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Moose send Crunch packing, 5-3

March 25, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


After suffering a 2-1 loss at the hands of the Crunch last night, the Moose battled back to earn a 5-3 victory in the final matchup between the clubs on Wednesday night at the MTS Centre. Matt Pope earned his second goal in Moose colors, Jason Krog recorded two goals and an assist while Jason Jaffray and Guillaume Desbiens both notched singles. Goaltender Curtis Sanford stopped 21 shots for his sixth victory this campaign.

Syracuse profited from the first powerplay of the night when Jason Jaffray was put in the sin bin for goaltender interference at 10:29. Only 52 seconds into the man-advantage, Dan Spang slipped the puck between Curtis Sanford's right pad and the goal post for a 1-0 lead.

After the opening goal, Manitoba's powerplay unit made their first appearance when Tom Sestito was penalized for hooking. Syracuse's penalty killers kept the Moose on defence for the majority of the two-minutes, only allowing two shots on goaltender Kevin Lelande.

At 14:50 Manitoba tied the game. With a pass from Shaun Heshka, rookie Matt Pope flew down the right side of the ice, danced around two defenders and slapped a backhander behind Lelande for his second goal in Moose colors.

The home team earned their second powerplay opportunity at 15:56 when Michael Blunden was put away for roughing. With the Moose planted in the visiting zone, Jason Jaffray wired his 21st goal of the season to acquire a 2-1 lead.

Manitoba extended their lead even further when Jason Krog caught Jaffray's rebound and slapped it in the backdoor for a 3-1 tally heading into the second period.

It only took 1:38 into the middle frame for the Moose to notch another goal. Eric Walsky, who is playing in his first professional game, earned his first professional assist on Guillaume Desbiens 20th goal of the season. After the goal, the Crunch replaced Lelande with netminder Dan LaCosta.

After the next faceoff the Crunch tightened the gap when Kevin Harvey's slapshot from the point found the back of the net, 4-2.

The Moose answered back at 10:33 when Jason Krog escaped on a breakaway, allowing him to score his second of the night and put the home team on top 5-2.

The Crunch benefited from a breakdown in Manitoba's defensive zone, letting Derek MacKenzie go one-on-one with Sanford and succeed, 5-3.

Back-and-forth play consumed the last 20 minutes of play, but neither team could score another goal and the Moose stole two-points from the Crunch in a 5-3 victory at the MTS Centre.

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