Moose Gunned Down by Aeros 6-3

Published on March 13, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


If the current run of road games the Manitoba Moose (37-24-1-5) have been on is exhausting or punishing, they haven't shown it. They entered Sunday's game against the Houston Aeros (38-25-1-5) with five wins in their previous six games. But the final period of Manitoba's 11-road game stretch turned out to be the cruelest. The Moose led 1-0 at the second intermission but after six third period goals by the Aeros in front of a Sunday crowd of 4,643, the Moose ran out of gas and dropped Sunday's game to the Aeros 6-3.

Manitoba's Sergei Shirokov nearly gave his team a very early lead when he set off on a breakaway less than three minutes in, but Aeros goalie Matt Hackett made the pad save in his first real test of the game. Then minutes later, Houston's leading scorer Patrick O'Sullivan had a similar chance all alone but he fired the puck over the shoulder of Tyler Weiman and clear of the cross bar.

The Moose power play ranks last in the league when operating on the road. Despite that track record, the PP unit took all of eight seconds of their first man advantage to convert. Manitoba's Mario Bliznak took a pass from Jordan Schroeder while parked in the slot and quickly fired a shot past Matt Hackett at 8:41 to give his team a 1-0 first period lead.

Sunday marked the fourth and final season series game between Manitoba and Houston and their familiarity began to show. Houston's Pascal Morency laid a hard hit on Moose defenceman Kevin Connauton that his D-partner Travis Ramsey took exception to. Ramsey followed up with an even later hit on Morency and was called for interference. Then moments after Manitoba killed off Ramsey's minor, Moose centre Joel Perrault lit up Houston's Jed Ortmeyer with an open ice hit that referee Ghislain Hebert deemed was worthy of an elbowing call.

Manitoba began the second period on the penalty kill with Perrault still in the box. Shortly after killing off that penalty, the PK unit stayed on to take care of a hooking call to Guillaume Desbiens at 1:39 of the second. Once Desbiens returned to the ice, it marked the fourth straight successful kill for the Moose in Sunday's game.

Tyler Weiman has filled in impeccably when called upon as the Moose goalie has won each of his two starts on the current road trip. In only his third start since Feb. 16, Weiman had stopped all 22 Houston shots by the time Sunday's game hit halfway point.

Manitoba's offensive chances dried up in the second period as the visiting Moose managed only seven shots. The Aeros outshot the Moose 27-20 after 40 minutes but Manitoba still took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.

The third period had hardly started when Houston's Patrick O'Sullivan evened up the score by deflecting a shot past Weiman. O'Sullivan was credited with his 14th of the season at 0:20 of the period.

Weiman was perfect for 40 minutes but wore the second blemish of the third period when a miscue by the goalie led to Houston's second goal of the game at 3:57. Houston's Jon DiSalvatore was gifted the puck in front of the Moose net and deposited the go-ahead goal for the Aeros.

The home team lead was very short lived as Manitoba's Shawn Weller scored from in close when he finished off a pass by Mario Bliznak at 5:21. With just under 15 minutes remaining in the third period, the Moose and Aeros were squared at 2-2.

The furious third period continued with Houston's John-Michael Daoust leting a rocket go in the Moose zone that evaded Weiman for the third Aeros goal of the game at 9:48. The goal that gave Houston a 3-2 lead was scored on the home team's 38th shot of the game.

Minutes later, Houston's Robbie Earl snuck behind Manitoba's defence and sniped his 17th goal of the season on a breakaway. With 8:26 remaining in the third period, the Aeros extended their lead to 4-2.

Sergei Shirokov scored the seventh goal of a surprising third period when his slap shot in Houston's end found Matt Hackett's five hole with 5:16 to go. The Aeros held a one goal, 4-3 lead late in the third period.

Tyler Weiman made a dash to the Moose bench with 90 seconds to go giving the Moose an extra attacker. But the Aeros fended off the first surge by the Moose before Cody found the yawning cage with his 13th goal of the season with 39 seconds left. That empty netter wasn't the final dagger though, as Jon DiSalvatore scored his second goal of the game 16 seconds later capping the game off with a 6-3 final for the home team. The Moose return to MTS Centre on Tuesday, Mar. 15 for the first of two games against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Brian Munz and Jim Toth bring you the action live on CJOB 68. Game time on Mar. 15 & 16 vs. the Penguins is 7:30 p.m. CST.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 13, 2011


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