Moose drop season opener to Bulldogs, 3-1

Published on October 11, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Manitoba Moose opened their season with heavy hearts Friday night, following an emotional video tribute celebrating the life of 21-year-old teammate Luc Bourdon. In honor of the former defenseman, the Moose squad came out for warm-up dressed in #4 Bourdon jerseys and will bear a commemorative "LB" patch on their jerseys for the remainder of the season.

Despite high emotions, the Moose honored Luc with a solid 60-minute effort in their opening battle against the Hamilton Bulldogs, who secured a 3-1 win over Manitoba at the MTS Centre.

After an impressive stint in Vancouver's training camp, goaltender Cory Schneider was between the pipes for the Moose, while Marc Denis was at the opposite end of the ice for the Bulldogs. The play was even between the two clubs for the first five minutes, with both teams posing quality scoring opportunities.

At 6:13 Hamilton earned the first point of their season, as centre Yanick Lehoux slid past both Moose defensemen for a breakaway chance, putting his team up by one.

Manitoba received the first man-advantage of the night as defenseman as Dan Jancevski was penalized two-minutes for roughing. Although the Moose didn't capitalize on the opportunity they were able to put more pressure on Denis, tallying eight shots to the Bulldogs five.

With two Bulldogs serving time for hooking and tripping near the end of the first, the Moose would enter the second period two-men up.

With both penalties timing out, the battle was back to five-on-five, but not for long. At 2:12 Guillaume Desbiens and Ryan Flinn started a battle of their own behind Schneider's net. When the punches stopped, both wingers received five minute-majors for fighting.

The Moose found a spot on the scoreboard in the middle frame as last year's AHL scoring leader, Jason Krog, sent a sharp pass to Michel Ouellet. The pair's experience proved unstoppable as Ouellet hit the top shelf of Denis' net at 14:42, closing the gap at 1-1.

However, two minutes later, the Bulldogs responded, as winger Mike Glumac's shot hit the back of Schneider's net to take back the lead at 2-1.

In a last attempt to tie things up, the Moose pulled their final line of defense in the final minute of play. At 19:46 Hamilton's winger Greg Stewart took a long shot and found the empty net, confirming their first season win 3-1.

The Moose will host a re-match against the Bulldogs tomorrow night, capping off the first of 20 home series in Manitoba at 7:30 p.m.

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