By Jen Sharpe
www.moosehockey.com
The Lake Erie Monsters scored four unanswered goals in the first and second periods en-route to defeating the Manitoba Moose 4-1 at the MTS Centre Friday night. A total of four goaltenders made appearances in the game, including Monsters reliever Mike Wall, who stopped 28 of 29 shots for the win and first-star honours.
>> Click to view photos of tonight's game.
>> Click here to see official scorer's sheet
First Period
With Cory Schneider manning the net for Manitoba and Jason Bacashihua between the pipes for Lake Erie, the Moose and Monsters got underway at the MTS Centre.
Only 20 seconds into the contest, a heavy hit behind Schneider's goal resulted in an extended scrap between Nathan McIver and Chris Stewart, and eventually a powerplay for Manitoba. The man-advantage would only last a minute, however, as Pierre-Cedric Labrie took a tripping penalty at 1:19 to even the odds. On their first powerplay, the Monsters managed one shot on Schneider and one his right goalpost to keep the game scoreless.
With 13 minutes left to go in the first, disaster struck the Lake Erie net. When playing the puck behind his own goal, Bacashihua misstepped and slid awkwardly into the boards, suffering an injury that required him to leave the game. Mike Wall assumed goaltending duties for the Monsters.
With the goalie switch completed, attention turned to the opposite end of the ice, as the fired-up Monsters descended on the Moose net and fired home the first goal of the game, a high far corner wrister courtesy of Jeff Jillson at 11:41.
Jillson's goal was only the beginning of Lake Erie's offensive production in the first, as Wes O'Neill and Eric Healey beat Schneider within the final two minutes to give the visiting Monsters a 3-0 lead heading into the second period.
Second Period
After allowing three goals on eight shots in the first, Manitoba opted to switch up their goaltending and give Julien Ellis his first chance to man an AHL net this season. While Ellis waited over five minutes to face his first shot, the Moose closed in on the 20-shot mark but were stymied by Wall and held goal-less.
Three consecutive Moose penalties near the midway point of the game gave the Monsters their second, third, and fourth powerplays, but Manitoba penalty killers proved why they're tops in the league at home by preventing the visitors from further extending their lead.
Once even-strength hockey returned, however, the Monsters struck again. After closing out a bench minor in the Lake Erie zone, Manitoba lost possession to Healey and Brent Kelly, who forced a two-on-one in the opposite direction which resulted in the club's fourth unanswered goal of the game.
By the end of the second, Lake Erie was up 4-0 but trailed 29-14 in shots.
Third Period
As the Moose fired past the 30-shot mark, Wall continued to keep the home team off the scoreboard and defend the Monsters' four-goal lead through the majority of the third.
But in the final minutes of the game, Manitoba capitalized on their second powerplay opportunity, as Rick Rypien slipped the puck to Danny Groulx at the point, who snapped the puck over Wall's glovehand to put the Moose on the scoreboard.
A brawl in Wall's crease between Alexandre Bolduc and Michael Vernace got Moose fans on their feet one last time before the Monsters held on for a 4-1 victory at the MTS Centre.
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Highlights - Moose vs. Monsters - stream
| SCORING |
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| Lake Erie |
3 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
| Manitoba |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Dec 14, 2007 - MTS Centre FIRST PERIOD:1. Lake Erie, J. Jillson (2) (D. Jones, M. McCutcheon) 11:41 2. Lake Erie, W. O'Neill (2) (M. Hussey, B. Kelly) 17:58 3. Lake Erie, E. Healey (7) 18:54 Penalties - C. Stewart Lem (boarding, fighting) 0:20, N. McIver Mtb (fighting) 0:20, P. Labrie Mtb (tripping) 1:19 SECOND PERIOD:4. Lake Erie, E. Healey (8) (B. Kelly) 18:58 Penalties - A. Bolduc Mtb (tripping) 6:19, L. Bourdon Mtb (interference) 11:30, Served by P. Labrie Mtb (bench minor - too many men) 16:55, C. McLeod Lem (roughing) 19:33, P. Labrie Mtb (roughing) 19:33 THIRD PERIOD:5. Manitoba, D. Groulx (3) (R. Rypien, C. Genoway) 17:37 PP Penalties - M. Vernace Lem (hooking) 17:23, M. Vernace Lem (interference, fighting) 18:40, A. Bolduc Mtb (fighting) 18:40
| SHOTS |
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| Lake Erie |
8 |
6 |
5 |
19 |
| Manitoba |
10 |
19 |
5 |
34 |
POWER PLAYS:Lake Erie Monsters 0-4. Manitoba Moose 1-3. GOALTENDERS:Lake Erie Monsters Bacashihua 6-14-2 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 7:01 SV: 5 GA: 0 Wall 12-16-4 Start: 1st 7:01 Min: 52:59 SV: 28 GA: 1 [W] Manitoba Moose Schneider 21-12-2 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 20:00 SV: 5 GA: 3 [L] Ellis 0-0-0 Start: 2nd 0:00 Min: 40:00 SV: 10 GA: 1
Attendance:
7,066
- LEM - Mike Wall
- LEM - Eric Healey
- LEM - Brent Kelly
- Manitoba and Lake Erie meet for the final game of their two-game series tomorrow night at the MTS Centre.
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Updated: Dec. 14, 2007 at 9:55 PM CST
