By Travis Kondratuk
www.moosehockey.com
For the second night in-a-row the Moose came-from-behind to pull out a victory in the shootout over the Grand Rapids Griffins. Things did not look good early for Julien Ellis to get his first victory in a Moose uniform, but the home side scored three goals in the final frame to send the game to extra time. Then Brandon Reid took over in the shootout as he beat Jimmy Howard twice with two fantastic moves to pull out the extra point for Manitoba and earn Ellis his first win as a member of the Moose. The victory improved the Moose record to 41-19-7-4 tops in the Western Conference. Manitoba now heads out on their last and longest road trip of the season starting Tuesday in Milwaukee.
>> Click to view photos of tonight's game.
>> Click here to see official scorer's sheet
First Period
Jimmy Howard gets the start in goal for the visiting Griffins tonight, while Julien Ellis will look to get his first win in a Moose uniform as he goes between the pipes for the home side.
The Hoosli Ukrainian Male Folk Ensemble kicked off the festivities with fantastic renditions of the National Anthems on "Folklorama Night" at the MTS Centre.
The Moose had a good early chance to take the lead when Jason Jaffray clanged a rebound off the post from point blank range.
Julien Ellis made a couple of nice saves as referee Dean Morton had his arm up for a delayed penalty on Nathan McIver. The Moose defenceman was called for hooking at 5:16. Manitoba's number one penalty-kill was able to shut down the worst ranked powerplay of the Griffins with few chances for the visitors.
Manitoba got their first chance with the man-advantage when Jamie Tardif was called for diving at the 9:39 mark.
The Moose had great possession in the Griffins zone but couldn't get anything past Jimmy Howard.
Jason Jaffray and Brad Norton took coincidental minor penalties at the 15:31 mark of the period to leave the teams 4-on-4 for two minutes.
The Griffins opened the scoring when Jamie Tardif broke in with Tony Voce into the Moose zone. Tardif fired a shot toward the near post, where it appeared Ellis was expecting a pass across the crease, and though he made the initial pad save his momentum pulled him away from the near post. Voce pounced on the rebound and backhanded it just inside the post. The opening goal came at 18:04 and was assisted on by Tardif and Kyle Quincey.
Adam Keefe took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty at 18:24 to give the Moose their second powerplay of the game. The Moose pressured during the waining moments of the period with the man-advantage but could not get a quality shot on net as the horn sounded.
Second Period
The Griffins jumped out to a 2-0 lead for the second straight night when Jamie Tardif finished off a nice play by the visitors. Matt Hussey carried the puck into the Moose zone and drove wide around Shaun Heshka before spotting Tardif breaking to the far post. Hussey hit him on the tape leaving Tardif with the easy tap-in for the goal just 1:47 into the second.
Nathan McIver and Adam Keefe had the rematch from the night before. The two squared off just inside the Moose blueline and went for another lengthy bout. Adam Keefe managed to get McIver's jersey over his head but for the most part there was more wrestling than punching in this one, call the rematch a draw as well. Adam Keefe was given 5:00 for fighting, but McIver was given 5:00 for fighting and was tossed from the game because his tie-down strap was not done-up properly.
Kyle Quincey was called for interference at 11:05 of the period to give Manitoba their third man-advantage of the game. Once again the Moose were guilty of trying to get the perfect shot, as they failed to capitalize with the extra man for the third time.
The Griffins took a stranglehold on the game at the 13:48 mark of the period when Matt Hussey scored his 15th goal of the season for the Griffins. Hussey came out from behind the Moose net and tried to wrap the puck in. Unfortunately for the Moose the puck went off of Nathan Smith's skate at the far post and in, Julien Ellis had no chance on the play.
The Moose tried to work their way back into it, and were given a good chance when Darryl Bootland took a hooking penalty at 18:48 and then Kyle Quincey took an interference minor at 19:37 to give the home-side a brief two-man advantage. The Moose worked the puck around well and had a few good shots on Jimmy Howard but could not beat him before the second period expired.
The Moose will carried 0:48 of their two-man advantage to the second period trailing 3-0.
Third Period
The Moose peppered Jimmy Howard during the final bit of their powerplay but could not solve the Griffins goaltender.
Eric Himelfarb put the Moose back on the powerplay when he took a hooking penalty at 5:18.
The Moose finally capitalized on the Griffins charity when Maxime Fortunus blasted home his second of the season for the home side. Jannik Hansen walked out of the corner with the puck but was slashed across the stick by Kyle Quincey causing him to lose control of the puck. "Fortunusly" for the Moose (pun intended), Max was right there to fire home the loose puck cutting the Griffins lead to two goals. The powerplay marker came just 0:04 seconds before the penalty was to expire.
Just moments later Jason Jaffray scored his team-leading 34th of the season to get the Moose within a goal of the visiting Griffins. Jaffray made a fanatastic individual effort as he drove wide on Jon Insana, out-muscled the Griffins defenceman and backhanded the puck past Jimmy Howard. Le Goren and Yannick Tremblay drew the assists on the goal at 8:33.
The Moose appeared to take over the momentum in the game from that point on as you could visibly notice the extra energy the team had.
