By Travis Kondratuk
www.moosehockey.com
The Moose battled back from a two-goal deficit to earn a hard fought come-from-behind victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins, 3-2 in a shootout. Drew MacIntyre was the difference in the final moments of overtime and the shootout as he made several terrific saves to earn his 21st win of the year and get the Moose back in the win column. Manitoba earned their 40th win of the season and improved their record versus Grand Rapids to 5-1-0-1 on the year. Tomorrow the Moose and Griffins will battle for the final time this season, 7:30PM at the MTS Centre.
>> Click to view photos of tonight's game.
>> Click here to see official scorer's sheet
First Period
Drew MacIntyre and Stephan Liv are the starting goaltenders for tonight's game. The last time these teams played each other on Mar. 17, Drew MacIntyre earned the 3-2 decision over Liv.
Mason Raymond is seeing his first game action as a member of the Moose, since being signed to an amateur tryout contract Mar. 19.
Colby Genoway got his stick up on Ben Simon just 0:09 in to give the Griffins an early powerplay chance.
Prestin Ryan, back in the lineup for the Moose after missing several games with a concussion, looked his ornery best as he gave Griffins forward Darryl Bootland a nice cross-check to the chest in retaliation for a slash to the leg. The referee decided to turn a blind eye to the stick work.
Eric Himelfarb took the first penalty of the game for the Griffins as he gave Brad Moran a healthy tomahawk chop at the side of the Griffns goal. Himelfarb was given 2:00 for slashing on the play.
The Moose couldn't get much going with the man-advantage, in fact the Griffins probably had the better scoring chances shorthanded. Then just as the penalty to Himelfarb expired Kip Miller was sent in one-on-one with Drew MacIntyre. D-Mac made the initial pad save as Miller tried to get the Moose goalie to commit early, and then Himelfarb following up on the ply fired the rebound through the crease, just past the far post.
At the end of a strong fore-checking shift Mike Keane was called for boarding on Ryan Oulahen when the Griffins winger turned his back as Keane was about to hit him. Oulahen took exception to the hit and retaliated with a slash on the Moose Captain, ending in coincidental minors to both players. The penalties came at 19:21 of the first period.
The Moose had one last flurry of action before the period ended, but could not score on Griffins netminder Stephan Liv.
Second Period
The Griffins opened the scoring early in the period when Matt Ellis scored his 22nd goal of the season. Dan Smith wristed a shot on goal from the point where Ellis made a nice deflection, re-directing the waist high shot down through the legs of Drew MacIntyre. The goal came just 0:38 into the second.
Brad Norton took an interfeerence penalty at 8:37 to give the Moose their second powerplay chance of the game.
Manitoba had a few early chances to score, Colby Genoway missed an open net from in close and then Liv robbed Brad Moran on the doorstep to keep the Moose off the board.
Unfortunately for the Moose Matt Ellis would strike shorthanded for the Griffins to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. Ellis stepped off the boards and into the middle of the ice where he wristed home his second goal of the game just inside the right post.
With Kyle Quincey in the box for holding the Moose finally got on the scoreboard. Lee Goren was "Johnny on the spot" as he cleaned up the garbage in front of the Griffins net for his 23rd goal of the season. Jason Jaffray fed a nice pass out front to Dustin Wood who stepped into a shot that Stephan Liv stopped. Fortunately for the Moose the rebound fell right to Goren who buried it, cutting the Moose deficit to one.
Referee Dean Morton called Darryl Bootland for holding the stick with just 0:03 left in the second to give the Moose a chance with the man-advantage to start the third.
Third Period
The Griffins killed off the penalty to Bootland carried over from the end of the second leaving the Moose 1-for-5 on the powerplay.
Ben Simon hit Marc Chouinard awkwardly into the boards in the left corner of the Moose zone. Chouinard hit his hed and left shoulder hard into the boards and stayed down on the ice for several minutes. The Moose centre had to be helped of the ice by his team-mates Shaun Heshka and Mike Keane.
Moose fans got to see the patented Adam Keefe hair flip one more time at the MTS Centre when Nathan McIver and former Moose Adam Keefe decided to drop the gloves behind the Moose net. This was a long bout that travelled half the length of the ice finally ending near the team benches. Both players landed a few good shots but this one ended in a draw. Both got 5:00 for fighting on the play.
Kyle Quincey took his second penalty of the game for the Griffins as he was called for holding on Brad Moran just inside the Grand Rapids blueline. The Griffins were able to kill off the seventh Moose man-advantage and had a great 3-on-1 chance whereRyan Oulahen just fired wide of the net.
Brad Moran took his second penalty of the game at the 12:49 mark of the final frame a 2:00 tripping call.
Drew MacIntyre made a few nice saves to keep the Moose within a goal as the Griffins turned up the pressure with the man-advantage. Then Brendan Brooks and Jason Jaffray had a great chance shorthanded as Brooks sprang Manitoba's leading scorer on a breakaway but Stephan Liv made a nice save to keep the Griffins up by a goal.
Mason Raymond playing in his first game for the Moose made it a memorable one as he scored the game-tying goal at the 15:56 mark of the third. Maxime Fortunus fired a hard shot on goal from the poinbt that Liv couldn't handle and Raymond was on the doorstep to pounce on the loose puck and backhand it home for his first AHL goal.
There would be no more scoring before the end of regulation as this game would need extra time to decide a winner. The Moose are dominating in shots 37-20 but that has mattered much for Manitoba lately.
Overtime
Prestin Ryan looked fresh as he made a nice end-to-end rush before making a wrap-around attempt that Stephan Liv saved.
