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Moose Beat Marlies In Matinee Match-Up

February 17, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


WINNIPEG, MB. - Reeling from Saturday night's 5-3 defeat, the Manitoba Moose got the payback they were looking for Sunday afternoon by beating the Toronto Marlies 5-2 in front of 9,802 fans. Jannik Hansen and Brad Moran tallied three points each, while rookie goalie Cory Schneider stopped 22 shots for his ninth win of the season.

A physical start to the first period saw Toronto's John Mitchell pick up two minutes for high sticking. The Moose got an early chance but Jason Jaffray's shot rang off the post and nothing was gained with the opening man advantage.

Two minutes after the return of five-on-five play, Moose defenceman Zack FitzGerald accomplished what Manitoba's powerplay could not. Following a face-off in the Marlies zone, Colby Genoway fed the puck to FitzGerald at the point who wired his fifth of the season past netminder Scott Clemmensen to put the Moose up 1-0.

Man-advantages swung back and forth near the midway point of the period, as Toronto's Robbie Earl took a slashing penalty followed by Manitoba's FitzGerald who served five minutes for high-sticking.

With the Marlies on the powerplay and in the Moose zone, Jay Harrison caught a piece of Andy Wozniewski's point shot to even things up at 8:58.

Because of FitzGerald's major infraction, the Marlies stayed on the man-advantage and eventually went up five-on-three for a full two minutes thanks to an extra hooking penalty to Alexandre Bolduc. Even though Rick Rypien worked part of the PK without a stick, Manitoba killed the two-man advantage and set their sights on the final powerplay.

But seven seconds into the return of five-on-four, Wozniewski tried his point shot a second time and got the puck through traffic and behind Schneider to give the Marlies their first lead of the game.

Less than a minute after the go-ahead goal, the Moose closed the gap. With Clemmensen's stick tucked behind him in the net, the un-armed goaltender battled the swarming Moose. An initial save forced the puck out to rookie defender Daniel Rahimi, who scored from the top of the far face-off circle to tie the game at 13:12.

Though Toronto tallied the lone shot of the first six minutes of the third, Manitoba made sure their first shot of the final frame counted. After working up the middle of the ice, Moran bounced the puck over to Jaffray who slid it across to Hansen at the opposite corner of the crease. Hansen fed it past Clemmensen to score his fourth goal in three games.

Just over two minutes later and with Earl in the penalty box, Maxime Fortunus was the benefactor of a similar set-up by Moran and Hansen. By scoring his fourth of the season from the top of the crease, the defenceman gave the Moose their first powerplay goal in 10 opportunities over two games vs. Toronto.

With Clemmensen out of the net for the final two minutes, one of Manitoba's newest acquisitions, Josh Prudden, scored an unassisted empty-netter for his first goal as a Moose. Tempers flared following the goal, with Rypien and David Ling meeting for a bust-up in the neutral zone, followed shortly by Pierre-Cedric Labrie and Phil Oreskovic dancing near the visitor's gate.

After fighting penalties were assessed and the final buzzer sounded, the Moose had stolen two points from the North Division's top club with a 5-2 victory.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Moose head back on the road for four games, starting Wednesday in Chicago. The club's next home game is Wednesday, February 27th vs. the East Division's Hershey Bears.

NEXT GAME: WEDNESDAY, FEB. 20 (ALLSTATE ARENA - CHICAGO, IL.)

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