Moose down Dogs, 4-3

Published on January 21, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Manitoba Moose earned their 30th win of the season on Wednesday night when they beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 4-3 at the Copps Coliseum in front of 3043 spectators. Three powerplay goals courtesy of Shaun Heshka, Jason Jaffray and Jason Krog along with an even-strength game-winner by Krog carried the Moose over the Bulldogs for the first time this season.

With Marc Denis in net for the Bulldogs and Cory Schneider manning the pipes for the visitors, Wednesday night's North Division battle got underway at the Copps Coliseum.

After nearly four minutes of back-and-forth play following the opening face-off, Hamilton's Shawn Belle was called for hooking and the visiting Manitobans benefited from the game's first powerplay. A couple of clears into the Manitoba zone kept pressure off Marc Denis during the man-advantage, and the Moose only tallied one shot in the two-minutes.

A second hooking penalty, this time to Ryan Russell, put Manitoba back on the powerplay. With a pass from Mark Cullen, defenseman Shaun Heshka slapped the puck through the backdoor to notch his first of the season while putting his team in the first lead of the night.

At 13:52 Manitoba found themselves on their third five-on-four and didn't let the opportunity go to waste. Jason Krog took the initial shot on Denis and Jason Jaffray slapped in the deflection to put the visitors up by two.

After 12 shots, Brock Trotter finally found out the riddle that is Cory Schneider by getting the puck passed the league's top goaltender to inch closer, 2-1.

At 19:59 Hamilton's Olivier Latendresse slapped the puck from the blueline and scored on the buzzer to knot the game at two heading into the second.

Manitoba's penalty killers, third in the league, made their debut at the midway mark of the second period when Mark Fistric was reprimanded for hooking. A couple of shorthanded surges and vital saves by Schneider kept the puck out of the net and the home team went 0-for-1 on the PP.

The Moose benefited from their fourth powerplay when a holding sentence was handed out at 12:00. Manitoba's powerplay line-up, 26th in the league, went 3-for-4 on the man-advantage courtesy of Jason Krog, to regain the lead 3-2.

An early delay of game penalty to Hamilton defenseman T.J. Kemp gave Manitoba the first powerplay of the third period, but the Bulldogs allowed only two shots on Denis during the two-minute man-advantage. Near the 10-minute mark, Hamilton countered with their own powerplay but were also unable to post a goal.

At 14:13 Pierre-Cedric Labrie's hooking call put the Bulldogs on a late period powerplay allowing Shaun Belle to tie the game at three with his third goal of the season.

Two-minutes later the Moose responded when Jason Krog went top shelf on Denis for his third point of the game. Krog's second goal would end up being the game winner as the Moose beat the Hamilton Bulldogs for the first time this season, 4-3.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Moose close-out their fifth road trip of the season this weekend when they face-off against the Rochester Americans on Friday and then the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday.

NEXT GAME

Friday, January 23, 2009 - 6:35 p.m. @ the Blue Cross Arena

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American Hockey League Stories from January 21, 2009


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