Moose Edge Griffins 6-5 In Grand Rapids

Published on November 5, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


Anything but the broom. Any fan knows the most embarrassing event in hockey is "the sweep", which is exactly what the Moose were facing on Friday night in Grand Rapids. After dropping two early season games to the Griffins at MTS Centre then another last Saturday by a score of 4-2 at Van Andel Arena, the Moose needed a ‘W' to avoid being swept in the season series.

In front of 6,397 Griffins faithful, the Moose hung six goals on Grand Rapids netminder Thomas McCollum needing all of them in a 6-5 win. Eddie Lack stopped 26 of 31 Griffins shots and Jordan Schroeder buried the game winner with 4:56 left in the third period.

Sergei Shirokov has found the net twice this season and showed the confidence of a goal scorer early in the game. Just two minutes into the first period, Shirokov skated across the top of the Griffins crease and tried to fool Thomas McCollum by taking a shot from between his skates. The cheeky shot attempt missed the post on McCollum's glove hand side by just inches.

Shortly after in Manitoba's zone, Griffins winger Francis Pare lobbed a puck at the Moose net from the half-boards with Jamie Tardif parked on Moose goalie Eddie Lack's doorstep. Swiping at the shot, Tardif connected on the deflection and fooled Lack squeaking in the first goal of the game.

The Moose got a quick opportunity to redeem themselves one minute later when Griffins centre Cory Emmerton was caught for getting his stick up on a Moose defenceman. It then took less than 30 seconds in the box for Emmerton to regret his actions when Cody Hodgson scored on a wrister at 4:36 of the first. The assists on Hodgson's team leading fourth goal of the season went to Lee Sweatt and Marco Rosa.

Coming into tonight's game, Hodgson had taken 31 shots on goal this season. His total was good for second on the Moose and first among forwards. Just 44 seconds after scoring on the power play Hodgson cashed in for a second time on his third shot of the game. After getting the puck in the right circle in Grand Rapids zone Hodgson's low shot deflected off of a Griffins player sliding to block the play and past McCollum. With Hodgson's second, the score at 5:20 of the first was 2-1 Moose.

Shirokov tried to use flash on his first clear attempt on goal but ended up scoring on effort in his second chance. Shirokov stripped a Griffins defenceman skating back into his own zone, then dashed in all alone on Thomas McCollum and slipped in his third goal of the year. His unassisted marker gave the Moose three straight goals for a first period 3-1 lead. The period ended with the same score and the Moose leading in shots 11-6.

A goal mouth scramble often starts with a harmless shot. That's exactly what happened early in the second as Griffins defenceman Brendan Smith sent a shot from the point on goal that Eddie Lack handled easily. But after the rebound lay stagnant for a second, Lack lunged to cover it up and it squired out to the Griffins Tomas Tatar who exploited the open cage for his first goal of the season. The Griffins had closed the gap to one goal 2:19 into the second period.

The hottest line on the ice through twenty minutes didn't cool off after the first intermission. Cody Hodgson curled around the left circle in the Griffins end then fired a low shot to the side of the net intended for Shirokov's stick, which the Russian managed to tip in past McCollum for his second goal of the game. The goal at 4:14 quickly restored Manitoba's two goal lead.

Manitoba's Kevin Connauton rubbed out a Griffins forward entering the Moose zone resulting in an interference call, then Mario Bliznak was called for a minor seconds into the Griffins top ranked power play resulting in an extended 5-on-3. Then, league's top power play proved they can score ugly goals too. A pass by the Griffins Ilari Filppula intended to thread the Moose penalty killing box hit a stick and deflected high into the air, dropping two feet away from Eddie Lack. The ensuing mess of Grand Rapids sticks in the crease eventually knocked the puck into net. Griffins defenceman and Winnipeg-native Derek Meech was credited with the goal and Manitoba's Mario Bliznak remained in the box.

Mario Bliznak then exited the penalty box in a timely fashion as an errant Grand Rapids pass drifted into the neutral zone as Bliznak's minor ended. He picked up the puck at the far blue line with plenty of time and space to walk in on McCollum. Bliznak made no mistake faking to the backhand and lifting the puck over McCollum for the fifth Moose goal of the game before the halfway point.

While the shots were lopsided in Manitoba's favour through 20 minutes, that advantage tilted equally the other way with the Griffins recording 12 shots to Manitoba's 6 in the second period. But the more important stat read 5-3 in favour of the Moose after both teams traded a pair of goals in the middle frame.

Mario Bliznak made the Griffins pay on a giveaway in the second period but this time it was Ilari Filppula that picked off an ill-advised pass by the last Moose defenceman leaving his own zone with the puck. Filppula plucked the pass attempt before walking in and roofing a shot by Lack for the Griffins fourth goal of the game at

After taking a hit he felt was questionable, Manitoba's Victor Oreskovich skated the length of the ice and nailed a Griffins winger in the Moose zone with an equally questionable hit. However, Oreskovich was called on the play and given a boarding penalty at 8:59 of the third period. After killing off most of the Griffins power play, Grand Rapids blue liner and the team's most dangerous point man collected the puck at the middle of the blue line and had time to step into a slap shot. The shot found it's way through a thick screen, fooling Lack and tying the game at 5-5 with 9:22 to go.

A tied game late in the third period proposed a "square one" scenario for both teams with less than 10 minutes remaining. The Moose were the first to break the late game draw when Jordan Schroeder and Aaron Volpatti swatted at a loose puck in the Griffins slot with Schroeder connecting and deflecting off a Grand Rapids defenceman for the lead in the game. The assists went to Marco Rosa and to Travis Ramsey for his first point of the season.

The Moose successfully held off the Griffins through the remaining 4:56 left in the third period to hold on for a 6-5 road win. In the end, Eddie Lack stopped 26 of 31 shots which was just enough for the Moose to leave Grand Rapids with a critical North Division win.

The Moose play the seventh and final game of their current road trip on Saturday night in Rockford. The Moose and IceHogs face off at the Rockford Metrocenter for the second time this season at 7:05 p.m. CST.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 5, 2010


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