Moose Demolish Chops, 6-1

January 9, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Moose sacrificed the first goal of the night, but answered back with six to beat the Iowa Chops 6-1 at the Wells Fargo Arena on Friday night. Michael Grabner earned a hat trick after being injured for nine games, Alexandre Bolduc earned one in his first game back from Vancouver, Mark Cullen ended his nine game goalless drought with a third period marker, and Captain Mike Keane earned his fifth of the season. Tommy Maxwell made his Moose debut in the victory and lived up to his tough-guy status with one fight and some critical hits while goaltender Cory Schneider earned his 13th straight win by blocking 30 of 31 shots for a nearly flawless night.

Zero-for-five on the powerplay after their first match-ups against Iowa, the Moose had a chance to notch their first man-advantage goal against the club when Andrew Thomas was penalized for tripping. Manitoba increased their shot count to five with the extra man, but couldn't net a goal before the two-minutes expired.

At 19:47 the Chops powerplay unit, sixth in the league, made their debut when Mark Cullen was fined with a double minor for high-sticking. Unable to score in the 13 seconds left in the first, the Chops entered the second period up an attacker and leading in shots 15-6.

Three-minutes into the second period, and still on the powerplay, Troy Bodie netted the first goal of the night to put the home team up by one.

Back-to-back Iowa penalties at 13:16 put the Moose on a five-on-three advantage for a full two-minutes. Still trailing in shots, 21-12, the visitors were unable to break David LeNeveu and went zero-for-four on the PP.

Before the middle stanza expired, the Moose found the back of the net to knot the game at one. With a pass from Michel Ouellet, Michael Grabner capitalized on his sixth shot of the night to put things back on an even keel heading into the third.

The Moose earned their first lead of the game when Michael Grabner netted his second of the night, this time unassisted. Goaltender David LeNeveu was injured after the goal and the Chops switched goaltenders, with Jean-Philippe Levasseur manning the home pipes.

The Moose earned their sixth powerplay at 6:59 with Francis Wathier was put away for interference. In his first game back from Vancouver, Alexandre Bolduc snipped the puck from the slot and earned the first PP goal against the Chops, putting the Moose on top 3-1.

At 9:52, Captain Mike Keane earned his fifth of the season, with help from Jason Krog, to put the Moose in front of the Chops, 4-1.

The time was winding down, but the Moose weren't finished scoring as Mark Cullen netted a backhanded marker to put the Moose in a 5-1 lead. With Iowa serving another penalty, Michael Grabner notched his third of the night, with help from Michel Ouellet and Travis Ramsey, to end the game 6-1.



American Hockey League Stories from January 9, 2009


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