Manitoba Moose (16-5-1-1) vs. Cleveland Monsters (7-7-2-2)
December 11, 2017 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release
The Manitoba Moose (16-5-1-1) and Cleveland Monsters (7-7-2-2) clashed for the third time this season at Bell MTS Place on Thursday night. The visitors pushed the play early, but Michael Hutchinson kept the Moose on even terms until the Moose started to push back. With time ticking away in the late stages of the period, the Moose opened the scoring on the power play. Sami Niku set up Michael Spacek, who fired a one-timer past Brad Thiessen to leave Manitoba ahead 1-0 after 20 minutes.
The second period saw the Moose blow the game wide open. Chase De Leo kicked off the scoring in the period when he benefitted from a friendly bounce that ended up in the Monsters' net at 12:25. Just 1:35 later, Mason Appleton burned around a defender and tucked a perfect shot inside the far post. Cleveland got one back 46 seconds later when Miles Koules' shot redirected into the net off of Sam Vigneault. It only took Buddy Robinson a minute to restore the three-goal edge, stealing the puck and sneaking a shot over Thiessen's glove. Julian Melchiori rounded out the scoring with a shot from the point that found its way through a crowd in front and into the goal with 3:33 left in the second for a 5-1 Moose lead after two periods.
Manitoba kept on scoring in the third period. Just 67 seconds into the frame, Peter Stoykewych grabbed the puck, delayed to give himself more space and snapped a shot to the back of the net for a sixth Moose goal. The line of Jack Roslovic, Mason Appleton and Nic Petan capped of the scoring in style with some quick puck movement resulting in Roslovic burying the seventh goal of the night. Michael Hutchinson was a key contributor again, making 35 saves in the 7-1 victory.
Head Coach Pascal Vincent on Mason Appleton - "He understands his role and he understands himself as a player and he's not cheating the game whatsoever. He's bringing the puck to the net. He's playing well defensively. He's tracking well. He's using his body to be on the forecheck and to create dirty pucks, loose pucks and battles." Forward Mason Appleton - "Going into this season I wasn't too sure what the expectations were for this team. Obviously they hold themselves to high standards. I think a lot of people are surprised by how well we're doing. Like I just said, there's still 50 games left. We have to keep doing these things."
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