Game Story

The Manitoba Moose (30-26-5-1) picked up their 30th win of the season on Saturday evening, scoring a 1-0 victory over the Belleville Senators (25-31-8-1) at CAA Arena. They were coming off a 5-0 loss to Belleville on Friday night.

Manitoba fired 16 shots on Leevi Meriläinen in the opening 20, finally breaking through on the power play late in the period. Samuel Fagemo had time and space to set up a shot and ripped his 17th of the season past the Senators’ netminder to make it 1-0. Thomas Milic was sharp in the Manitoba goal, turning away the 12 shots he faced in the stanza.

The goaltending duel picked up steam in the second. Milic denied 11 Senators’ offerings, while Merilänen was heroic in the Belleville end. He made a number of great stops to hold the score at 1-0 into the intermission. Isaak Phillips beat Merilänen with a shot from the slot, but he didn’t beat the crossbar. The ensuing rebound bounced out to the blue line, where Belleville turned it into a two-on-one chance, but Milic was there to deny the opportunity.

Belleville owned a 9-4 edge on the shot clock in the final frame, turning up the pressure with three power play chances. The Moose, however, stood tall, with Milic wrapping up his fourth shutout of the season with a 32-save effort. Fagemo’s first-period goal was the only offence the Moose needed, as they skated away 1-0 victors.

Quotable

Moose goaltender Thomas Milic (click for full interview)
“We knew what we had to do tonight, and that was lock it down defensively. I think the guys did a great job of that. When that’s our goal in mind, we know we’ll come across a goal or two. Tonight, it was just one, but we still got it done.”

Statbook

• Milic’s shutout was his fourth of the season, tied for the third-most in the AHL
• Samuel Fagemo’s 17 goals are the most on the Moose
• Colby Barlow recorded a career-high seven shots on goal