Game Story

The Manitoba Moose (25-19-5-1) claimed a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Marlies (27-19-4-5) on Friday night at Canada Life Centre. The Moose were coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to the Milwaukee Admirals on Sunday.

Manitoba was the first to break through offensively. Isaak Phillips raced down the wing and forced a shot through the pads of Dennis Hildeby, putting the home side up 1-0 at 16:05. Toronto responded a few minutes later. After hemming the Moose in their own zone, Henry Thrun beat Domenic DiVincentiis to tie the game at 1-1. Each goaltender made 10 stops in the opening 20 minutes.

It took only two minutes for Borya Valis to give the Marlies a 2-1 lead in the second, redirecting a centring pass from Cédrick Paré past DiVincentiis. Only 67 seconds later, Brayden Yager sifted a point shot into the goal on the power play. Yager’s eighth of the season tied the game at 2-2. DiVincentiis was the busier of the two netminders, making 11 saves in the frame, while Hildeby turned aside five Moose offerings.

Manitoba outshot the Marlies 9-6 in the third period, pinning things down defensively. The Moose forged in front by a 3-2 count six minutes into the period when Ashton Sautner ripped a point shot through traffic and into the net. DiVincentiis slammed the door the rest of the way, as Manitoba skated to a 3-2 victory.

Quotable

Moose head coach Mark Morrison (click for full interview)
“I thought we played well. There were certainly momentum swings throughout the game. We got ourselves into trouble in our own zone a few times with some long d-zone time, struggled to get out, but weathered the storm for a few of those and came away with a win. I thought it was well earned.”

Statbook

• Brayden Yager has three points in his past three games (2G, 1A)
• Ashton Sautner is on a two-game point streak (1G, 1A)
• Phil Di Giuseppe is on a two-game point streak (1G, 1A)