Jannik Hansen being aggresive on the fore-check, accidentally caught Ben Simon in the face with his stick as he spun around to try and follow the Griffins defenceman.
Drew Macintyre stepped up big-time for the home side as the penalty-killers got stuck on the ice for a long time. MacIntyre made several stops and smothered the rebound to get a break for his mates.
The Moose would kill off the remainder of overtime and head to a shootout to decide who gets the extra point.
Shootout
1)GRA - Jamie Tardif - faked the shot then deked to MacIntyre's left, tried to slide the puck around MacIntyre but the Moose goalie made a nice sliding save.
Saved
1)MTB - Mike Keane - was first to shoot for the Moose, he made a beautiful deke on Liv and appeared to score but the Griffins goaltender swept the puck off the goal-line with his glove to rob the Moose captain.
Saved
2)GRA - Matt Hussey - tried to shoot five-hole on MacIntyre but D-Mac made a nice pad save and then bounced around awkwardly in the crease because he didn't know where the puck was. It was trapped safely in his pad.
Saved
2)MTB - Jesse Schultz - tried to go five-hole on Liv but he got his paddle down to make the save.
Saved
3)GRA - Tony Voce - did the old leg kick then outwaited MacIntyre roofing the puck over the fallen Moose goaltender.
Scored
3)MTB - Lee Goren - roofed his shot over the glove of Liv to get the Moose on the board in the shootout.
Scored
4)GRA - Jonathan Ericsson - tried a similar move to Jamie Tardif with the same result as MacIntyre made another diving save.
Saved
4)MTB - Yannick Tremblay - went exactly where Goren did, roof over the glove, to put the Moose up 2-1 in the shootout.
Scored
5)GRA - Kip Miller - Had to score to keep his team in it, tried to go roof over the blocker of MacIntyre but the Moose goalie just got a piece, bobbling it in the crease, before flailing to keep the puck out and secure the win for the home team.
Saved
Moose scratches: Dov Grumet-Morris, Wade Flaherty, Brandon Reid, Mike Brown, J.J. Hunter, Tyler Bouck, Patrick Coulombe
Griffins scratches: Evan McGrath, Jonas Johansson, Derek Meech
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Highlights - Moose vs. Griffins - stream
| SCORING |
1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
SO |
T |
| Grand Rapids |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| Manitoba |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
Mar 23, 2007 - MTS Centre FIRST PERIOD:No Scoring Penalties - C. Genoway Mtb (high-sticking) 0:09, E. Himelfarb Gra (slashing) 12:47, R. Oulahen Gra (roughing) 19:21, M. Keane Mtb (boarding) 19:21 SECOND PERIOD:1. Grand Rapids, M. Ellis (22) (D. Smith) 0:38 2. Grand Rapids, M. Ellis (23) (K. Quincey) 9:47 SH 3. Manitoba, L. Goren (23) (D. Wood, J. Jaffray) 14:23 PP Penalties - B. Moran Mtb (hooking) 3:26, B. Norton Gra (interference) 8:37, K. Quincey Gra (holding) 12:23, S. Liv Gra (delay of game) 16:17, D. Bootland Gra (holding the stick) 19:57 THIRD PERIOD:4. Manitoba, M. Raymond (1) (M. Fortunus, J. Schultz) 15:56 Penalties - A. Keefe Gra (fighting) 4:58, N. McIver Mtb (fighting) 4:58, K. Quincey Gra (holding) 8:42, B. Moran Mtb (tripping) 12:49, J. Ericsson Gra (tripping) 18:10, N. Smith Mtb (high-sticking) 18:10 OT PERIOD:No Scoring Penalties - J. Hansen Mtb (high-sticking) 3:08 Shootout Round 1 -
| SHOTS |
1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
SO |
T |
| Grand Rapids |
7 |
9 |
4 |
6 |
0 |
26 |
| Manitoba |
9 |
14 |
14 |
1 |
1 |
39 |
POWER PLAYS:Grand Rapids Griffins 0-4. Manitoba Moose 1-6. GOALTENDERS:Grand Rapids Griffins Liv 15-15-2 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 64:53 SV: 36 GA: 2 [SOL] Manitoba Moose MacIntyre 24-12-2 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 64:54 SV: 24 GA: 2 [W]
Attendance:
8019
- GRA- #1 Stephan Liv
- MTB- #12 Mike Keane
- MTB- #7 Mason Raymond
- The Moose finish their season series with the Griffins tomorrow night at the MTS Centre in the third last home game of the season for the Moose. It will be "Folklorama Night" at the MTS Centre and will be a celebration of multiculturalism and diversity in the province of Manitoba. The 2006-07 Manitoba Moose Team Posters will also be handed out to 5,000 lucky fans tomorrow night.
- The team then heads out on their final and longest road trip of the season of seven games that will take them on a tour of five Western cities including Milwaukee, Chicago, Omaha, Iowa, and Peoria.
- The Moose will return home for their final two games of the season on April 13th and 14th versus the Toronto Marlies. Friday the 13th's game is the Toyota Vehicle Giveaway night where one lucky fan WILL WIN a 2007 Toyota Vehicle, while Saturday the 14th is the final game of the regular season and will be fan appreciation night at the MTS Centre. There will be prizes and giveaways all night long and a free post-game concert featuring Fresh I.E., Drew Brown, the Muddy River Quartet, Amanda Falk, Kerri Woelke, and R&B/Hip Hop singer/songwriter Malynda. Fans will also have a chance to win the "Shirt off a Moose player's back" as the team Jerseys from that game will be given away to some lucky fans after the game.
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Updated: Mar. 23, 2007 at 11:08 PM CDT