Tom Galvin took a hooking penalty at 14:34 giving the Moose a great chance to tie it up. And that is just what they would do as Jannik Hansen fired home his 11th of the season to bring the home side level at three goals apiece. Nathan Smith fired a bullet-pass out front to Hansen in front of the crease, where he one-timed it home for the game-tying tally. The powerplay goal came at 15:57, and left the Moose 2-for-7 with the extra attacker on the game.
The remaining four minutes would solve nothing as for the second straight night the Moose and Griffins would head to overtime to try and decide a winner.
Overtime
Julien Ellis made a super save on Jamie Tardif to keep the Moose in it, then the Moose had a few chances but Jimmy Howard kept them out.
Once again the Moose and Griffins would require a shootout to decide who would get the extra point in the standings.
Shootout
1)GRA - Matt Hussey - tried to deke Ellis but lost the handle at the last second and Ellis smothered the puck.
Saved
1)MTB - Lee Goren - was first to shoot for the Moose, he tried the exact same shot as last night, but fired the puck high over the glove-side corner of the net.
Saved
2)GRA - Jeff Cambell - tried to shoot to the glove side of Ellis but the young goaltender made the save with his mitt.
Saved
2)MTB - Brandon Reid - deked Jimmy Howard right out of the net with a terrific backhand-to-forehand move tucking the puck into the vacant goal.
Scored
3)GRA - Tony Voce - did the old leg kick again tonight then deked to his backhand and roofed the puck into the top of the net.
Scored
3)MTB - Jannik Hansen - tried to shoot five-hole but was stopped by Jimmy Howard.
Saved
4)GRA - Jonathan Ericsson - tried to shoot low to the blocker-side of Ellis but fired it wide of the right post.
Saved
4)MTB - Yannick Tremblay - lost the handle on the puck as he came across the face of goal and the puck rolled into the corner.
Saved
5)GRA - Jonas Johansson - deked to the glove side of Ellis, then jammed the puck into the post as he tried to tuck it around the fallen Moose netminder. Ellis had his glove up tight against the post to sweep it away.
Saved
5)MTB - Nathan Smith - tried backhand-to-forehand deke on Howard but the Griffins goalie outwaited Smith and made the save.
Saved
6)GRA - Matt Hussey - tried to shoot five-hole on Ellis, but the Moose goalie shut-the-door to make the save.
Saved
6)MTB - Brandon Reid - had a chance to win it for the Moose, deked to his backhand this time and tucked the puck through the legs of Howard to give the Moose the win.
Scored
Julien Ellis finally earned his first save of the season, making him 1-7-0 on the year.
Moose scratches: Mike Keane, Mike Brown, Marc Chouinard, Tyler Bouck, Patrick Coulombe
Griffins scratches: Kip Miller, Evan McGrath, Derek Meech
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Highlights - Moose vs. Griffins - stream
| SCORING |
1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
SO |
T |
| Grand Rapids |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| Manitoba |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
Mar 24, 2007 - MTS Centre FIRST PERIOD:1. Grand Rapids, T. Voce (10) (J. Tardif, K. Quincey) 18:04 Penalties - N. McIver Mtb (hooking) 5:16, J. Tardif Gra (diving 64.2) 9:39, B. Norton Gra (roughing) 15:31, J. Jaffray Mtb (slashing) 15:31, A. Keefe Gra (unsportsmanlike conduct) 18:24 SECOND PERIOD:2. Grand Rapids, J. Tardif (9) (M. Hussey, R. Oulahen) 1:47 3. Grand Rapids, M. Hussey (15) (E. Himelfarb, J. Ericsson) 13:48 Penalties - A. Keefe Gra (fighting) 2:14, N. McIver Mtb (fighting, game misconduct - jersey 47.12) 2:14, P. Ryan Mtb (holding) 3:53, K. Quincey Gra (interference) 11:05, D. Bootland Gra (hooking) 18:48, K. Quincey Gra (interference) 19:37 THIRD PERIOD:4. Manitoba, M. Fortunus (2) (J. Hansen, N. Smith) 7:14 PP 5. Manitoba, J. Jaffray (34) (L. Goren, Y. Tremblay) 8:33 6. Manitoba, J. Hansen (11) (N. Smith, M. Raymond) 15:57 PP Penalties - E. Himelfarb Gra (hooking) 5:18, D. Wood Mtb (tripping) 12:19, T. Galvin Gra (hooking) 14:34 OT PERIOD:No Scoring Penalties - No Penalties Shootout Round 1 -
| SHOTS |
1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
SO |
T |
| Grand Rapids |
9 |
7 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
24 |
| Manitoba |
10 |
6 |
16 |
2 |
1 |
35 |
POWER PLAYS:Grand Rapids Griffins 0-3. Manitoba Moose 2-7. GOALTENDERS:Grand Rapids Griffins Howard 21-21-3 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 64:55 SV: 31 GA: 3 [SOL] Manitoba Moose Ellis 1-7-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 65:00 SV: 21 GA: 3 [W]
Attendance:
8497
- MTB- #17 Jannik Hansen
- GRA- #14 Matt Hussey
- MTB- #27 Maxime Fortunus
- The Moose now head 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. 24, 2007 at 11:13 PM CDT
