Manitoba Moose

HERSHEY NOTCHES FOUR GOALS IN THIRD PERIOD TO CONFIRM WIN

By Christina Caligiuri

The Manitoba Moose surrendered a season-high eight goals to the Hershey Bears on Friday night in an 8-3 decision at the Giant Centre.  Manitoba’s only offence was thanks to a single goal by Mathieu Schneider and a pair of markers courtesy of Marco Rosa. Cory Schneider dropped his 12th game this season in the loss. The Moose close out their four-game regular season series against the Bears tomorrow night in Hershey.

Defenseman Brian Salcido drew the first penalty of the night when he was locked up for cross-checking at 3:55. Manitoba’s penalty killers didn’t allow one shot on starting goaltender Cory Schneider during the two-minutes and the Bears went zero-for-one on the powerplay. 

Hershey opened the scoring mid way through the first period. Schneider made the initial save on Oskar Osala’s shot, but Andrew Joudrey tipped the loose rebound into the right side of the net for a 1-0 lead at 10:07.

Seconds later, Manitoba benefited from their first powerplay when Oskar Osala was put away for boarding. A mere 13 seconds into the man-advantage, Mathieu Schneider blasted the bullet over Braden Holtby’s left shoulder to get back on even ground.

At 12:42 Keith Aucoin danced between Taylor Ellington and Brian Salcido to make his way to the net. The centerman scored his 23rd goal of the season when he beat Schneider on his glove side to regain the lead, 2-1.

With Marco Rosa and Mathieu Schneider both serving time, the Bears received a five-on-three advantage in the early minutes of the second period. With Hershey planted in the Moose zone, Chris Bourque capitalized when he buried a one-timer from the slot for a 3-1 tally.

Marco Rosa got payback on the Bears as soon as he left the penalty box. With a crowd of players in front of Holtby’s crease, Rosa swept the puck under the ‘tender to inch closer, 3-2.

At 6:26 the Bears continued the back-and-forth scoring style. With a pass from behind the net, Steve Pinizzotto scored his eighth of the season when he tucked the puck into the right corner for a 4-2 score.

The Moose came out soaring in the third period and managed to get within a goal of the Bears. A defensive slip up by the home team allowed Michael Grabner to snatch up the puck. With a sleek pass from Grabner, Marco Rosa finished off the play with his second goal of the night at 2:41.

Nikita Kashirsky was penalized for slashing at 6:04 giving the Bears their seventh man-advantage of the night. Alexandre Giroux teed up the puck at the point and drove it into the mesh for a 5-3 score.

The Bears then picked up two more points when Oskar Osala and Kyle Wilson scored within 1:20 of each other to put their team on top 7-3.

Manitoba earned their third powerplay of the night, but mishandling of the puck gave the Bears the best opportunity. Jay Beagle skated right down the middle of the ice and notched a shorthanded goal when he deked Schneider around his left goal pad to confirm the game, 8-3.