By Jen Sharpe
www.moosehockey.com
The Manitoba Moose were looking for their fourth straight road win Sunday afternoon, but the Chicago Wolves and their goaltender Robert Gherson had something else in mind. By stopping all 19 Moose attempts, Gherson backstopped his club to a 2-0 victory and sent the Moose home with six of eight possible points on the road trip.
>> Click here to see official scorer's sheet
First Period
With Drew MacIntyre in net for Manitoba and Robert Gherson manning the crease for Chicago, the first encounter between both clubs got underway Sunday afternoon. The Wolves dominated the first seven minutes of play, firing four shots on MacIntyre before Gherson was forced to make a stop. But Manitoba caught some momentum and assumed their first shot-lead at the 10-minute mark.
Although the visitors had more attempts, the home team would be the first to convert into a goal. Moments after a face-off to MacIntyre's glove side, Brian Fahey fired on the Moose net and Bryan Little pounced on the rebound to put Chicago up 1-0 at 13:36.
A lack of penalties helped to quickly close the first period, and the Moose headed to intermission with a one-goal deficit.
Second Period
Early in the second, five minutes of back-and-forth five-on-five play concluded in a tripping penalty to Steve Martins and a powerplay for Manitoba. Although the Moose had the man-advantage, the best scoring chance belonged to the Wolves, as they created a shorthanded three-on-one but were unable to get a shot away. The penalty passed without a goal and Manitoba continued to trail by one.
A second tripping penalty, this time to Manitoba's Juraj Simek, would put Chicago on the powerplay through the game's halfway point. As the Moose killed the penalty and Simek left the box, a scuffle behind MacIntyre's net resulted in coincidental roughing penalties to Mike Keane and Brett Sterling and two minutes of four-on-four.
Thanks to a pair of penalties to Simek and Jimmy Sharrow, the Wolves spent much of the final five minutes on the powerplay, but as with the previous man-advantages, goaltenders and penalty killers ruled the play. After 40 minutes of play, shots were tied at 15 but the Moose continued to trail by one.
Third Period
Five minutes into the third, the Moose took their third and fourth consecutive penalties and were once again on the defensive. Chicago's potent powerplay unit put pressure on Manitoba, but thanks to MacIntyre's athleticism and long arms, the visitors stayed within one.
With just over 12 minutes left in the game, Manitoba finally drew a penalty and went on their second five-on-four. Though the club couldn't score on the man-advantage, Colby Genoway managed to get the puck in the net but the referee quickly waved off the goal, ruling that it went in on a high-stick.
A Chicago penalty with 90 seconds left gave the Moose their third powerplay and -- thanks to an open net -- a six-on-four advantage. Unfortunately for the visitors, the Wolves won a face-off in their own zone and Jason Krog fired a long-shot into the empty Moose net to put Chicago up 2-0.
At the final buzzer, Gherson had made 19 saves for the shutout and Chicago ended Manitoba's three-game winning streak.
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| SCORING |
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| Manitoba |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Chicago |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
Feb 10, 2008 - Allstate Arena FIRST PERIOD:1. Chicago, B. Little (7) (B. Fahey) 13:36 Penalties - No Penalties SECOND PERIOD:No Scoring Penalties - S. Martins Chi (tripping) 5:09, J. Simek Mtb (tripping) 9:04, M. Keane Mtb (roughing) 11:05, B. Sterling Chi (roughing) 11:05, J. Simek Mtb (slashing) 14:05, J. Sharrow Mtb (hooking) 17:23 THIRD PERIOD:2. Chicago, J. Krog (24) (B. Valabik, S. Martins) 18:36 SH EN Penalties - A. Bolduc Mtb (hooking) 4:56, D. Rahimi Mtb (high-sticking) 6:30, B. Sterling Chi (tripping) 7:33, A. Giroux Chi (hooking) 18:30, C. Genoway Mtb (tripping) 19:56
| SHOTS |
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| Manitoba |
7 |
8 |
6 |
21 |
| Chicago |
9 |
6 |
11 |
26 |
POWER PLAYS:Manitoba Moose 0-3. Chicago Wolves 0-5. GOALTENDERS:Manitoba Moose MacIntyre 25-18-2 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 59:15 SV: 24 GA: 1 [L] Chicago Wolves Gherson 8-6-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 59:51 SV: 21 GA: 0 [W]
Attendance:
8,805
- CHI - Robert Gherson
- CHI - Bryan Little
- MTB - Drew MacIntyre
- Manitoba returns home for a four-game stint, starting Tuesday and Wednesday nights vs. Iowa.
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Updated: Feb. 10, 2008 at 5:45 PM CST
