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Updated: Mar. 28, 2007 at 9:57 PM CDT

Moose lead now two in the West over Wolves

By Travis Kondratuk
www.moosehockey.com

The Manitoba Moose fell 5-2 to the West Division leading Chicago Wolves at the Allstate Arena. Manitoba gave up two powerplay goals for the first time since a 3-2 overtime loss to the very same Wolves squad on Feb. 2/07 at the MTS Centre. The loss shrinks the Moose lead in the Western Conference to just two points over Chicago with seven games to play. The Moose finished their season series with the Wolves at 2-1-1-0 and now head to Omaha to face the Knights on Saturday night.

>> Click here to see official scorer's sheet

First Period

Drew MacIntyre gets the start between the pipes for the Moose and Freddie Brathwaite gets the starting nod for the Wolves.

J.J. Hunter was sent in on a breakaway on a beautiful long pass up the middle that split the Chicago defence. Hunter broke in on Brathwaite faked the shot and went to the backhand but Brathwaite stayed with Hunter and got enough of the puck to send it over the bar.

Brett Sterling took the first penalty of the game as he was called for hooking at 4:30 of the period. Then just 0:26 later Cory Larose hooked Colby Genoway as he was trying to break out of the Moose zone to give Manitoba a two-man advantage for 1:34.

The Moose had a fantastic chance to take the lead as the team worked the puck around the Chicago zone well, finally ending with an opportunity at the left post. Lee Goren spotted Brad Moran at the side of the net but Fred Brathwaite made a fantastic post-to-post save, robbing Moran of his 23rd goal of the season. The Wolves killed the remainder of the penalties off without another shot on goal.

Lee Goren on a fast break fired a shot on goal from the right boards that Brathwaite got just a piece of it with his shoulder, deflecting the puck off the post and out.

Mike Keane made a beautiful dangle around Nathan Oystrick as he fed the puck through the defenceman's legs and picked it up on the other side before firing a shot on net that Fred Brathwaite could not handle. Nathan Smith was waiting in the crease between three Wolves defenders, and when the puck came down Smith was the first to get a stick on it, collecting his 18th goal of the season. The opening goal came at 13:08 with Keane drawing the lone assist.

The Wolves got their first powerplay of the game when Jason Jaffray was called for hooking Andre Deveaux. Deveaux did a nice job of selling the penalty to the referee. The Chicago Wolves have scored a league high 105 goals with the man-advantage this season, while the Moose have given up a league low 37 powerplay goals against this season.

The Moose powerplay would win the first battle, but they would give the Wolves a second chance when Lee Goren was called for hooking at 17:32.

The Wolves would connect on their 106th powerplay marker with a bit of luck. The Wolves would get a lucky finish to a beautiful tac-tac-toe passing play, when Cory Larose fed a cross-ice pass to Mark Popovic who in turn fed a nice cross-crease back-door pass to Jordan Lavalee at the left post. The puck went off Lavalee's stick and straight up in the air, and when it finally came down it deflected off the toe of MacIntyre's skate and into the left corner of the net, tying the game at one goal apiece.

The first period came to an end with both teams having their fair share of quality scoring chances but both Drew MacIntyre and his counterpart Fred Brathwaite played very well in the first 20:00 to keep the game at just one goal apiece.

Second Period

The Wolves took the lead early in the second when Jason Krog blasted home his 24th goal of the season for Chicago. Andy Delmore fired the initial shot on net that MacIntyre appeared to freeze at the left post, but Colin Stuart whacked the puck loose and the rebound came to Krog at the left face-off circle, where he made no mistake firing the puck behind MacIntyre as he tried to slide across to make the save. The go-ahead goal came just 1:15 into the middle frame.

Then Nathan Smith was called for hooking Brett Sterling just a few seconds later to give the home-side a great chance to improve on their 2-1 lead.

Drew MacIntyre was tested several times on the penalty-kill, but came up with some huge saves to hold the Wolves' lead to one goal.

Just seconds after stepping out of the penalty box, Nathan Smith drew the Moose level at two goals apiece with his second goal of the game. Rookie Mason Raymond carried the puck across the middle of the Wolves zone and set the puck up on a tee for Smith, and he blasted home his 19th goal of the season from the high slot at 4:07 of the second to tie the game.

