Moose Downed by 'Dogs in 3-2 Shootout Loss

Published on April 2, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Manitoba Moose (40-28-1-6) entered Saturday's game in Hamilton ahead one point on the Bulldogs (41-26-2-7). First place in the North Division was on the line and on the minds of both teams as they faced off in front of 8,195 at Copps Coliseum. Each team's leading scorer factored in the outcome as Hamilton's Nigel Dawes scored twice in regulation before Manitoba's Sergei Shirokov forced overtime with a last minute marker. But Bulldogs goalie Drew MacIntyre was the answer stopping all five Moose attempts in the 3-2 shootout decision.

Manitoba was suddenly shorthanded on the blue line following an NHL call up for rookie Yann Sauve combined with a lingering injury to Kevin Connauton. To patch up the holes, Manitoba signed ECHL d-man Kyle Bushee to a pro tryout and he made his Moose debut on Saturday.

The AHL's most dangerous scorer is Winnipeg born winger Nigel Dawes. The Bulldogs forward nearly scored his league leading 39th goal on a two-on-one when he kept, shot, fooled Manitoba's goalie Eddie Lack but had the puck deflected wide by Moose defenceman Travis Ramsey.

Lack has had an up-and-down couple weeks as the Moose rookie 'tender was pulled for the first time on Mar. 20 against Texas, then in his following two starts made 89 saves in a pair of wins. He was pulled again on Friday night in Rochester but returned to the crease on Saturday afternoon to face the Bulldogs. Lack was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team on Mar. 30.

Nigel Dawes was denied in the early going but would score his elusive 39th goal later in the first period. An attempted pass to linemate Kyle Klubertanz was blocked by a Moose player but slid back to Dawes in the high slot. He ripped the puck from there and beat Lack for the Bulldogs first goal at 15:00.

The checking line of Aaron Volpatti, Rick Rypien, and Garth Murray is often feared for their physical play. But they inflicted pain on the scoreboard late in the first period when Rypien sent the puck toward the goal finding the tape of Volpatti's stick for an easy chip in goal at 17:58. The goal was Volpatti's first in 50 games with the Moose this season.

The Bulldogs made life difficult for Eddie Lack in the second period beginning with three quality chances on the Moose goalie before Manitoba could counter on Hamilton's Drew MacIntyre. Lack then faced a difficult test midway through the second period when Hamilton's Aaron Palushaj skated away on a breakaway. Manitoba's goalie played his angle perfectly and Palushaj ran out of space sending a shot into Lack's pad.

Spotting Hamilton's leading scorer in full stride through the neutral zone, Bulldogs centre Olivier Fortier sent a pass to Nigel Dawes who entered the Moose zone and sent a bullet over Eddie Lack's shoulder from high in the slot for his second goal of the game at 16:22 of the second period. Dawes hit the 40-goal mark with that marker, giving his team a 2-1 lead that they would carry into the second intermission.

The first penalty of the game came after 45:08 of play. Hamilton's Aaron Palushaj was called for hooking at 5:08 of the third period giving Manitoba the man advantage. Penalties were rare in Manitoba's last game as well when the Moose went 0-for-1 in Rochester on Friday night. The Bulldogs brought a lot of pressure on the PK and had more of the scoring chances, but Eddie Lack denied a couple dangerous shorthanded shots by Dustin Boyd and Ted Wyman.

With Hamilton's own leading scorer hitting his own milestone earlier in the game, Moose scorer Sergei Shirokov nearly hit his own as the winger is chasing 100 points with Manitoba and nearly found it late in the third period. Unfortunately his wrist shot hit the post after beating the Bulldogs goaltender.

Karma returned the favour with 1:59 to go as the puck bounced off a pair of Hamilton defencemen and dribbled to Shirokov, who then poked in his 21st goal of the season to tie the game up 2-2. Shirokov's 100th point was his 43rd goal in two seasons with Manitoba.

The Moose and Bulldogs headed to overtime tied 2-2 thanks to Shirokov's late goal. The Bulldogs turned up the pressure during the four-on-four frame but Eddie Lack steered away a few Hamilton chances. They headed to a shootout with Hamilton outshooting Manitoba 32-25 in regulation.

It won't go down as a hat trick, but Nigel Dawes' shootout goal will go down as the winner on Saturday afternoon as the Hamilton sniper's goal stood as the only successful attempt. Drew MacIntyre stopped all five Moose shooters in Hamilton's 3-2 shootout win. The Moose will play their final road game of the season on Sunday afternoon in Toronto. The Marlies host Manitoba in the last game of CBC's AHL schedule with the noon game broadcast live on national TV.

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