Game Story

The Manitoba Moose (31-27-5-1) suffered a 6-3 loss to the Grand Rapids Griffins (48-13-4-1) on Friday afternoon. They were coming off a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Marlies on Tuesday.

Grand Rapids took an 11-5 edge on the shot clock in the opening 20 minutes, seizing control of the game with a trio of goals. Wojciech Stachowiak broke in alone, sliding a shot through the legs of Thomas Milic to give the Griffins a 1-0 lead. Eduards Tralmaks put home a loose puck at 14:17, before John Leonard made it 3-0 at 16:51. Sebastian Cossa made five stops in the period.

The Moose flipped the game on its ear in the second. Jacob Julien fired his first AHL goal past Cossa at 10:57 to get the home side on the board. Phil Di Giuseppe cut the lead to 3-2 with a power play goal at 12:43, staying with a loose puck before slamming it into the back of the net. The Manitoba surge wasn’t done there. Chase Yoder took a Nikita Chibrikov shot off the back, but it bounced perfectly, coming to a rest on his tape, where he lifted it past Cossa to tie the game at 3-3. Milic made nine stops in the frame, as the sides headed to the rooms deadlocked.

Grand Rapids took control right back with two quick goals in the third. Michael Brandsegg-Nygård scored at 11:41, and 14 seconds later, Amadeus Lombardi made it 5-3. Manitoba pressed for another comeback with the extra attacker on the ice, but Cossa held the line while making 14 saves in the period. Gabriel Seger iced the game into the empty net, and the Griffins claimed a 5-3 victory.

Quotable

Moose forward Jacob Julien (click for full interview)
“It’s a huge accomplishment to score your first professional goal. I couldn’t have done that without my teammates, so it’s thanks to them.”

Statbook

• Nine Moose recorded at least a point in the loss
• Brayden Yager is on a three-game point streak (4A)
• Chase Yoder scored his second goal in as many games