Manitoba Moose

MANITOBA EXTENDS LOSING STREAK TO FOUR STRAIGHT GAMES

By Christina Caligiuri

Even though the Moose were the first to score on Tuesday night, the Wolves responded with six to earn a 6-2 victory over the home team in front of 7581 fans at the MTS Centre. This loss extended Manitoba’s losing streak to four consecutive games, the longest the club has faced this season. Maxime Fortunus and Mario Bliznak scored the two Moose goals, while Karl Goehring and Julien Ellis both saw ice time in the loss.

First Period

With 30-year-old Karl Goehring backstopping the Moose and Winnipegger Brent Krahn in net for the Wolves, both teams battled closely through the early minutes of the first.

The home team’s powerplay unit was called to action at 8:30 when Jon Insana was put away for hooking. It only took the Moose 38 seconds with an extra attacker to proclaim the lead, when a pass from former Chicago Wolves centre Jason Krog was completed by Maxime Fortunus to put the Moose up by one.

In his first game donning a Moose jersey, Tim Spencer took the club’s first penalty at 12:45 for hooking. Thirty-five seconds later, Maxime Fortunus was reprimanded for tripping, putting the Wolves on a two-man advantage for 1:25. Manitoba’s penalty killers, first in the AHL, killed off the first penalty, but with two seconds left in the second, Wolves winger Junior Lessard snapped the puck passed Goehring to knot the game at one.
 

Second Period

The visitors from Chicago were more than doubling the Moose in shots heading into the middle frame, 15-6. At 4:52 of the second, their shot lead translated into the game lead when Riley Holzapfel lifted the puck over Goehring’s glove and into the net, 2-1.

Two shots later the Wolves did it again, this time courtesy of Rylan Kaip. With the puck loose in the danger zone, Kaip swept it passed the line to gain a two point lead over the Moose.

At 7:56 the Wolves added another one to their tally when Joe Motzko earned his 21st of the season to give his team a 4-1 lead heading into the third period.

Third Period

The Moose opted to switch tenders in the third period with Julien Ellis taking over to man the home mesh.

At 3:10 Manitoba gained some ground, inching closer to the Wolves. With a slick pass from Guillaume Desbiens, Mario Bliznak tipped it past Krahn and into the net, 4-2.

The Wolves continued to lead in the shot department, 31-15, and on their 32nd shot Spencer Machaecek scored his sixth goal of the season lighting the lamp for the fifth time of the night. 

With five minutes left in the third period, Jeff Hamilton expanded the Wolves lead to 6-2, which would end up being the final score, as the Moose extended their losing skid to four consecutive games on Tuesday night.