Crunch snaps Moose winning streak

November 8, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Moose and Crunch sat neck-and-neck throughout 40-minutes of play, but three third period goals would confirm a 6-3 victory for Syracuse. This loss halted Manitoba's nine-game winning streak and would mark the fifth time the Moose have been outshot this season, 35-26.

Michael Grabner registered the first shot of the night on Syracuse's Dan LaCosta, which also turned out to be the first goal of the game. With a pass from Raymond Sawada, Grabner snuck down the left side of the ice and tipped the puck in, putting the Moose in an early lead at 2:35.

The Crunch benefited from the first power play of the game after Moose defenseman Lawrence Nycholat was sent to the box for holding. Despite registering their first shots on former Crunch goaltender Karl Goehring, Syracuse failed to capitalize and the play soon returned to the Crunch zone once the teams were back at even-strength.

Manitoba's power play lineup made their first appearance at 8:55 when left-winger Jon Mirasty was reprimanded for hooking. The Moose weren't able to register a shot on LaCosta during the man-advantage and went zero for one on the PP.

Captain Mike Keane's hooking penalty would give the home team their second five-on-four of the night. Goehring blocked the first four attempts, but with seconds left on the man-advantage Craig MacDonald slapped the puck into the net to tie the game at one.

At 15:01 Zack FitzGerald was fined for slashing, but Craig MacDonald would even the odds 12 seconds later with a slashing penalty of his own, reducing the players to four-on-four.

The first period ended with both club's tied at one, but the Crunch lead the Moose in shots, 16-6.

The Crunch didn't lose their momentum coming into the second frame, beating Goehring five-seconds after the faceoff with a goal courtesy of Nikita Filatov. However, the Crunch's lead would only last two-minutes as Captain Keane netted his third of the season to close the gap at two.

With both sides fighting to score the go-ahead goal, tempers flared and a pair of fights erupted in response, with Jason Jaffray, Guillaume Desbiens and Shaun Heshka battling for the Moose against Syracuse's Grant Clitsome, Derek Dorsett and Blair Yaworski. At the end of the scuffle, two Crunch players received misconduct penalties and Manitoba netted a two-man power play thanks to Yaworski and Clitsome's roughing minors.

The penalties expired before the Moose could capitalize but an elbowing and slashing penalty to Trevor Frischmon and John Vigilante would put the Moose back on the two-man advantage minutes later. The Crunch killed off another two-minute five-on-three and the game went back to even-strength.

Back-and-forth play through the early minutes of the third paid off for the Moose. Experienced line-mates Jason Krog and Darryl Bootland took the lead, as Bootland tipped in Krog's cross-crease pass to put the Moose up 3-2. Syracuse's Aaron Rome was quick to knot the game, however, as he slipped the puck past Goehring less than a minute later.

At 7:10 Desbiens slashing penalty put the Moose on the penalty-kill for the fifth time of the night. A one-timer from the point was redirected by Derek Dorsett and the Crunch regained the lead, 4-3, over the visiting Moose.

Filatov earned his second of the night, breaking through Manitoba's defenseman for a one-on-one with Goehring. Down two goals, the Moose opted to pull Goehring in the final minutes of play but an empty-netter by Frischmon would ultimately confirm the Crunch's victory 6-3.



American Hockey League Stories from November 8, 2008


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