Moose Shut Down Monsters, 5-0

Published on February 2, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Manitoba Moose scored five unanswered goals to beat the Lake Erie Monsters 5-0 at the MTS Centre on Monday night. Cory Schneider earned his third shutout stifling 17 shots for the second time Manitoba has blanked the Monsters this season. Jason Krog, Greg Rallo, Josh Soares, Nolan Baumgartner and Mike Keane all notched points while Guillaume Desbiens finished with a three-point night as well as first-star honors.

Manitoba benefited from the first powerplay of the game, when defenseman Nigel Williams-- was dealt an interference penalty at 3:24. Taking their time and setting up the perfect play the Moose firmly placed themselves in the Monsters territory. Josh Soares, who was signed to a PTO today, passed the puck over to Jason Krog who snapped it over goaltender Tyler Weiman to earn a 1-0 lead.

The Moose extended their lead two minutes later when Greg Rallo backslapped the puck into the mesh to notch his first of the season and put the Moose on top by two.

At 12:22 Tommy Maxwell picked a fight with Mark McCuthcheon on the right side of the visiting net. After both players fell to the ice they were each handed five-minute fighting majors, but Maxwell received two additional minutes for boarding giving Lake Erie their first man-advantage. Manitoba's penalty killers, third in the league, looked sharp and denied all opposing opportunities in their first appearance.

Manitoba opened the second period scoring 41 seconds into the frame when Josh Soares proved he could play in the AHL scoring his first goal in his first game with the Moose.

At 4:10 Greg Rallo's hooking call put Lake Erie on their second five-on-four of the game. Down a man, the Moose broke into the Monsters zone and Nolan Baumgartner shot the puck over Weiman, with help from Guillaume Desbiens, to put the Moose up 4-0.

The Moose scored there fifth unanswered goal near the end of the second stanza when Captain Mike Keane slapped the puck into Weiman's grasp but the puck fell out of his hold and behind the line, 5-0.

After the fifth goal, Lake Erie opted to switch goaltenders putting Jason Bacashihua between the visiting pipes.

A few heavy collisions and fumbled pucks meant no shots through nearly five minutes of the final frame. As the period progressed, the Moose and Monsters' zones saw equal action, including a few pile-ups that resulted in an interference call to Zach FitzGerald. The Moose were able to kill-off the penalty and play resumed to five-on-five.

At 15:49 FitzGerald added a roughing penalty to his resume, but like the five powerplays before, the visiting Monsters couldn't break Cory Schneider or their goose-egg. Leading in shots 32-17, the time expired and the Moose shutout the Monsters 5-0.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Moose close-out their only home series against the Monsters tomorrow night at the MTS Centre.

NEXT GAME

Tuesday, February 3, 2009 - 7:30 p.m. @ MTS Centre

(7:05pm on CJOB Radio with Brian Munz and Chris Nielsen)

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American Hockey League Stories from February 2, 2009


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