Manitoba defeated the Iowa Stars 3-1 on Military Tribute Night at the MTS Centre. The win was the fifth straight for the Moose and their 14th in their last 15 games to make them the hottest team in the AHL. The victory also pushed their franchise home-winning streak to nine games and moved them into sole possession of first place in the Western Conference with 83 points.
Wade Flaherty gets the start in goal for the Moose once again as Drew MacIntyre is still a little under the weather, while Dan Ellis gets the starting nod for the Stars tonight.
The Moose are sporting their special camo uniforms to honour our Canadian Forces for the game.
Only fitting that we should start off Military Tribute Night with a little combat as Mike Brown and Francis Wathier dropped the gloves just 0:39 into the game. Brown landed a few nice uppercuts in a long bout to earn the clear decision. Both players were given 5:00 for fighting on the play.
Jason Jaffray took the first penalty of the game as he was called for hooking at the Moose blueline.
The Moose turned the tables on the Stars as Alex Edler scored shorthanded to give the home side an early 1-0 lead. Manitoba intercepted a pass just inside their blueline and fed the puck up to Edler at centre ice. The young Swede stepped across the Iowa line and ripped a slapper low-glove-side past Dan Ellis. Lee Goren and Nathan Smith drew the assists on the opening goal of the game at 2:49.
Manitoba had another great chance to score shorthanded on the same powerplay as Lee Goren broke in on a partial break. Goren drove hard to the net but was stopped by Ellis to keep the Moose lead at one.
A very physical game being played tonight as both teams are hitting hard and taking the body every chance they get.
Jason Jaffray just missed putting the Moose up 2-0 as he fired a shot that ricocheted off of Ellis' mask and stayed out. The Moose poured on the pressure in the Stars zone as Goren then fed Tremblay out front but he just misfired on an open net.
Brad Moran fired a shot on goal from the left boards and Jason Jaffray went hard to the net to hunt for a rebound. Manitoba's leading scorer was rewarded for his efforts with his 31st of the season as he whacked in the loose puck past a sprawling Ellis. The goal came at 16:26 and put the Moose up 2-0.
The period ended with the shots tied at nine apiece, but Manitoba holds a 2-0 advantage in goals.
Second Period
Brad Moran took the first penalty of the second frame as he was called for hooking at the 5:0 mark.
The Moose had the best chance early in the penalty shorthanded as Nathan Smith broke in down the left wing boards and let a slapshot go that Ellis handled easily. The Stars had their best chance late in the penalty when Marius Holtet let a shot go from the left side of the goal. The puck hit the side of the net and sat dangerously near the post before Flaherty flopped on it for a whistle.
Just after Moran's penalty expired he had a great opportunity to put the Moose up by three when he was set up in front of the net. Dan Ellis made a great glove save to keep his team down by only two.
The Moose finally got their first powerplay opportunity of the game when Dan Hacker was called for hooking at 11:14 of the period.
Manitoba couldn't generate much pressure with the man-advantage and the powerplay came to an end with few good chances.
The Stars had their best chance of the period with just over 2:00 to play when Paul Szczechura dropped a pass for Vojtech Polak who fired a shot low to Flaherty's left. Flats was able to react fast enough and just get a toe on the puck to make the save.
The Stars finished the period with a last second flurry of action in the Moose zone but they couldn't find the back of the net before the horn sounded.
Manitoba still holds onto their two-goal lead heading into the third period and now lead 21-17 in shots.
Third Period
Jason Jaffray just missed potting his 32nd of the season when he was set up in front of the Stars net. Jaffray's first shot was stopped by Ellis but Jaffray fired the rebound right off the far post.
Wade Flaherty made his best save of the night when Janos Vos redirected a shot in the crease that looked to be trickling through the legs of the Moose goaltender. Flaherty reached back with his glove and kept the puck from crossing the line to keep the Stars scoreless.
Iowa finally got on the board at the 14:30 mark of the third when Greg Rallo circled the Moose net and beat Wade Flaherty on the wrap-around. Flaherty tried to pokecheck the Stars forward but the puck bounced off the inside of his left pad and through his legs for the goal. Vojtech Polak and Janos Vos drew the assists on the goal to cut the Moose lead to one.
Iowa called their timeout with just 0:59.8 to go in the game as the face-off came just outside the Moose blueline.
The Stars had taken over the game in the final 5:00 as they pressed to try and tie the game, but they ran out of time.
Lee Goren raced to a loose puck with 0:22.6 left and fired into the vacant Stars net to ice the game for the home side.
The win was the team's fifth straight win and their 14th in their last 15 games to make them the hottest team in the AHL. The victory also pushed Manitoba's franchise high home-winning streak to nine games and moved them into sole possession of first place in the Western Conference with 83 points.
Moose scratches: Prestin Ryan, Mike Keane, Brendan Brooks, Tyler Bouck
Stars scratches: Marty Sertich, Scott May, Colin Peters, Mike (A.) Green, Kelly Czuy, John Lammers
SCORING
1
2
3
T
Iowa
0
0
1
1
Manitoba
2
0
1
3
Mar 10, 2007 - MTS Centre
FIRST PERIOD:
1. Manitoba, A. Edler (5) (L. Goren, N. Smith) 2:49 SH 2. Manitoba, J. Jaffray (31) (B. Moran) 16:26
Penalties - F. Wathier Iow (fighting) 0:39, M. Brown Mtb (fighting) 0:39, J. Jaffray Mtb (hooking) 1:55
SECOND PERIOD:
No Scoring
Penalties - B. Moran Mtb (hooking) 5:40, D. Hacker Iow (hooking) 11:14
THIRD PERIOD:
3. Iowa, G. Rallo (3) (V. Polak, J. Vas) 14:30 4. Manitoba, L. Goren (21) 19:37 EN
The Moose now embark on their second last road trip of the season with their last "three-games-in-three-nights" stretch next Friday. The Moose start the trip with back-to-back games in Grand Rapids Friday, March 16th and Saturday, March 17th, before closing out the three-game trip on Sunday, March 18th in Peoria.
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.
Updated: Mar. 10, 2007 at 10:14 PM CST
