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Moose Double 'Dogs 2-1 in Late OT Win

May 5, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Manitoba Moose (2-2) followed a similar script in last year's Calder Cup Playoffs when they went down by two games to the Hamilton Bulldogs (2-2) before winning a high scoring Game 3. The Moose hoped to change the script this year because Hamilton won Game 4 in 2010 and eventually the series. The 6,843 in attendance at MTS Centre witnessed a climactic 2-1 double overtime result with Manitoba's Mario Bliznak scoring the winner after 31:06 of sudden death. Moose 'tender Eddie Lack made 43 saves in the game backing his team to their second win of the North Division Final.

Manitoba's power play went 0-for-10 through Games 1 & 2 in Hamilton, but coming home cured that streak as the Moose converted twice on three power plays in Game 3. Hamilton's Andrew Conboy gifted the Moose their first man advantage of Game 4 with a an unsportsmanlike penalty taken after the whistle at 1:14 of the first period. The verbal foul went unpunished though as Bulldogs goalie Drew MacIntyre fended off a couple connecting point shots.

The Moose penalty kill was among the best in the league during the regular season, finishing with the second best PK efficiency. They showed that form on their first shorthanded situation of the game when Manitoba netminder Eddie Lack was forced to make five saves, a couple of the dangerous variety, in a two-minute span.

The first period ended with 20 shots taken on net, 13 by the Bulldogs and 7 by the Moose, but zero collective goals scored on either goaltender.

Manitoba's Eddie Lack stopped 18 shots before finally allowing one at 6:50 of the second period. While shorthanded, Lack stopped the initial long range shot by Gabriel Dumont, but the puck took a fluke bounce onto the goalie's back and he couldn't locate it as it slid down and into the net. The goal marked the first time in four games the Bulldogs scored the opening goal.

A bad bounce led to Hamilton's first goal and another nearly resulted in Manitoba's first. A broken stick behind Hamilton's net broke up a D-to-D pass by the Bulldogs and led to a wide open chance for Manitoba's Kevin Clark. Trying to tuck the puck around Drew MacIntyre, the Bulldogs goalie got just enough of the puck to deflect it out of Clark's reach and keep his team up by one goal. Which is where they would remain heading into the second intermission.

Manitoba was awarded a power play at 7:35 of the third when centre Mario Bliznak was hauled down along the boards by Hamilton's Frederic St. Denis. The resulting man advantage led to a wide open chance for Marco Rosa but his attempt missed the glove hand corner wide right.

With just under three minutes to go in the third period, the Moose gave up a great chance to the most likely player to score. Hamilton's Nigel Dawes, who had 41 goals in the regular season, took a stretch pass during a poor line change by the home team and was denied by Eddie Lack's glove from a prime scoring position between the circles.

That save became even more important because the Moose were able to find the tying goal less than a minute later. With only 2:02 remaining in the third period, Guillaume Desbiens broke loose in front of the night and swept a rebound past a sprawling Drew MacIntyre.

After the 60th minute, both teams sat one goal each so the Moose and Bulldogs headed to overtime for the first time in the series. Manitoba had one OT result in the opening round against the Lake Erie Monsters when they won game 2 by a 3-2 score.

The OT session nearly ended quickly on "the most exciting play in hockey". Manitoba's goal scorer Guillaume Desbiens was given a penalty shot 1:29 into the extra session. When Desbiens came down on MacIntyre, the puck rolled off his stick as he deked to the forehand and didn't get a shot away.

Manitoba held control of the play for much of the first overtime frame even though they sat tied in shots during the fourth period, 7-7. The Moose out-chanced the visitors but the teams remained tied 1-1 at the end of 80 minutes meaning they were headed to a second overtime.

Just over three minutes into the second overtime, Manitoba's leading scorer in the playoffs Marco Rosa scooped up the puck in the offensive corner and found enough time to walk alone to the top of the crease. With little room or time, Rosa tried unsuccessfully to stuff the puck under Drew MacIntyre and the two teams kept playing.

That is until 11:06 of the fifth period when Jordan Schroeder floated a pass to Mario Bliznak, who was streaking through the slot in Hamilton's zone. Bliznak immediately fired the puck to the top corner of the net for the climactic game winner and series evening goal.

After 91:06 of hockey, Eddie Lack had stopped 43 of 44 shots by the Bulldogs while Mario Bliznak's winner was scored on Manitoba's 34th shot of the night. Manitoba's 2-1 double OT win evens up the North Division Final at two games apiece.

Manitoba will play their last home game of the North Division Final on Friday, May 6th, with plans of taking the series lead before heading back to Hamilton for Game 6. The Moose and Bulldogs face off at 7:30 p.m. CT on Friday night with Brian Munz and Jim Toth calling the action live on CJOB 68. Hear the game online at www.cjob.com.

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