For the second game in a row, Grand Rapids Griffins forward Francis Lemieux scored his club's lone goal vs. the Manitoba Moose Saturday night. But unlike in Friday's game, it would be enough for the win. By stopping all 18 Moose attempts, Griffins goaltender Adam Berkhoel earned a 1-0 shutout and ended Manitoba's three-game win streak.
Moose netminder Drew MacIntyre and his goaltending counterpart Adam Berkhoel backstopped their clubs for the second straight game. As in Friday night's game, MacIntyre faced the majority of shots through the early part of the first period, but the Griffins were unable to find the back of the net in their first seven tries.
With just over six minutes left in the opening frame, Grand Rapids descended into the Manitoba zone and swarmed the Moose net. With MacIntyre on his side and struggling to keep tabs on the puck, the Griffins fed it back out to Francis Lemieux in the right face-off circle, who lifted it above the laid-out goalie to put the home team up 1-0.
The Griffins maintained their one-goal lead and 13-7 shot count through to the end of the first period.
Second Period
24 minutes of penalty-free play ended with a fight between Alexandre Bolduc and Jakub Kindl in the Griffins zone. With both players earning five minutes for fighting, it would take another eight minutes before special teams made their debut. Grand Rapids' Cleve Kinley was called for hooking at 11:15, and Manitoba benefited from the game's first powerplay.
The visitors were unable to score on the man-advantage and immediately went on the penalty kill thanks to a hooking penalty to Zack FitzGerald. That second powerplay would also go goal-less, and despite a final flurry of activity in the Moose crease -- as well as a furious scrap between Nathan McIver and Darren McCarty -- the lamp went unlit in the middle frame.
Third Period
The Griffins continued to lead the shot-count in the third, registering 26 shots to Manitoba's 15 with 10 minutes left on the clock. Minimal whistles meant the game progressed quickly, and the Moose soon found themselves in the game's final minute and desperate to tie things up.
But Berkhoel would prove unbeatable in 18 shots, and Manitoba ended their three-game winning streak with a 1-0 shutout loss in Grand Rapids Saturday night.
SCORING
1
2
3
T
Manitoba
0
0
0
0
Grand Rapids
1
0
0
1
Feb 23, 2008 - Van Andel Arena
FIRST PERIOD:
1. Grand Rapids, F. Lemieux (3) (E. McGrath, J. Tardif) 13:46
Penalties - No Penalties
SECOND PERIOD:
No Scoring
Penalties - A. Bolduc Mtb (fighting) 4:33, J. Kindl Gr (fighting) 4:33, C. Kinley Gr (hooking) 11:15, Z. FitzGerald Mtb (hooking) 13:31, N. McIver Mtb (fighting) 19:51, D. McCarty Gr (fighting) 19:51
The Moose conclude their four-game road trip and three-games-in-three-nights stretch Sunday afternoon in Peoria. The club's next home game is Wednesday, February 27th vs. the East Division's Hershey Bears.
Updated: Feb. 23, 2008 at 8:31 PM CST
