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Moose Beat Griffins 6-4 for Top Spot in North

January 16, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Moose and Griffins started their match-up on Friday night tied for first place in the North Division, but after Manitoba defeated the hometown Griffins 6-4 they became sole owners of top spot with 58 points. Raymond Sawada netted two goals while Jason Jaffray, Guillaume Desbiens, Michael Grabner and Jason Krog netted singles. Cory Schneider stopped 26 shots for his 15th win this campaign.

With both teams sharing the North Division's top spot, the Moose and Griffins got underway at the Van Andel Arena with Cory Schneider backstopping Manitoba opposite Daniel Larsson in net for Grand Rapids.

The hometown Griffins benefited from the first man-advantage when Travis Ramsey was penalized for hooking a mere 2:11 into the first. Manitoba's penalty killers only allowed one shot on Schneider and killed-off the penalty before the Griffins could find the back of the net.

Grand Rapids had their second chance on the powerplay at 5:03 when Michel Ouellet was put away for hooking, but like the first man-advantage, the Griffins weren't able to capitalize with an extra attacker.

At 8:14, Jason Jaffray fired Manitoba's first shot of the night which resulted in the first goal of the night, with help from Jason Krog, to give the Moose a 1-0 lead.

At the midway point of the first period, and on their second shot, Guillaume Desbiens netted Manitoba's second of the night to put the visitors up by two.

Not even a minute later, Raymond Sawada beat Larsson again by chipping the puck over the tender to put the Moose on top by three. The Griffins opted to switch goalies, putting Jimmy Howard between the pipes.

The Moose capitalized for the fourth time in the first period when Michael Grabner netted his 18th of the season with a blast that sailed over Howard's shoulder.

The second period saw the powerplay tables turn in favor of the Moose, when Jonathan Ericsson was penalized for holding. Even though the Moose brought their shot total to 10 on the five-on-four, they weren't able to make any of them count and play returned to five-on-five.

With Pierre-Cedric Labrie serving a two-minute minor, the Griffins were able to break their goose-egg when Jonathan Ericsson notched his second of the season to adjust the score 4-1.

Manitoba quickly retaliated to regain their four-goal lead, when Jason Krog slid the puck between Howard's legs, his second of the night, for a 5-1 tally.

A short 2:15 into the final frame saw more scoring action from the Manitoba Moose. Raymond Sawada tipped the rebound into the net to earn his second goal of the night and put his team up 6-1.

With the puck situated behind the visiting net, Schneider left his crease to clear it, but the puck deflected off the boards and in front of the empty net to allow Francis Pare to slap it in for a 6-2 score.

At 14:49, a tripping penalty to Nolan Baumgartner put the Griffins on their seventh powerplay of the night and the home team was able to break through for the third time to inch closer 6-3.

At 19:24 the Griffins did it again, this time courtesy of Cory Emmerton. Despite the last period effort from the Griffins the Moose would still take the game in a 6-4 final over Grand Rapids.

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