Moose fall to Rampage

Published on February 11, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


Any American Hockey League roster is in a constant state of flux, but the Manitoba Moose (28-17-1-5) have been especially active due to injuries and NHL recall. Since their last game on Tuesday, three players have left and three have arrived in time for Friday's game against the San Antonio Rampage (32-19-2-0). A crowd of 8,644 packed the MTS Centre on Friday and watched the reconstructed Moose open the scoring, but Manitoba fell down 2-1 thanks to a pair of goals by San Antonio's Viktor Tikhonov. Rampage goalie Matt Climie stopped 25 shots in his team's 2-1 win over Manitoba.

The Rampage applied early pressure on Moose goalie Tyler Weiman, controlling the puck for the first 90 seconds of the game and registering the first dangerous scoring chance of the game off the stick of David Brine.

One of Manitoba's fresh faces is Alexandre Bolduc who was re-assigned by the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 8. Bolduc, playing on a line with Aaron Volpatti and Stefan Schneider, picked up the puck in the neutral zone and drove toward Rampage goalie Matt Climie before ripping a shot to the top corner that Climie flashed his glove in front of. After being robbed, Bolduc tangled with San Antonio captian Nolan Yonkman and both were assessed coincidental minors.

Tommy Maxwell was welcomed back to the lineup tonight after an injury sustained on Jan. 15. Not known for his offence, the grinder chipped in at 13:48 with a fivehole wrister from the right circle to give Manitoba an early 1-0 lead.

Maxwell's goal wasn't even announced on the MTS Centre PA system before Viktor Tikhonov tied it up 0:13 later on a shot along the ice that evaded from Tyler Weiman. Tikhonov's fifth of the season, assisted by Alexandre Picard, knotted the score 1-1.

Aaron Volpatti made a good impression while with the Canucks using his speed and aggressive checking. Both got himn into trouble late in the first as he was called for charging at 14:27. Then on the power play, Weiman utterly robbed San Antonio's Brett MacLean with his right pad flat along the ice during a crease scramble. The save preserved the 1-1 tie, which is where the Moose and Rampage sat after 20 minutes.

Manitoba's second ranked penalty kill was tested once in the first but went back to work early in the second when Bill Sweatt took a hooking penalty at 5:51. The Rampage weren't able to muster any quality chances on Weiman and the two teams remained tied 1-1.

Then with San Antonio's Jeff May in the box for holding, Rampage goalie Matt Climie put on the penalty killing performance of the night, and possibly the season, by stoning the Moose on four out right scoring chances in a row. The high man on San Antonio's diamond formation penalty kill was stickless, allowing point man Evan Oberg to freely wind up twice. Meanwhile Shawn Weller and Cody Hodgson were also denied on glorious opportunities to Climie's left and right.

San Antonio's Brett MacLean made like a closed barn door in front of Weiman as a seemingly harmless shot by Viktor Tikhonov from high in the slot went unseen by the Moose goalie and tucked inside the left post along the ice. Tikhonov's second of the game was scored unassisted at 18:14 of the second period.

San Antonio held a 2-1 lead heading into the second intermission. While the Moose outshot the Rampage 10-6 in the second frame, they still trailed in that category after two, 22-18.

Former Moose forward Matt Pope was not in the lineup on Dec. 11 the last time San Antonio and Manitoba met, but was dressed on Friday night. Pope was called for a high sticking penalty early in the third when his errant stick clipped a Moose defenceman in the face. The Rampage killed off the minor giving Manitoba's power play an 0-for-2 success rate in the game.

San Antonio's Matt Climie was flawless in the third period, especially during a late period push by the Moose. With roughly five minutes to play, Climie made a series of clutch saves accented by an in-tight chance by Guillaume Desbiens.

The Rampage netminder made 25 saves and the Moose were kept off the board in the final two periods as San Antonio clinched a 2-1 win on Friday night.

The Manitoba Moose are proud to host Mike Keane Tribute Night on Saturday, Feb. 12, when the Moose will raise Mike Keane's jersey number 12 to the rafters at MTS Centre. Game time is 7:30 p.m. CST. Brian Munz and Jim Toth will have all of Saturday's action live on CJOB 68.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 11, 2011


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