeff Corey

Video Clips

Global Highlights - Moose vs. Marlies II - stream

Game Summary

SCORING	1	2	3	T
Toronto	0	0	2	2
Manitoba	5	1	0	6

Mar 3, 2007 - MTS Centre

FIRST PERIOD:

1. Manitoba, N. Smith (14) (A. Edler, M. Fortunus) 6:26
2. Manitoba, Y. Tremblay (11) (J. Jaffray, D. Wood) 6:55
3. Manitoba, N. Smith (15) (A. Edler, D. Wood) 9:16 PP
4. Manitoba, B. Moran (21) (J. Jaffray, Y. Tremblay) 12:11
5. Manitoba, M. Chouinard (1) (N. Smith, A. Edler) 14:14 PP

Penalties - S. Kronwall Tor (roughing) 7:44, J. Sifers Tor (cross-checking) 7:54, B. Ondrus Tor (tripping) 12:54, C. Genoway Mtb (tripping) 16:45, D. D'Amour Tor (tripping) 19:30, J. Harrison Tor (slashing) 20:00

SECOND PERIOD:

6. Manitoba, L. Goren (20) (B. Moran, J. Jaffray) 13:55

Penalties - N. McIver Mtb (slashing) 2:53, L. Goren Mtb (high-sticking) 6:16, D. Wood Mtb (roughing) 11:19, B. Ondrus Tor (slashing) 17:13, J. Jaffray Mtb (roughing) 17:13, J. Hansen Mtb (holding the stick) 17:44

THIRD PERIOD:

7. Toronto, J. Mitchell (10) (J. Harrison, C. Murphy) 16:36
8. Toronto, B. Leeb (8) (J. Harrison, J. Mitchell) 17:38 PP

Penalties - J. Williams Tor (slashing) 0:30, J. Harrison Tor (unsportsmanlike conduct) 1:36, D. Cloutier Tor (fighting) 11:26, L. Goren Mtb (fighting) 11:26, A. Edler Mtb (elbowing) 12:41, J. Hunter Mtb (tripping) 17:23, N. McIver Mtb (holding) 17:38

SHOTS	1	2	3	T
Toronto	12	14	8	34
Manitoba	13	6	6	25

POWER PLAYS:

Toronto Marlies 1-8. Manitoba Moose 2-7.

GOALTENDERS:

Toronto Marlies
Racine 11-14-3
Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 7:44 SV: 3 GA: 2

Pogge 19-25-2
Start: 1st 7:44 Min: 52:03 SV: 16 GA: 4 [L]

Manitoba Moose
MacIntyre 24-12-2
Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 32:15 SV: 21 GA: 0 [W]

Flaherty 17-9-2
Start: 2nd 12:15 Min: 27:45 SV: 11 GA: 2

Attendance:
8450

Three Stars

Three Stars

MTB - #19 Nathan Smith
MTB - #15 Jason Jaffray
MTB - #38 Yannick Tremblay

What's Next

The Moose stay home and will host the Iowa Stars for the first time this year at the MTS Centre March 9th and 10th. Friday's game is Jamaican Me Crazy night at the MTS Centre, where one fan will win a trip for two to Jamaica courtesy of Appleton Jamaica Rum. While Saturday's game is a special tribute night to our Canadian Forces, with special pre and post game ceremonies planned to honour our troops. The Moose will also wear a special camouflage uniform that evening.

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 John Kozub. Click on one of the below thumbnails to reveal a larger version of the image above.

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