Moose Hold off 'Dogs in 5-4 Win

Published on May 3, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


Sunday marked the eighth time in a row that the Hamilton Bulldogs (2-1) had beaten the Manitoba Moose (1-2) stretching from the regular season through the first two games of the North Division Final. Needing to snap that streak, or face a 3-0 series deficit, Manitoba's offence awoke for five goals. They required each one in a 5-4 win at MTS Centre on Tuesday night. Eddie Lack made 23 saves and Jason Jaffray buried a highlight reel goal for the game winner in front of 5,809 in Manitoba's first win of the series.

Injuries forced the Moose to shuffle a couple spots on the roster but lack of success led to shuffling the lines. Following two scoreless games, the top line of Jason Jaffray-Marco Rosa-Sergei Shirokov was split up. Instead, Bill Sweatt skated in Jaffray's spot while he was moved alongside Kevin Clark and Jordan Schroeder.

Alexandre Bolduc has scored twice in these Calder Cup Playoffs by making the term "drive the net" into an artform. He scored his third of the postseason in similar fashion after receiving a stretch pass by linemate Guillaume Desbiens. He picked up the puck and drove wide down the left side, blocking out a Hamilton defender and sliding the puck under Hamilton goalie Drew MacIntyre's left pad. For the third time in the series, the Moose opened the scoring in the first period. This time it took 14:42 of the opening frame for Manitoba to find the board.

Just like each previous game, Hamilton answered back. Almost immediately. Hamilton's Dany Masse poked the puck ahead to Ian Schultz on the left wing at Manitoba's blue line before Schultz wristed it between Eddie Lack's pads. Manitoba's lead lasted 1:26.

The first period ended with each time splitting goals at 1-1. The visiting Bulldogs outshot the Moose by putting nine shots on Lack versus Manitoba's six shots against MacIntyre.

The first scoring chance of the second period came off the stick of Winnipeg's Dustin Boyd when he ripped one off the inside of the post that bounced through the crease behind Eddie Lack but stayed out. Boyd, who scored a hat trick against the Moose earlier in the regular season, had still not found the net in his ninth playoff game.

Hamilton forward Aaron Palushaj, who also scored a hat trick on the Moose this season, did find space inside the post shortly after when he outskated a Manitoba d-man to the front of the net and was fed a pass while all alone. Palushaj fired the puck right away putting it in the top glove hand corner at 4:40 of the second to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.

Local guy Dustin Boyd found the gamesheet after all but only because of a tripping call at 12:41. Boyd took out the legs of Moose defenceman Chris Tanev giving Manitoba their first power play of the game.

Manitoba came close to tying the game while on the man advantage on a one-time shot by Jason Jaffray that Drew MacIntyre caught along the goal line. But the ruling on the ice was a non-goal, which it remained as the AHL does not use video replay in determining close calls.

Jordan Schroeder stuffed home a no doubter with 34 seconds left in the second period after a lobbing point shot by Manitoba's Mark Flood was misplayed by MacIntyre and slid to Schroeder to the right of the crease.

Hamilton's Ryan White interfered with Jason Jaffray behind his own net With only 1.9 seconds remaining in the period giving Manitoba their second power play. Then proving just how quickly a goal can be scored, Manitoba's Marco Rosa won the draw directly back to Sergei Shirokov who snapped the puck past Drew MacIntyre with a fraction of a second left to play. Shirokov's sixth goal of the playoffs gave Manitoba their second lead of the game.

The Moose reunited their top line of Jaffray-Rosa-Shirokov for the third period and they found their previous postseason magic while on the power play. D-man Mark Flood unloaded a slap shot from the blue line that rebounded toward Jason Jaffray. He whacked it out of the air but couldn't bury the awkward rebound, then Rosa finished the job by backhanding in his fifth of the playoffs at 4:40.

Manitoba's two goal lead lasted only 38 seconds because Gabriel Dumont of the Bulldogs quickly converted a Hamilton rush by wristing a shot upstairs behind Eddie Lack at 5:18 of the third. Dumont's marker closed Manitoba's lead to 4-3 as he scored his team leading third goal of the series.

Being reunited felt pretty good for the top line as they connected on possibly the nicest Moose goal of the year. Coming down on the rush, Marco Rosa threaded a pass to Sergei Shirokov to the right of the crease. But instead of tapping in the pass Shirokov knocked it back to Jason Jaffray in front of the net who had an entire 4-by-6 net staring back at him. He slid in his third of the playoffs with 2:17 left in the third to give the home team a 5-3 lead.

The Bulldogs weren't done for the night as they scored a goal on the other end of the highlight spectrum with 31 seconds left. Hamilton's Ryan White drove the side of the Moose net and tried to bury the puck through Eddie Lack's pad. Unsuccessful at first, he dug away until it crossed the goal line.

5-4 would be the final as Manitoba held on for their first win of the North Division Final. Eddie Lack made 23 saves in the win while Jason Jaffray's highlight reel marker stood as the game winner. With the win, Manitoba guarantees another two games at MTS Centre this week. Game 4 goes Wednesday, May 4th while Game 5 will be on Friday, May 6th. Game time for both is 7:30 p.m. CT. Brian Munz and Jim Toth call the action live on CJOB 68. You can hear it online at www.cjob.com.

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American Hockey League Stories from May 3, 2011


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