Moose Stopped Cold by IceHogs 1-0

Published on November 18, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


It had been all smiles around MTS Centre over the past week with the Manitoba Moose (9-6-0-1) riding a four-game winning streak and enjoying a six-day break between the Rochester series and tonight's game against Rockford (7-8-0-1). It didn't take long for Rockford to change the mood in the building with an early first period goal by Brandon Pirri. That goal would be all Rockford needed with goalie Hannu Toivonen suffocating the red-hot Manitoba Moose offence stopping all 29 shots he faced in a 1-0 Rockford win.

There were few chances for either team in the period's opening minutes. A defensive turnover five minutes into the first period left Eddie Lack high and dry on an in tight three-on-one opportunity that Rockford forward Brandon Pirri converted to open the scoring.

Shaking it off, the Moose answered back the best way they've known how as of late: putting the puck on net. The Moose put 10 total shots on net in the first period. After twenty minutes and one Moose power play, the IceHogs led 1-0 but were outshot by the home team 10-6.

Early in the second period, Moose defenceman Lee Sweatt showed just how he got to be the team's leader in shots (46 entering Thursday's game). Sweatt didn't see any pass options as he creeped from the offensive point toward the corner so he fired a slap shot at Rockford's net from a bad angle. Then Sweatt followed it up with two more slap shots from a similar angle as two rebounds ricocheted hard off of Hannu Toivonen's pads back to him.

Manitoba's best chance of the second period came on their second power play of the game. With the IceHogs Russian rookie Igor Makarov serving two minutes for hooking midway through the period, Cody Hodgson nearly tucked the puck by Toivonen after driving wide on a Rockford defenceman and cutting for the crease. His shot along the ice was deflected by Toivonen while sprawling across the goal mouth.

The second period ended with Rockford holding onto their 1-0 lead. The Moose continued firing away in the second recording another 10 shots for a two period lead of 20-17 over the IceHogs.

The last time the Moose faced Rockford they faced a similar situation. Down by one goal heading into the third period, Manitoba exploded for three goals including Jeff Tambellini's first two in a Moose jersey just 15 seconds apart.

This game seemed to play out differently though, as Manitoba's offence remained frustrated through the final period. The Moose fired 20 shots toward Toivonen through the first 40 mintues and nine more in the third frame but the Rockford tender shut out the home team each and every time. The Moose dropped the game 1-0 to Rockford for their third home loss of the season in front of 6,800 fans at MTS Centre. The Moose and IceHogs reunite tomorrow to play the fourth and final game of their season series. Game time at MTS Centre is 7:30 p.m. CST.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from November 18, 2010


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.

OurSports Central