Brett Sterling took his second penalty of the game as he tried to pick Dustin Wood's pocket in front of the Moose goal. The Wolves did a great job of killing the penalty as they barely let the Moose penetrate the zone.

Then shortly after the penalty to Sterling expired he did a a great job of forechecking and fed a pass out to Cory Larose. Larose then threaded the needle with a beautiful pass to Colin Stuart in front of the Moose goal where he knocked the water bottle off the goal with a rocket to the top of the net over the blocker shoulder of Drew MacIntyre. The goal came at 18:31 of the second, putting the Wolves back in front 3-2.

The Moose trail by a goal heading into the third period on the road.

Third Period

Andre Deveaux just missed putting the Wolves up by two goals in the early seconds of the period as he was left all alone in front of the Moose crease but fired his shot over the crossbar from just a few feet out.

Andre Deveaux drew another penalty as he fell to the ice from a Brad Moran hand in the back. Moran was sent to the box for cross-checking, giving Chicago their fourth powerplay of the game.

Thw Wolves would capitalize with the extra attacker once again as Jason Krog scored his second goal of the game. Krog stepped into a shot from the left face-off circle, but the puck deflected off of Mike Keane's stick as he tried to disrupt the shot. Unfortunately the puck changed direction off the stick and through the legs of Drew MacIntyre. D-Mac had no chance on the play, Chicago's second powerplay marker of the game. Chicago takes the first two-goal lead of the game at 8:24 with Andy Delmore and Nathan Oystrick collecting the assists.

The Wolves would slow the game down with the two goal lead, and the Moose appeared to slow down a little as the game wore on.

The Moose gave up one last goal with just 0:00.2 left on the clock, as Darren Haydar scored his 38th of the season for the Wolves, off a Brett Sterling rebound.

Overall the Moose played a pretty good road game but came up short against a very offensively gifted Chicago Wolves team. Chicago currently has four of the top eight scorers in the AHL this season, and with the victory clawed to within two points of the Moose for top spot in the Western Conference. Despite giving up five goals on the night Drew MacIntyre played very well in net for the Moose, making 31 saves many of them spectacular. However Fred Brathwaite was equally as strong in goal for the Wolves as he made 26 saves on the game.

Video Clips

Highlights - Moose @ Wolves - stream

Game Summary

SCORING	1	2	3	T
Manitoba	1	1	0	2
Chicago	1	2	2	5

Mar 28, 2007 - Allstate Arena

FIRST PERIOD:

1. Manitoba, N. Smith (18) (M. Keane) 13:08
2. Chicago, J. LaVallee (15) (M. Popovic, C. Larose) 17:53 PP

Penalties - B. Sterling Chi (hooking) 4:30, C. Larose Chi (hooking) 4:56, J. Jaffray Mtb (hooking) 15:08, L. Goren Mtb (hooking) 17:32

SECOND PERIOD:

3. Chicago, J. Krog (24) (D. Haydar, C. Stuart) 1:15
4. Manitoba, N. Smith (19) (M. Raymond, P. Ryan) 4:07
5. Chicago, C. Stuart (17) (C. Larose, B. Sterling) 18:31

Penalties - N. Smith Mtb (hooking) 1:38, B. Sterling Chi (hooking) 16:18

THIRD PERIOD:

6. Chicago, J. Krog (25) (A. Delmore, N. Oystrick) 8:24 PP
7. Chicago, D. Haydar (38) (B. Sterling, M. Popovic) 19:59

Penalties - B. Moran Mtb (cross-checking) 7:40

SHOTS	1	2	3	T
Manitoba	9	14	5	28
Chicago	13	12	11	36

POWER PLAYS:

Manitoba Moose 0-3. Chicago Wolves 2-4.

GOALTENDERS:

Manitoba Moose
MacIntyre 24-12-2
Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 59:56 SV: 31 GA: 5 [L]

Chicago Wolves
Brathwaite 22-13-5
Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 26 GA: 2 [W]

Attendance:
6618

Three Stars

Three Stars

CHI - #10 Jason Krog
CHI - #23 Colin Stuart
CHI - #9 Cory Larose

What's Next

The Moose continue their road trip Saturday night as they make their first trip to Omaha this season. The team then heads to Iowa on Sunday .

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