Manitoba Moose

MANITOBA BRINGS LOSING STREAK TO A HALT WITH VICTORY OVER TORONTO

By Christina Caligiuri

The Manitoba Moose shattered all signs of a scoring drought on Friday night when they notched five markers to beat the visiting Toronto Marlies 5-1 in front of 7,592 fans at MTS Centre. Marty Murray  (1g & 1a), Marco Rosa (1g & 2a), Eric Walsky (0g & 2a), and Evan Oberg (0g & 2a) all recorded multi-point nights while Darryl Bootland, Sergei Shirokov and Neil Petruic all scored singles for the club. In his first game back from the parent Canucks, Cory Schneider was nearly flawless allowing only one goal on 19 shots. The Moose and Marlies will face each other in a rematch tomorrow night. 

At the 20 minute mark and before the game even got underway, Mark McCutcheon and Jay Rosehill were both handed the opening penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct.  Four-on-four hockey paid off for the Moose a mere 1:59 later. Eric Walsky’s initial wrister was blocked by goaltender Joey MacDonald, but veteran centre Marty Murray smacked in the rebound to put the home team in a one-goal lead.

At 9:53 the Marlies tied the game on their third shot of the night. Tyler Bozak flew down the right side of the ice and fired the puck on Schneider. With traffic in front of the net, Ryan Hamilton deflected the rebound into the open back door to even the score.

The Moose came out soaring in the second stanza, scoring a goal 1:02 into the frame. A defensive slip up by Toronto allowed Marco Rosa to steal the puck and fire the bullet between MacDonald’s legs for his fifth of the season.

Manitoba received back-to-back powerplays in the ladder half of the middle frame. The Baby Canucks were unable to capitalize on the first advantage but benefited on their second. At 13:08, Darryl Bootland charged the net and notched his first in antlers this season when he went high on MacDonald. Directly after the goal and before he even had time to celebrate, the feisty right-winger dropped his gloves and took on Jonas Frogren in the corner. After all was said and done, both players were charged, but Bootland received an additional two-minutes. 

At 17:09, the Moose extended their lead even further. With a sleek pass from Travis Ramsey, rookie Sergei Shirokov potted his team-leading sixth marker for a 4-1 lead.

With less than nine minutes left in the game, the Moose capitalized again. Defenceman Neil Petruic fired a slapper from inside the blueline that sailed into the net, 5-1.

After the whistle and with five-minute remaining in the game, Tommy Maxwell and Jonas Frogren squared off behind the visiting net. Maxwell owned the fight, forcing the Marlies defenceman to the ground after several blows. Both attackers were handed five-minute fighting majors along with additional minors that ended the game for both players. 

Back and forth play consumed the rest of the game and the Moose saw their five-game losing streak come to an end with a 5-1 victory over the visiting Marlies.