Moose extend series with 5-2 win

Published on April 23, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


In the fifth game of the North Division Semi-Final the Manitoba Moose faced elimination if they lost and absolute victory if they captured the ‘W'. And with a 5-2 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs in front of 6,927 screaming fans, the Moose will return to Hamilton to continue the playoff series.

Winning tonight's game means Manitoba is one game behind in the best-of-7 series, which currently sits at 2-3 in favour of the Hamilton Bulldogs. Cory Schneider manned the posts for Manitoba tonight and made 28 saves on 30 shots.

The shot clock was always in Manitoba's favour in the first, as they outshot the Bulldogs 8-5. At the 16 minute mark, Cedrick Desjardins was facing several shots from the Moose - at one point he batted the puck out of the air to make the save.

Hamilton's Aaron Palushaj received a two minute penalty for tripping behind Manitoba's net at 9:37.

The Moose, with a powerplay opportunity, cashed in. After being tipped away from the wide open net by a defending player, the puck found its way to Marco Rosa's stick. Rosa threw it in front of the net and Peter Olvecky stuffed it in between Dejardins legs.

The goal marked Olvecky's first of the playoffs and gave Manitoba the 1-0 lead, which they carried into the second period.

Brian Salcido received Manitoba's first penalty in the second period at 4:42 for tripping. During the penalty kill, Schneider made a game-changing stop against a Hamilton one-timer; keeping Manitoba's 1-0 lead.

The Moose started taking it to the Bulldogs with in the last two minutes of the second period. Desjardins was starting to look antsy with the constant pressure in his zone.

With 42 seconds left in the period, the Moose struck again and took a 2-0 lead over the Bulldogs.

A stretch pass from deep in the Manitoba zone missed Dan Sexton's stick but he hustled down into Hamilton's zone and avoided an icing call; Sexton threw a pass in front, with two Hamilton defenders on him, and hit Olvecky's stick, who was wide open in front of Desjardins. A quick snapper and it snagged the top of the net.

To kick-start the third period the Moose took a 3-0 lead.

Yan Stastny sailed a pass through two Bulldog players and found Aaron Volpatti alone in front of Hamilton's goal. Volpatti threw the puck across the goal line for his first of the playoffs at 32 seconds.

However, Hamilton wasn't about to let the Moose have a shut-out. At 4:45, Benoit took a shot from the point that trickled through Schneider's legs to mark the Bulldogs first goal of the night; 3-1 Moose.

Stastny took a two minute penalty for roughing at 10:10 to make Manitoba short a man, and on the penalty kill.

At 11:08 Hamilton capitalized on the advantage; David Desharnais scored his second of the playoffs on the powerplay, his shot snagging the bottom corner of the net, 3-2 Moose.

Despite the Bulldogs two straight goal, the Manitoba Moose weren't quite finished collecting their numbers. At 14:19 Jordan Schroeder picked off a pass in the high slot and dished it to Guillaume Desbiens who cashed in his second of the playoffs.

Both Schroeder and Desbiens are now on a three-game point streak.

At 18: 54 Desbiens collected his second goal of the night and his eighth point in three games. Captain Mike Keane dished a pass to Desbiens high in the Manitoba zone, which allowed Desbiens to skate down the ice un-touched to claim an empty net goal.

Moose take a 5-2 lead, which they held for the rest of the game.

The Manitoba Moose are now only down one game in the North Division Semi-Final against the Hamilton Bulldogs. The series currently sits at 2-3 in the Bulldogs favour.

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American Hockey League Stories from April 23, 2010


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