Manitoba Moose

MANITOBA EARNS 3-2 VICTORY OVER HERSHEY ON TUESDAY NIGHT

By Christina Caligiuri

HERSHEY, PA. --  The Manitoba Moose excelled under pressure on Tuesday night when they forced Game 6 of the Calder Cup Finals with a 3-2 victory over the Hershey Bears at the Giant Center. Michael Grabner opened the scoring with his 10th of the season, Cody Hodgson notched his second and Jason Krog recorded his first of the series which also proved to be the game-winner. Goaltender Cory Schneider made an impressive 31 saves in his 21st consecutive postseason appearance. The Moose and Bears will face-off for Game 6 on Friday night at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.

It took 12 minutes into the opening period for the Moose to register their first shot on goaltender Michal Neuvirth, whereas the Bears already fired eight against Cory Schneider.

With 1:06 left in the first period, play was reduced to four-on-four when Alexandre Bolduc and Steve Pinizzotto were penalized for hooking and diving respectively. Neither team was able to open the scoring in the first period, but the Bears claimed the shot lead 12-4.

Both clubs were on their best behavior with no penalties handed out in the second period. Moose netminder Cory Schneider was keeping the visitors in the game, denying 24 shots with constant pressure in front of his net.

With three minutes left in the middle period, the Moose opened the scoring. From the top of the goal crease, Michael Grabner went high on Neuvirth on their ninth shot of the night. 

1:07 later, Manitoba earned a little cushion room. Rookie Cody Hodgson fired the bullet into the top corner to give the visitors a 2-0 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.

The Bears pounced early in the third period when Graham Mink caught Schneider on his side and lifted the puck over the tender and into the net to inch closer, 2-1.

At 13:58 Keith Aucoin’s slashing call put the Moose on their first man-advantage. Even though the Moose were able to bring their shot count to 25 on the powerplay, they couldn’t extend their lead in the short two-minutes.

Mario Blinzak’s interference sentence at 16:28 put the Bears on their first powerplay, but like the visitors, the home team couldn’t capitalize with the extra attacker.

With a minute left on the clock, Hershey pulled Neuvirth from his crease. With a defensive slip up near centre ice, Jason Krog netted his first of the series on an empty net for a 3-1 tally.

Hershey kept fighting and with 30.9 seconds left John Carlson snapped the puck passed Schneider to tighten the gap, 3-2. The last minute effort wouldn’t be enough to tie the game, however, as the Moose earned a 3-2 victory to force Game 6 in Winnipeg.