By Jen Sharpe
www.moosehockey.com
Despite scoring the game's first two goals, Manitoba lost their lead to a resilient Crunch crew and headed to overtime for the second straight game. But unlike in Friday night's decision, the Moose came out on top. 14:50 into the extra frame, Mike Brown notched the game-winner to split the series heading into Tuesday's Game 3 in Winnipeg.
>> Click here to see official scorer's sheet
First Period
37 seconds into the game, Syracuse's Alexandre Picard took a tripping penalty, but goalie Karl Goehring stopped Manitoba's lone powerplay shot. At the seven minute mark, Moose defenceman Danny Groulx headed to the penalty box for high-sticking and the Crunch powerplay unit made its debut. Though the home team used the powerplay to overtake the Moose on the shot-clock, rookie goalie Cory Schneider stopped all of Syracuse's attempts to continue the scoreless game.
The Crunch maintained their shot lead through to the final three minutes of the first, at which point the Moose took their second consecutive penalty and put the home team back on the powerplay. But the Moose killed the penalty, and just as Michael Grabner burst out the penalty box, he snapped up the bumbled puck and surged uncontested into the Crunch zone. Grabner cut across Goehring's crease and backhanded the puck into the net to score his first AHL playoff goal unassisted and give the Moose a 1-0 lead heading into the second period.
Second Period
The Crunch out-shot the Moose 4-1 in the first five minutes of the middle frame. A tussle near Schneider's net sent Mike Brown and Derek Dorsett to the penalty boxes for roughing, and two minutes of four-on-four play ensued. With the ice opened up, Jannik Hansen and Alexandre Bolduc descended on Goehring, and although Bolduc prodded the puck across the goal-line, play had been blown down only moments before.
Just past the game's midway point, Crunch forward Nate DiCasmirro was called for hooking and the Moose benefited from their second powerplay of the game. But Syracuse persevered with perfect playoff penalty killing and forced the visitors to go 0-for-2 on the powerplay.
Shortly after the return of five-on-five, back-to-back cross-checking penalties to Rick Rypien and Nathan McIver put Syracuse's other special teams in the spotlight for nearly four full minutes. But a minute into the second penalty, a pair of concurrent Crunch penalties offered the Moose a five-on-four and then 52-second five-on-three.
The two-man-advantage would give the Moose a two goal lead. Manitoba controlled the play and forced Goehring to make a few saves, but Danny Groulx's shot from the top of the slot beat the goaltender and slipped just under the crossbar to put the Moose up 2-0 with 2:30 left in the period.
A late penalty to Zenon Konopka put the Moose up one man and two goals but trailing four shots heading into the third period.
Third Period
The powerplay came and went for the Moose, and once back at full strength, the Crunch responded by testing Schneider's reflexes. But the rookie aced the test and continued to protect Syracuse's goose-egg.
A fifth Crunch powerplay put the Moose back on the disadvantage three minutes into the third. While Syracuse pressed, Schneider strove to make a save and then collapsed across his goal-line. Schneider suffered an injury on the play and had to be assisted off the ice, opening the playoff doors for All-Star netminder and Moose co-MVP Drew MacIntyre.
Manitoba killed off the rest of that infraction but was sent back on the PK when McIver headed to the penalty box for hooking. Only four seconds into his club's sixth powerplay, Andrei Plekhanov was fed the puck at the point and wired it past MacIntyre to put the Crunch on the scoreboard and cut Manitoba's lead to one.
Syracuse broke the 30-shot mark with eight minutes left to play, but their 32nd attempt would prove to be the equalizer. Capitalizing on a slew of players screening MacIntyre, Duvie Westcott hit the net on a slapshot from the point to tie the game at two and force overtime for the second consecutive game.
Overtime
The Moose fired six shots to the Crunch's three in the first 10 minutes of sudden death. In the tail end of the extra frame, the Moose broke into the Crunch zone and Brown carried the puck behind Goehring's net. By wrapping it around the post and across the goal line, #13 secured Manitoba's first win of the Calder Cup Playoffs and a 1-1 series split heading back to Winnipeg Tuesday night.
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| SCORING |
1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| Manitoba |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
| Syracuse |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
Apr 19, 2008 - Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter FIRST PERIOD:1. Manitoba, M. Grabner (1) 19:45 Penalties - A. Picard Syr (tripping) 0:37, D. Groulx Mtb (high-sticking) 6:58, M. Grabner Mtb (tripping) 17:33 SECOND PERIOD:2. Manitoba, D. Groulx (1) (C. Genoway, J. Sharrow) 17:30 PP Penalties - M. Brown Mtb (roughing) 5:26, D. Dorsett Syr (roughing) 5:26, N. DiCasmirro Syr (hooking) 10:33, R. Rypien Mtb (cross-checking) 12:52, N. McIver Mtb (cross-checking) 14:57, D. Brassard Syr (interference) 15:49, A. Picard Syr (unsportsmanlike conduct) 15:49, Z. Konopka Syr (holding) 18:51 THIRD PERIOD:3. Syracuse, A. Plekhanov (1) (D. Cullen, D. MacKenzie) 6:43 PP 4. Syracuse, D. Westcott (1) (J. Lindstrom, Z. Konopka) 13:58 Penalties - R. Rypien Mtb (tripping) 3:12, N. McIver Mtb (hooking) 6:38, L. Bourdon Mtb (holding the stick) 8:23, D. Brassard Syr (hooking) 8:23, C. Genoway Mtb (slashing) 16:58 OT PERIOD:5. Manitoba, M. Brown (1) 14:50 Penalties - No Penalties
| SHOTS |
1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| Manitoba |
6 |
12 |
9 |
9 |
36 |
| Syracuse |
10 |
12 |
11 |
3 |
36 |
POWER PLAYS:Manitoba Moose 1-5. Syracuse Crunch 1-7. GOALTENDERS:Manitoba Moose Schneider 1-4-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 44:20 SV: 26 GA: 0 MacIntyre 1-0-0 Start: 3rd 4:20 Min: 30:30 SV: 8 GA: 2 [W] Syracuse Crunch Goehring 7-5-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 74:50 SV: 33 GA: 3 [L]
Attendance:
5,562
- MTB - Mike Brown
- SYR - Duvie Westcott
- MTB - Michael Grabner
- This North Division Semi-final series switches to the MTS Centre, starting Tuesday, April 22nd. The puck drops at 7:30pm.
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Updated: Apr. 19, 2008 at 9:43 PM CDT
