Manitoba Moose

MANITOBA FINISHES 0-3-1-0 AGAINST MILWAUKEE THIS SEASON

By Kalen Qually

The Manitoba Moose dropped a 6-2 decision to the Milwuakee Admirals on Saturday night to finish 0-3-1-0 against the club this regular season. Marco Rosa and Sergei Shirokov provided the only Moose offense for the 8,453 fans at MTS Centre while Cory Schneider stopped 23 of 29 shots in the loss.

Bad blood surfaced early in this rematch as two minutes into the game, Manitoba’s Pierre-Cedric Labrie tussled with Milwaukee’s Scott Ford behind the play until the gloves came off. Before a punch was thrown both combatants were sure to toss their lids, too. After fairly squaring off, the full-production hockey fight lasted over a minute with Labrie and Ford scoring a draw. 

Milwaukee’s Colin Wilson of Winnipeg got the chance to make his hometown pro debut the night before, but tonight the Admirals’ netminder Chet Pickard got his. He faced his first test of the game at 6:25 of the first when Manitoba’s leading scorer Sergei Shirokov was sprung for a breakaway. With Pickard limiting Shirokov’s options, the shot went wide.

At 9:33, Milwaukee captain Nolan Yonkman was booked for interference and the Moose went to work with the man advantage. Early in the powerplay, quarterback Mathieu Schneider fired a pair of high and hard ones at the net but just missed the target with Matt Pope providing the brave screen in from of the Milwaukee net.

The sturdy Moose penalty Kill was tested for a second time in the period when Marco Rosa was called out for high sticking at 16:14. Manitoba’s special teams streak ended at 24 consecutive kills after Nolan Baumgartner was stung blocking a shot by Jonathan Blum and was unable to get to Mike Santorelli as he streaked to the net to put home the rebound. The powerplay marker was Santorelli’s third goal and seventh point against the Moose this season.

The Admirals built on their momentum less than a minute later when Milwaukee’s Robert Dietrich corralled a pass from Chris Mueller in the Moose zone and blasted a shot from the point over Schneider’s left shoulder. The period ended with a 2-0 advantage for the Admirals.

The Moose fell victim to a bank shot at 5:10 of the second when Peter Olvecky’s centering attempt on a two-on-one veered off a Moose defender’s skate and into his own goal. After 25 minutes of play, the Moose found themselves in a three-goal deficit.

About eight minutes into the second, the 8,453 in attendance at MTS Centre were on edge as the reunited line of Mike Keane, Guillaume Desbiens, and Mario Bliznak, along with Nolan Baumgartner pinching on the play, nearly cracked Pickard on a Moose rush that produced three quality chances. The Admirals immediately transitioned into a Mike Santorelli breakaway that Schneider turned away. Then the puck made its way back into the Admirals’ end before you could say “Desbiens robbed from point blank range,” as the commentary would have gone on the ensuing play.

The Moose got another golden opportunity twelve minutes in as Matt Pope centered the puck for Matt Pettinger. While the chance didn’t lead to a goal, it did yield a roughing minor to the Admirals’ Nolan Yonkman. With that the Moose tried to capitalize on their second powerplay of the game.

Marco Rosa singlehandedly put the hometown boys on the board when he intercepted a failed shorthanded clearing attempt by Milwaukee and danced his way into the slot before shelving a wrister over Pickard’s catcher at 13:50 of the second. The Moose again had the Admirals to within two goals.

With the period winding to a close, a centering pass by Milwaukee’s Olvecky from behind the Moose goal line slid under the sprawling pad of Cory Schneider and into the crease where Chris Mueller was present to stuff the Admirals’ fourth goal of the game. 27 seconds later the period ended with Milwaukee winning 4-1.

At 7:14 of the final frame, the Moose pulled back to within a pair on a Sergei Shirokov shot deflection that squeaked through Pickard’s pads. But before the PA announcer could finish saying Shirokov’s jersey number, the Admirals had restored their lead. Just 11 seconds later, Chris Mueller scored his second of the game from Winnipeg’s own Colin Wilson.

Mike Santorelli notched the sixth goal for his club on the 27th shot of the night. After beating off the Moose defenders, the centerman snuck the puck between Schneider’s five hole to confirm the game, 6-2.