By Jen Sharpe
www.moosehockey.com
As in Manitoba's previous two games, an early opponent goal did little to cool the red hot Moose Wednesday night. Four unanswered goals and 23 saves from Drew MacIntyre propelled the Moose to a 4-1 victory over the Rochester Americans and a franchise record-tying 10th straight win.
>> Click here to see official scorer's sheet
First Period
Exciting scoring chances at both ends of the ice highlighted the first two minutes of the game, but the Americans would need three shots and three minutes to beat Drew MacIntyre. With help from Marek Zagrapan, Tanner Glass beat the Moose goalie on a partial breakaway to tally his fourth of the season and give the home team the first lead of the game.
The Americans fired two more shots on net before the Moose were able to counter with two of their own, and as Manitoba swarmed Rochester goalie Adam Dennis, defenceman Luke Beaverson took a hooking penalty and the Moose benefited from a powerplay.
Although the Americans killed the five-on-four, Beaverson had yet to re-join the play when Colby Genoway capitalized on a turnover and wired a pass to Greg Classen at the top of the crease. The veteran forward one-timed it past Dennis to tie the game at one.
Three minutes later, Jannik Hansen put the Moose in front. With another Rochester defender in the penalty box for hooking, the Danish sniper snapped up a blocked shot and surprised Dennis from the bottom of the left face-off circle to give Manitoba a 2-1 lead heading into the second period.
Second Period
The goalies were tested with one shot each in the first five minutes of the second, but the Moose added four shots by the midway point of the game to assume a 15-10 shot lead. Despite the attempts, Dennis and MacIntyre added to their save statistics by keeping the puck out of their respective nets.
But with 8:07 left on the clock, Moose defenceman Shaun Heshka ended the goaltending duel. Though Dennis made an initial save, rookie Mark Derlago cycled behind the net and slipped the puck back out to a surging Heshka, who went top-shelf from the slot to put Manitoba up 3-1. The goal was Heshka's sixth of the season and gave Derlago five points in four games since making his AHL debut with the Moose.
Aided by firing 12 shots to Rochester's four in the middle frame, Manitoba carried their 3-1 lead into the third period.
Third Period
Just under five minutes into the third period, Michael Grabner extended the Moose lead to three goals. Dennis stopped an initial shot from the top of the near face-off circle, but the rookie forward plugged at the puck as he maneuvered to the corner of the net, eventually slipping it around Dennis' right skate to make it 4-1.
Shortly after the goal, Beaverson initiated a fight with Classen behind Dennis' net, resulting in a flurry of punches and fighting majors to both players. Amerks defender Mike Kostka skewed the skater numbers by taking a tripping penalty, and though the home team came within 10 seconds of killing that penalty, another tripping penalty, this time to Rob Globke, gave the Moose a brief five-on-three and a fourth powerplay.
Those man-advantages were followed by another Rochester infraction, and though Manitoba was unable to beat Dennis, it wasn't for lack of effort as the club hit the 36-shot mark with three minutes left on the clock.
At 17:36, Manitoba's penalty killers made their debut when Juraj Simek was called for hooking. But the late powerplay -- Rochester's lone of the game -- did little for the home team's offense, and Manitoba strode to a franchise record-tying 10th straight victory.
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| SCORING |
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| Manitoba |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
| Rochester |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Mar 26, 2008 - Blue Cross Arena FIRST PERIOD:1. Rochester, T. Glass (4) (M. Zagrapan) 3:16 2. Manitoba, G. Classen (8) (C. Genoway, M. Grabner) 10:09 3. Manitoba, J. Hansen (16) (B. Moran, S. Heshka) 13:11 PP Penalties - L. Beaverson Rch (hooking) 8:08, F. MacDonald Rch (hooking) 11:17 SECOND PERIOD:4. Manitoba, S. Heshka (6) (M. Derlago, B. Moran) 12:20 Penalties - No Penalties THIRD PERIOD:5. Manitoba, M. Grabner (20) (J. Simek) 4:55 Penalties - G. Classen Mtb (fighting) 7:06, L. Beaverson Rch (fighting) 7:06, M. Kostka Rch (tripping) 7:56, R. Globke Rch (tripping) 9:46, S. Meyer Rch (hooking) 12:58, J. Simek Mtb (hooking) 17:35
| SHOTS |
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| Manitoba |
11 |
13 |
12 |
36 |
| Rochester |
9 |
5 |
10 |
24 |
POWER PLAYS:Manitoba Moose 1-5. Rochester Americans 0-1. GOALTENDERS:Manitoba Moose MacIntyre 25-18-2 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 23 GA: 1 [W] Rochester Americans Dennis 17-26-2 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 32 GA: 4 [L]
Attendance:
4,267
- MTB - Greg Classen
- MTB - Michael Grabner
- MTB - Shaun Heshka
- A Moose franchise record is up for grabs Friday night as the club strives for its 11th straight victory in the final regular-season encounter with the Americans.
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Updated: Mar. 26, 2008 at 8:35 PM CDT
