Manitoba Moose

MANITOBA DROPS 3-1 DECISION IN WORCESTER

By Christina Caligiuri

The Manitoba Moose extended their losing streak to five consecutive games after dropping a 3-1 decision to the Worcester Sharks in front of 2,630 spectators at DCU Center on Wednesday night. Nikita Kashirsky scored Manitoba’s lone goal while Cory Schneider suffered his 13th loss this season. The Moose and Sharks will face each other in a rematch on Friday night in Worcester. 

Cory Schneider and Alex Stalock manned opposite ends of the ice as the Moose and Sharks faced-off in their first-ever meeting on Wednesday night in Worcester.

Manitoba received the first powerplay of the night when Mike Moore was penalized for hooking at 8:01. New Moose addition, Evan Rankin, returned the favor at 9:48 when he was handed a hooking penalty of his own.  Both the Moose and Sharks were held scoreless on their respective man-advantages, but the home team lead the shot clock 7-5.

The Sharks stole the first lead of the game at 17:05. Frazer McLaren started the play when he carried the puck through centre ice and towards Schneider’s net. After being blocked by Manitoba’s defensive core, Brandon Mashinter picked up the loose puck and squeezed the disc between Schneider’s pads for a 1-0 tally.

Worcester came out of the gates flying for the second period and quickly extended their lead. Benn Ferriero stormed into the Moose zone and fired the puck over Schneider’s blocker for a two-goal lead. 

At 2:42 Nick Petrecki was forced to serve an interference minor giving Manitoba their third powerplay of the contest.  Despite firing three shots on Stalock, the Moose were unable to connect during the short two-minutes.

Manitoba’s penalty kill unit was busy in the early minutes of the third period, having to kill-off two consecutive minors before the 10 minute mark of the frame. The Moose finally broke their goose-egg 12:34 into the final frame. With an array of players in front of Stalock’s crease, Nikita Kashirsky notched his second goal as a Moose to get his club on the board, 2-1.

In a last minute attempt, Manitoba pulled Schneider to opt for an extra attacker. With two seconds remaining, Steven Zalewski iced the puck and potted an empty-netter to confirm a 3-1 victory for the Sharks.