Ellis stops 31 en route to Hamilton victory

April 10, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Manitoba Moose outshot Hamilton 32-14 but ended up dropping a 4-1 decision to their Canadian rivals at the MTS Centre Saturday night. The two teams meet again Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.

Alex Auld got the start for the Moose while Dan Ellis made a rare start in goal for the Bulldogs.

Jonathan Ferland scored the game's first goal early, picking up the puck in the corner and skating out in front where he backhanded it five-hole through Auld.

With Tomas Plekanec in the box for hooking, the Moose generated several chances on Ellis. Josh Green almost tipped home a point shot but it ricocheted off the side of the net.

Ellis came up big again at the conclusion of a Manitoba two-man advantage. He stopped Nathan Smith on successive shots and then slide over to block Morrison. 15 minutes into the period, shots were 7-3 in favour of the Moose.

Auld made a big stop late in the period on a Hamilton powerplay. Corey Locke accepted a pass and fired a one-timer on the Moose goaltender but Auld slid across to make a left pad save.

After one period, the score was 1-0 Bulldogs. Manitoba had a 9-5 edge in shots.

The wind was taken out of Manitoba's sails just before the five-minute mark of the second. Ryan Kesler took a high-sticking penalty after clipping Tomas Plekanec. The man advantage was negated two minutes in when Plekanec himself got two for elbowing.

During the four-on-four situation, Hamilton scored their second of the game. Dan Jancevski backhanded a shot which was kicked out by Auld. But Duncan Milroy was right there to wrist home the rebound and make it 2-0.

Manitoba poured on the pressure late in the period, buzzing around the Hamilton net. Ellis stopped Morrison and Sarno during a goalmouth scramble but the pressure resulted in the Moose drawing a penalty on Raitis Ivanans.

On the ensuing powerplay, Kesler fed Heerema in front with a no-look backhand pass. Heerema one-timed the rolling puck past Ellis to make it 2-1.

Shots in the second period were 13-4 for the Moose as Manitoba cut Hamilton's lead in half, 2-1.

Hamilton regained their two-goal lead early in the final frame. Steve Begin roofed a shot over a fallen Auld after he made the initial save off Andrei Kostitsyn.

Ellis continued his strong play midway through the third when he snagged a one-timer from Jesse Schultz out of the air. Later on, he made a blocker save off Sarno on a rush.

The Moose elected to pull their goaltender with over two minutes remaining in the period. With the extra attacker, Green almost tipped one in but Ellis got in front of it.

Eventually, the Bulldogs would get their fourth of the game into the empty net. With nine seconds remaining Gavin Morgan fired it into the open cage.



American Hockey League Stories from April 10, 2005


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