By Travis Kondratuk
www.moosehockey.com
Lee Goren scored the only goal of the game in the third period and Drew MacIntyre earned his first playoff shutout as the Moose drew first blood in the North Division Semi-Final taking a 1-0 series lead. Game 2 goes Saturday night at the MTS Centre at 7:30PM.
>> Click to view photos of tonight's game.
>> Click here to see official scorer's sheet
First Period
And so it begins, Manitoba's run to the Calder Cup starts with the North Division Semi-Final and their opponent the fourth place Grand Rapids Griffins.
Grand Rapids starting lineup tonight is #23 Matt Ellis at centre, #8 Ben Simon on left wing, and #29 Scott Parse on right wing, while #4 Dan Smith and #28 Derek Meech will start on defence for the Griffins. #33 Jimmy Howard is the starting goaltender for the visitors.
The Moose starting lineup is #18 J.J. Hunter, #7 Mason Raymond, #12 Mike Keane, #2 Alex Edler, and #27 Maxime Fortunus, while #1 Drew MacIntyre will start in goal for the home side.
Max Fortunus took an early high-sticking penalty just 0:15 into the game to quickly put the Moose on the penalty kill. Manitoba had the number one penalty kill in the regular season while Grand Rapids' powerplay was ranked last at 12.5% in the regular season. The Moose were able to kill off the man-advantage without allowing a shot on goal.
The Griffins finally registered the first shot on goal for either team when they broke-out on a 3-on-2 counter attack. MacIntyre made the save with a Griffin crashing into his crease at 4:30 of the opening period.
The Griffins took their first penalty of the game when Brad Norton slashed the stick of Mason Raymond. The Moose registered their first shot on goal on the powerplay at the 8:46 mark when Mason Raymond dropped a pass for Jesse Schultz that Jimmy Howard had to be sharp with. Schultz had another good scoring chance before the powerplay expired but Jimmy Howard stopped that one as well.
Prestin Ryan took the second penalty of the game for the Moose as Griffins' winger Jan Mursak got by him on the right-wing boards. Prestin made sure he wasn't going to get a scoring chance however, as he hauled him right down to the ice. The Griffins had a few opportunities with the extra-attacker before Tony Voce took a hooking penalty of his own with 0:08 left in the Ryan penalty as Mike Keane was trying to clear the puck on the penalty kill.
The Moose had a couple of good chances of their own with the man-advantage the first by Brad Moran as he just fired the puck wide when he took a whack at a rebound off a Yannick Tremblay point blast and then later on the powerplay Tremblay fired another shot from the point through a screen that Howard flashed the leather on to keep the game scoreless.
The period came to a close with the Moose leading 10-6 in a scoreless game.
Second Period
Drew MacIntyre started the period making a couple of nice pad saves first on Eric Himelfarb on a shot and then on Ryan Oulahen on a wraparound attempt.
The Moose had their best scoring chance of the night when Lee Goren did some strong work in behind the Griffins net and then fed a nice pass to Maxime Fortunus at the top of the left face-off circle. Fortunus cranked his one-time shot off the right post, making it ring loudly enough fort the folks in Grand Rapids to hear.
Brendan Brooks almost got the Moose on the board as he and J.J. Hunter broke in on a 2-on-1. Hunter carried the puck in and tried to feed a pass across to Brooks who was skating to the far post. Hunter's pass was deflected up in the air but Brooks still manged to bat the belt-high puck on goal, forcing Jimmy Howard to make a quick reaction save.
Howard was forced to make another big save when Mason Raymond fed a nice pass to captain Mike Keane in the slot where he one-timed a blast on goal. Howard looked sharp as he got the paddle down quickly to thwart the chance.
The two teams skated through another scoreless 20:00 minutes, although the action definitely picked up in the middle frame. Manitoba leads 18-12 in the shots department but both goalies have looked strong.
Third Period
The teams traded scoring opportunities before Mason Raymond was hauled down by Brad Norton in front of the Griffins goal to give the Moose another chance on the powerplay.
The Moose couldn't get much going with the mn-advantage but the Griffins, who were tied with the most shorthanded goals in the regular season with 24, created a chance in the Moose crease where there was a mad scramble for a loose puck, Drew MacIntyre was able to hold on long enough for his team-mates to clear.
The Moose finally opened the scoring at the 10:25 mark of the third period when Jason Jaffray brought the puck into the Griffins zone then fed a cross-ice pass to Yannick Tremblay who put the puck on a tee for Lee Goren. Goren stepped into the one-timer at the top of the face-off circles, blasting it over the glove of Jimmy Howard.
Kip Miller took a hooking penalty shortly after to give the Moose their fifth man-advantage of the game. The Moose came close on a few chances but when Colby Genoway took a whack at a bouncing puck at the left post, a scrum ensued. The result was an extra minor penalty to Jesse Schultz that ended the Moose powerplay and gave the Griffins one of their own.
Mike Brown was called for hooking with just 1:38 to go in the game, giving the Griffins an excellent chance to tie the game. Jason Jaffray had a great chance on a partial shorthanded breakaway but Jimmy Howard made the save to keep his team in it. Then Drew MacIntyre really earned his money as he made a couple of game savers in the waining moments, first on Darryl Bootland and then on Kip Miller to hold the visitors off the board.
Griffins coach Greg Ireland called his timeout with 0:07.3 left but it was too-little-too-late for his squad as the Moose killed off the final seconds and took a 1-0 series lead.
Moose scratches: Daniel Rahimi, Brandon Reid, Tyler Bouck, Shaun Heshka
Griffins scratches: Danny Syvret, Jon Insana, Jamie Tardif, Jonas Johansson, Adam Keefe, Jeff Campbell
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| SCORING |
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| Grand Rapids |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Manitoba |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Apr 19, 2007 - MTS Centre FIRST PERIOD:No Scoring Penalties - M. Fortunus Mtb (high-sticking) 0:15, B. Norton Gra (slashing) 7:00, P. Ryan Mtb (hooking) 13:47, T. Voce Gra (hooking) 15:40 SECOND PERIOD:No Scoring Penalties - E. Himelfarb Gra (boarding) 5:18 THIRD PERIOD:1. Manitoba, L. Goren (1) (Y. Tremblay, J. Jaffray) 10:45 Penalties - B. Norton Gra (hooking) 7:14, K. Miller Gra (hooking) 11:18, B. Norton Gra (roughing) 13:01, C. Genoway Mtb (roughing) 13:01, J. Schultz Mtb (roughing) 13:01, M. Brown Mtb (hooking) 18:22, K. Miller Gra (cross-checking) 20:00
| SHOTS |
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| Grand Rapids |
6 |
6 |
11 |
23 |
| Manitoba |
10 |
8 |
11 |
29 |
POWER PLAYS:Grand Rapids Griffins 0-4. Manitoba Moose 0-5. GOALTENDERS:Grand Rapids Griffins Howard 3-4-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 59:15 SV: 28 GA: 1 [L] Manitoba Moose MacIntyre 4-6-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 23 GA: 0 [W]
Attendance:
5889
- MTB- #1 Drew MacIntyre
- GRA- #33 Jimmy Howard
- MTB- #37 Lee Goren
- The Moose and Griffins continue their series on Saturday, April 21st at the MTS Centre with Game #2 of the North Division Semi-Final. Last season the Moose lost two of the three home games played in the post-season versus the Griffins. Saturday's game goes at 7:30PM.
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Updated: Apr. 19, 2007 at 10:07 PM CDT
