Moose Held off at Laval
December 8, 2021 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release
The Manitoba Moose (13-7-1-0) faced off against the Laval Rocket (10-9-2-0) for the final contest of their three-game Canadian road swing. The Moose were coming off a 2-0 road win over the Senators the previous outing and had won four in a row.
The Rocket opened the scoring with less than a minute left in the first frame. Alex Belzile gained the Moose zone off the rush. The forward fired the shot through a body in front and the disc eluded Mikhail Berdin for the 1-0 lead. Berdin finished the first with seven saves on eight shots. Cayden Primeau was perfect for Laval and ended by smothering all 11 shots he faced.
The Moose struck first in the middle frame with a power play goal from Jeff Malott. Greg Meireles fired the shot from an angle and Primeau appeared to grab a hold of it. The puck then popped out and Malott was in the right spot to sweep it into the open net for the equalizer at the 5:20 mark of the second. Laval fired back with another goal late in the frame. With the Moose on the penalty kill, Mattias Norlinder fired a puck through traffic that beat Berdin for the 2-1 Rocket lead. Manitoba found themselves trailing 2-1 after 40 minutes of play with a 23-18 shots advantage.
Laval grabbed the first goal in the third on a two-on-one. Kevin Roy skated down the ice and finished off a pass from Brandon Gignac for the 3-1 lead at 5:42. A furious late push by the Moose led to a goal from David Gustafsson with 1:24 to go, but the Rocket held the line for the final minute. Manitoba's four-game winning streak came to an end on the back of a 39-save win from Primeau. Final shots on goal saw the Moose finish ahead 41-26.
Statbook
Jeff Malott, David Gustafsson, Cole Maier and Cole Perfetti are all tied for the Moose goal-scoring lead with six apiece
The Moose power play has goals in back-to-back games
Leon Gawanke is now tied with Ville Heinola for the Moose defence lead with 14 points (3G, 11A)
Gawanke and Declan Chisholm each have points in back-to-back games
Quotable
Moose Forward Kristian Reichel (Link to Full Interview)
"They're hard on the body. They skate and finish their checks. I think we have a good team to play with. We were just a little bit short. They scored one more goal than we did, that's it. I think it was just a tough game for us. We have a Friday game against Grand Rapids and we need to regroup and be ready."
What's Next?
The Moose head home to Canada Life Centre for a Friday night date against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT. Tickets are available at MooseHockey.com/TICKETS.
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from December 8, 2021
- Crunch Defeated by Monsters, 8-3 - Syracuse Crunch
- Moose Held off at Laval - Manitoba Moose
- Helewka Grabs Hat Trick in Monsters 8-3 Win over Crunch - Cleveland Monsters
- Comets Drop Contest to Americans in Overtime, 4-3 - Utica Comets
- Wroblewski to Take Leave of Absence - Ontario Reign
- Devan Dubnyk Excited for Chance to Get Going with Checkers - Charlotte Checkers
- Wolf Pack Announce New Dates for Teddy Bear Toss, Puck 'N Paws, Hockey 'N Hops, Hockey 'N Vine - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Annunen Reassigned to Eagles by Colorado Avalanche - Colorado Eagles
- Blue Jackets Assign Defenseman Scott Harrington to Monsters, Recall Forward Emil Bemstrom from Cleveland - Cleveland Monsters
- American Hockey League Reschedules Friday's Lehigh Valley-Hartford Game - AHL
- Wolf Pack Announce Numerous Changes to 2021-22 Schedule - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Phantoms Away Game Postponed - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Luke Henman Assigned to ECHL Allen - Charlotte Checkers
- St. Louis Blues Recall F Nathan Walker from T-Birds - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Admirals Make Roster Moves - Milwaukee Admirals
- Providence Bruins Sign Ege, Murphy, Polino to Professional Tryouts - Providence Bruins
- Wild's Mermis Suspended for One Game - AHL
- Mermis Suspended for One Game - Iowa Wild
- Kalamazoo's Max Humitz Returns to Grand Rapids - Grand Rapids Griffins
- IceHogs Receive Mitchell, Entwistle and Kalynuk from Chicago; Kurashev and Hardman Return to NHL Club - Rockford IceHogs
- Bears Weekly #8: Club Looks to Return to Play After Recent Postponements - Hershey Bears
- Community Success - Belleville Senators
- IceHogs Open Three-Game Homestand Tonight on a Winning Weekday vs. Iowa - Rockford IceHogs
- Heat Offense Explodes in 10-1 Win over San Jose - Stockton Heat
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
