By Travis Kondratuk
www.moosehockey.com
The Griffins made it close as they scored with 3:47 left in the game to cut the Moose lead to 2-1, but Manitoba held on to force Game 7 on Tuesday, May 1st at the MTS Centre. Brad Moran and Jason Jaffray tallied for the Moose and Drew MacIntyre played a fantastic game for Manitoba to make the North Division Semi-Final a one-game winner take all series. The winner of that game will earn the right to play the Hamilton Bulldogs in the North Division Final. This series is the only one yet to be decided as all other second round teams have been determined. Game time on Tuesday is 7:30PM at the MTS Centre.
>> Click to view photos of tonight's game.
>> Click here to see official scorer's sheet
First Period
The Griffins are starting Ben Simon, Eric Himlefarb, and Matt Hussey at forward, while Dan Smith and Derek Meech get the start once again on defence. Jimmy Howard gets his sixth consecutive start for the Griffins.
The new line of Marc Chouinard, Colby Genoway, and Alexandre Bolduc start for the Moose on forward, while Dustin Wood, and Shaun Heshka start on defence. Drew MacIntyre gets the call once again in goal for Manitoba.
Patrick Coulombe is seeing his first action in the Calder Cup Playoffs as he takes the place of Yannick Tremblay who was recalled by the Canucks today.
Marc Chouinard took the first penalty of the game as he was called for interference at 9:08 of the period.
Drew MacIntyre made a fantastic pad save on a redirection in front of the net by Ben Simon. On the continuation of the play Jonathon Ericsson tripped Mike Brown at the blueline ending the Griffins advantage.
Once Chouinard's penalty expired the Moose had a brief powerplay of their own, where they failed to capitalize.
Jonathon Ericsson took another penalty, this time for hooking to put the Moose back on the powerplay. The Griffins showed off their dangerous shorthanded capabilities when Matt Ellis and Ryan Oulahen broke in on a 2-on-1 shorthanded. Ellis fed a nice pass over to Oulahen who was stopped by MacIntyre , but the Griffins winger plowed over the Manitoba netminder and was called for goalie interference to give the Moose a two-man advantage.
The Moose would just miss on a couple of shots before finally making good on another 5-on-3 in the series. Brandon Reid made a nifty move at the blueline to gain entry into the Griffins zone, where he fed a nice pass to Brad Moran along the right wing. Moran fired a shot on Howard that he made the initial save on, but Moran followed his rebound and chipped it off the back of Howard and in, to put the Moose up 1-0. Brandon Reid earned his second assist in the series on the opening goal at 15:29, while a second assist was later added to Max Fortunus.
The Moose continued to pressure and Scott Parse was called for hooking to put the Griffins down a man for the fourth time in the period.
Manitoba continued to look good although the Griffins finished the period with another dangerous shorthanded rush. The Moose were able to bar the door on the first period and lead 1-0, despite trailing 11-10 in shots.
Brandon Reid played an inspiring first period as he was flying all over the ice, and starting the play for the only goal of the game thus far.
Second Period
Brendan Brooks came close to putting the Moose up by two when he picked off a pass in the Griffins zone, stepped off the boards and blasted a shot that just missed the post but bulged the outside of the Griffinss goal to get the fans excited.
The Moose extended their lead to two goals when Brad Moran rifled a shot on goal that bounced off the mask of Jimmy Howard, the rebound deflected off of Jason Jaffray's legs and in to put the Moose up 2-0. The Griffins were complaining that it was kicked in, but it was called a goal by referee Steve Kozari.
Lee Goren then took back-to-back minor penalties for the Moose, one for slashing that the Moose were able to kill off quite easily, and then another just moments after he got out of the box for roughing. Manitoba was also able to kill off the second penalty with ease, to bail out big #37.
Kip Miller was given a holding penalty at the 20:00 mark of the period to put the Moose back on the powerplay with a fresh sheet of ice to start the third.
Manitoba had by far the better scoring chances in the second period as they finished with a 9-5 shot advantage in the frame.
Third Period
Eric Himelfarb had another dangerous shorthanded rush for the Griffins, but he lost the handle on the puck at the last moment to spare MacIntyre from having to make a save. The Moose failed to capitalize on the remainder of their fifth powerplay.
Brad Norton blasted a point shot off a face-off win that was deflected on its way to the goal and over the glove of Drew MacIntyre, cutting the Moose lead to 2-1. Kip Miller and Matt Ellis assisted on the goal at 16:23.
Then Alexandre Bolduc missed the open net as the Griffins had pulled Jimmy Howard for the extra attacker with 1:35 to play. Brad Norton took an undisciplined penalty as he boarded Bolduc as the two players chased after the loose puck behind the Griffins goal.
That penalty essentially eliminated any man-advantage that the Griffins would have even if they did pull the goalie, but to make matters worse for the visitors Dan Smith took a roughing penalty at 19:41 to all but seal it for the Moose.
Manitoba held on for the remaining few seconds to force the decisive Game 7 in the series this Tuesday, May 1st at the MTS Centre. This will be the first Game 7 that the Moose will host in their franchise history. The Moose have gone to three previous Game 7's but have never had home-ice advantage in any of those series'.
Moose scratches: Wade Flaherty, Alex Edler, Nathan McIver, Michael Grabner, Jesse Schultz, Tyler Bouck
Griffins scratches: Danny Syvret, Corey Emmerton, Jonas Johansson, Adam Keefe, Darryl Bootland
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| SCORING |
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| Grand Rapids |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Manitoba |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
Apr 29, 2007 - MTS Centre FIRST PERIOD:1. Manitoba, B. Moran (3) (B. Reid, M. Fortunus) 15:29 PP Penalties - M. Chouinard Mtb (interference) 9:08, J. Ericsson Gra (hooking) 10:37, J. Ericsson Gra (holding) 13:54, R. Oulahen Gra (goaltender interference) 14:03, S. Parse Gra (hooking) 18:59 SECOND PERIOD:2. Manitoba, J. Jaffray (3) (B. Moran, L. Goren) 6:31 Penalties - L. Goren Mtb (slashing) 12:49, L. Goren Mtb (roughing) 15:32, K. Miller Gra (holding) 20:00 THIRD PERIOD:3. Grand Rapids, B. Norton (1) (M. Ellis, K. Miller) 16:23 Penalties - B. Norton Gra (charging) 18:52, D. Smith Gra (roughing) 19:41
| SHOTS |
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| Grand Rapids |
11 |
5 |
6 |
22 |
| Manitoba |
10 |
9 |
4 |
23 |
POWER PLAYS:Grand Rapids Griffins 0-3. Manitoba Moose 1-7. GOALTENDERS:Grand Rapids Griffins Howard 3-4-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 59:34 SV: 21 GA: 2 [L] Manitoba Moose MacIntyre 4-6-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 21 GA: 1 [W]
Attendance:
6288
- MTB - #1 Drew MacIntyre
- MTB - #20 Brad Moran
- GRA - #33 Jimmy Howard
- Game 7 of the North Division Semi-Final is scheduled for Tuesday, May 1st at 7:30PM CDT at the MTS Centre. It will be the first Game 7 hosted by the Moose in franchise history.
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Updated: Apr. 29, 2007 at 10:13 PM CDT
