Manitoba Moose

MANITOBA LOOKS TO SWEEP MANCHESTER TOMORROW NIGHT

By Christina Caligiuri

Almost 6000 hardcore fans battled the -35 degree Winnipeg weather to watch their Manitoba Moose defeat the Manchester Monarchs 4-2 on Tuesday night. In their first meeting since the 2002-03 season, Jason Krog, Michael Grabner and Dirk Southern earned their first goals against the visitors from Manchester, while Karl Goehring stopped 22 shots for his ninth win. After the victory, the Moose hold a 2-2-1-0 overall record against the Monarchs, registering two wins on home ice. 

First Period

With go-to goalies Karl Goehring and Jonathan Bernier manning both nets, Manchester started strong offensively, testing Goehring with four shots before the Moose registered one.

With seven minutes off the clock, Guillaume Desbiens and Drew Bagnall squared off at center ice, trading punches and earning five each for fighting.

At the midway point of the first period, the Moose and Monarchs were tied at four in the shot department leading into the first powerplay of the game. The Moose were the one’s to benefit when Dusty Collins was penalized for tripping, but the home team were only able to register one shot on Bernier during the two-minutes and the score remained at zero.

Another tripping call, this time directed towards Ryan Murphy, put the Moose back on the powerplay and this time they found the back of the net. With a pass from Michel Ouellet, Jason Krog took Bernier by surprise with Manitoba’s sixth shot, and the Moose took the first lead of the game at 14:04.

At 15:38, the Moose sacrificed their first five-on-four when Captain Mike Keane was sent away for hooking. Manitoba’s penalty killers, first in the AHL, lived up to their status by allowing only one shot on Goehring and registering a shot of their own. 
 

Second Period

The second period saw early scoring action from the Moose, when Dirk Southern snapped it passed Bernier to score his third goal of the season and extend Manitoba’s lead 2-0.

A mere five-minutes later, the Moose did it again, courtesy of Jason Krog. In his second goal of the night, Krog snuck the puck between Bernier and the post to notch his eighth of the season and put the home team on top of the Monarchs 3-0.

At 15:17 the Monarchs had the luxury of an extra-attacker when Alexandre Bolduc was sent to the bin for hooking. For the third time of the night, the Moose killed-off the penalty without allowing the Monarchs to break their goose-egg.

Five-on-five action paid off for the visitors when Dusty Collins, in his first game as a Monarch, broke Goehring on their 15th attempt of the night, to get his team on the board, 3-1.

Third Period

The Moose widened the scoring gap even further when Michael Grabner surged past Monarchs defenders to score an unassisted goal two minutes into the final frame.

The Monarchs went on the powerplay for the fourth time, when Mark Derlago was penalized for slashing. Manitoba’s penalty killers continued to do their job, as Goehring and the rest of the Moose kept the puck out of the home net.

The visitors planted themselves in the Moose zone and wouldn’t leave until they scored a goal. After making the initial save on Viatcheslav Voynov’s slapshot, right winger Ryan Murphy tucked it behind Goehring to inch closer, 4-2.

After added pressure by the Monarchs in the final minutes, the vistors were outshooting the Moose 24-18, but they couldn’t get the puck back in the net and the game ended in favor of the Moose, 4-2.