Desbiens Nets Shootout Winner Against Heat

Published on October 14, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Manitoba Moose earned their first shootout victory of the season and their first-ever win against the Abbotsford Heat in a 5-4 shootout decision at the MTS Centre on Wednesday night. Marco Rosa extended his point streak to six games, Sergei Shirokov recorded a three-point night, Mario Bliznak notched his second consecutive goal against the Calgary Flames affiliate and Guillaume Desbiens earned his first goal of the season as well as the shootout winner. Goaltender Cory Schneider set aside 34 of 38 shots for his third win of the season.

At 7:54 of the opening period, Manitoba drew first blood. Michael Funk's initial blast was stopped by goaltender Matt Keetley, but Marco Rosa potted in the rebound to extend his point streak to six games and open the scoring for the Moose.

Abbotsford was handed the first powerplay of the night at 16:01 when Nolan Baumgartner was penalized for tripping. Forty-one seconds into the man-advantage, Jason Jaffray's shot deflected off Nathan McIver's stick and into the net to knot the game at one.

Even though the club's were tied heading into the second stanza, the Moose lead the Aeros in the shot department 14-6.

The puck saw equal time on both ends of the ice during the second period. With no penalties and no goals, the Moose held onto their shot lead, 27-21, going into the final twenty minutes.

The Moose finally translated their shot lead into a goal lead in the third period. Sergei Shirokov carried the puck from the blue line, danced around the defence and deked the puck around Keetley for a 2-1 tally.

With Riley Armstrong serving time for elbowing, the Moose benefited from their first powerplay of the night. Sergei Shirokov swept the puck across the net and Guillaume Desbiens punched it in for his first of the season and third Moose goal of the night, 3-1.

Alexandre Bolduc was forced to sit out for four-minutes with a high-sticking call, but that didn't stop Manitoba's scoring streak. A defensive slip-up in the Heat zone allowed Mario Blizank to escape on a short-handed surge and net his second consecutive goal against the Heat, 4-1.

With the Moose down two men, the Heat answered back. Jamie Lundmark notched his second of the season when he went top shelf on Schneider to tighten the gap, 4-2. With one Moose player still in the bin, the visitors inched closer. Colin Stuart took a wrist shot from outside the red circle that trickled past a screened Schneider, 4-3.

With 43 seconds left in regulation time, the Heat turned on the offensive pressure and tied the game at four. Jamie Lundmark netted his second of the night when his shot bounced over Schneider to force overtime.

Overtime

The Heat swapped goaltenders for the fourth period, putting Leland Irving between the pipes. Cory Schneider shined for the Moose, stopping three breakaways, however, five minutes proved too short for either team to net a winning goal and the Moose headed into their first shootout of the season.

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American Hockey League Stories from October 14, 2009


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