By Jen Sharpe
www.moosehockey.com
Although Manitoba surrendered the first and last goals of the game, the Moose would finish one ahead of Milwaukee Friday night to register their third consecutive win. Colby Genoway, Jannik Hansen, and Shaun Heshka scored for Manitoba, while rookie goaltender Cory Schneider made 26 saves for his eighth win of the season and first star honours.
>> Click here to see official scorer's sheet
First Period
The Moose relied on first year goaltender Cory Schneider between the pipes, directly opposite Admirals backup backstopper Maxime Daigneault. Four minutes into the game, Milwaukee defenceman Alex Henry took a hooking penalty, but an early powerplay goal eluded Manitoba as Daigneault snagged the visitors' lone shot.
In the latter half of the first, the powerplay tables turned -- and turned back again -- as the Admirals drew an interference penalty from Alexandre Bolduc but then coughed up their own infraction moments later.
Eight seconds into four-on-four play, John Vigilante found a crack in Manitoba's defence and went one-on-one with Schneider. By fooling Schneider with a quick release, Vigilante put the home team up 1-0 at 12:51.
A last-minute rush to the Admirals zone wouldn't result in an equalizer for Manitoba, and the Moose closed out 20 minutes of play down 1-0 and trailing 9-4 in shots.
Second Period
Though both goaltenders were tested early in the second, Schneider saw most of the action, stopping four Admirals attempts in the first six minutes. A clumsy encounter between Moose brawler Mike Brown and Henry resulted in fighting penalties to both players at 6:50, but Manitoba's leading scorer Brad Moran would throw off the balanced game by taking a boarding penalty one minute later.
A perfect penalty-kill paved the way for an even-strength offensive rush for Manitoba's top line. With Moran skating up the slot, Colby Genoway accelerated up the right wing, cut towards Daigneault's net, and backhanded the puck under the cross-bar to tie things up near the game's halfway point.
The Admirals and Moose swapped score-less powerplays through the latter half of the middle frame and finished the second tied at one.
Third Period
Less than three minutes into the third, a colossal collision by Daniel Rahimi on Mike Santorelli triggered the wrath of Nolan Yonkman, who pounced on Manitoba's rookie defender. In Rahimi's defence, Brown stepped in and wrestled with Yonkman at center ice. Interference, roughing, and fighting penalties were awarded to the four players and even-strength play continued.
With 15 minutes left on the clock, Moose players excelled at both ends of the ice. After a highlight-worthy, reach-behind save by Cory Schneider, Jannik Hansen carried the play into the opposing zone and tucked the puck around Daigneault's left pad to give the Moose their first lead of the game.
Four minutes later, Manitoba benefited from their fourth powerplay and attempted to pop Milwaukee's airtight penalty killing. Defenceman Shaun Heshka would prove to be the man for the job, as he positioned himself in the corner of Daigneault's crease and pounced on Juraj Simek's rebound to score his second goal of the season and first in 48 games.
Not willing to wait out the final minutes, the Admirals pulled Daigneault and set themselves up in the Moose zone. During the six-on-five, Janne Niskala fired from the top of the near face-off circle and hit the top right corner of the Moose net to put Milwaukee back within one.
Keeping six skaters on the ice, the Admirals peppered Schneider with shots but were unable to notch the equalizer, and Manitoba secured their third straight win with a 3-2 victory over Milwaukee.
|
| SCORING |
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| Manitoba |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Milwaukee |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
Feb 8, 2008 - Bradley Center FIRST PERIOD:1. Milwaukee, J. Vigilante (9) (C. O'Reilly, C. Franson) 12:51 Penalties - A. Henry Mil (hooking) 4:11, A. Bolduc Mtb (interference) 12:00, M. Ellison Mil (tripping) 12:43, M. Keane Mtb (hooking) 17:08 SECOND PERIOD:2. Manitoba, C. Genoway (10) (B. Moran, Z. FitzGerald) 10:46 Penalties - M. Brown Mtb (fighting) 6:50, A. Henry Mil (fighting) 6:50, B. Moran Mtb (boarding) 7:52, M. Brown Mtb (hooking) 14:55, B. Schmidt Mil (tripping) 16:51 THIRD PERIOD:3. Manitoba, J. Hansen (4) 7:18 4. Manitoba, S. Heshka (2) (J. Simek, M. Fortunus) 11:40 PP 5. Milwaukee, J. Niskala (14) (J. Vigilante, M. Santorelli) 18:25 Penalties - M. Brown Mtb (fighting) 2:40, D. Rahimi Mtb (interference) 2:40, N. Yonkman Mil (roughing, fighting) 2:40, J. Laliberte Mil (hooking) 11:15
| SHOTS |
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| Manitoba |
4 |
4 |
6 |
14 |
| Milwaukee |
9 |
8 |
12 |
29 |
POWER PLAYS:Manitoba Moose 1-4. Milwaukee Admirals 0-4. GOALTENDERS:Manitoba Moose Schneider 21-12-2 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 27 GA: 2 [W] Milwaukee Admirals Daigneault 4-5-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 57:19 SV: 11 GA: 3 [L]
Attendance:
----
- MTB - Cory Schneider
- MTB - Jannik Hansen
- MIL - John Vigilante
- Manitoba concludes their four-game West Division road trip Sunday afternoon in Chicago. The club then returns home for a four-game stint, starting Tuesday and Wednesday nights vs. Iowa.
|
Updated: Feb. 8, 2008 at 9:48 PM CST
