Manitoba Moose

MOOSE SPLIT OPENING SERIES WITH 'DOGS AFTER 4-1 LOSS

By Christina Caligiuri

On the heels of a 2-1 overtime win against the Bulldogs Monday night, the Moose saw the tables turn on Tuesday when the ‘Dogs bit back with a 4-1 victory. Matt Pettinger scored Manitoba’s lone goal while goaltender Cory Schneider made 25 saves. The loss resulted in an opening series split for the North Division rivals.

Coming off a stellar 31 save performance in last night’s win, Cory Schneider is back between the pipes for Manitoba while the Bulldogs opted for a goaltending switch with Cedrick Desjardins in net.

Twenty-three seconds and one shot into the game, the Bulldogs took a bite out of the Moose. After winning the faceoff and plowing down the ice, Mathieu Darche batted the puck out of mid-air and into the mesh to open the scoring.

However, Manitoba responded only 3:17 later. With Hamilton’s Eric Neilson serving a bench minor for too many men, Moose left-winger Matt Pettinger took advantage of a distracted Desjardins by smacking in a loose rebound to tie the game at one.

Less than three minutes after the equalizer, the tide turned back in the ‘Dogs favor. At 6:07, Ryan White’s shot bounced off of Schneider’s goal pad and into the net to get his club back on top with a 2-1 lead.

Owning the shot clock, 18-8, the Bulldogs extended their lead 12:04 into the middle frame. Andre Benoit riffled the puck from the left point and Mathieu Darche tipped in the rebound for his second of the night to put his club ahead by two.

The Moose and Bulldogs swapped powerplays in the ladder half of the second period, but neither team could capitalize on their respective man-advantages.

In the final minutes of the third period, the home team was leading the game as well as the shot clock, 27-14. In the dying minutes of the game, Tommy Pyatt confirmed the game with a powerplay goal to give Hamilton a 4-1 victory.