Manitoba Moose

MANITOBA SPLITS FIRST HOME SERIES WITH GRAND RAPIDS

By Christina Caligiuri

The Manitoba Moose were seeking vengeance for Friday night’s 6-5 loss to the Grand Rapids Griffins, and got the payback they sought winning Saturday’s rematch 4-2. Dan Gendur earned his first goal in Moose colors, Michel Ouellet broke his 11 game goalless streak, and Jason Krog and Guillaume Desbiens both earned their sixth goals of the season against Griffins netminder Jimmy Howard. Karl Goehring recorded his eighth win in Manitoba by blocking 31 attempts.

First Period

Energized by the desire to snap their three game losing skid, the Moose spent much of the first few minutes of the game in the Griffins zone, and the extra pressure on goaltender Jimmy Howard paid off. With help from Mark Cullen, call-up Dan Gendur earned his first goal in Moose colors to put the home team on top at 1:42.

Similar to last night’s back-and-fourth scoring style, the Griffins hit the scoreboard a mere three minutes later. Jamie Tardif carried the puck over netminder Karl Goehring to knot the game at one.

A hooking penalty to Manitoba’s Jason Krog gave the Griffins the game's first powerplay at 8:03. With a scramble of players in front of Goehring’s net, the Griffins went one for one on the PP courtesy of Mattias Ritola’s goal.

In the late minutes of the first period, the Moose benefited from their first powerplay when Sergei Kolosov was put away for hooking. However, the Griffins penalty killers, fifth in the league, looked sharp and only allowed two shots on Howard.

Second Period

The opening of the second period saw the Moose back on the powerplay, when Aaron Gagnon was reprimanded for high-sticking. Although Manitoba was able to extend their shot lead, 20-12, they were unable to crack Howard during the two-minute advantage.

At 8:40, Dan Gendur’s goaltender interference penalty put the Griffins on their third powerplay of the game. The home team penalty killers cleared the puck on two occasions and let the time expire without any alteration to the scoreboard.

With minutes left in the second, a beautiful pass by Michael Grabner was received by Jason Krog, who snapped it past Howard to tie the game at two going into the final frame.

Third Period

The Moose broke the tie five minutes into the final frame, when Michel Ouellet poked the puck in between the visiting pipes, to break his 11 game goalless streak and regain the lead, 3-2.

Manitoba positioned themselves in the Griffins zone after the goal, hungry to extend their lead even further. Dirk Southern passed the puck from behind the net to Guillaume Desbiens, who buried it into the net to give Manitoba a 4-2 lead.

A hooking call directed to Guillaume Desbiens gave the visitors a chance to inch closer to the lead, but the Moose stayed strong and held onto their 4-2 lead to split their first home series against the Griffins.