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Moose suffer first defeat at MTS Centre

November 21, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


Kyle Wellwood had three points, while Brendan Bell and David Ling each had a goal and an assist to lead the St. John's Maple Leafs to a 5-3 win over the Manitoba Moose. The loss snapped Manitoba's nine-game points streak.

Fists were flying early as Johnathan Aitken and Clarke Wilm dropped the gloves only 14 seconds into the game behind the Moose net. The bout lasted a good minute as both sides traded blows.

40 seconds after that, the Moose were treated to their first man advantage of the night when Regan Kelly received two minutes for holding the stick. However, the Leafs were able to kill it off.

St. John's took the lead when Kirill Koltsov had the puck intercepted at the blueline by Harold Druken. Druken then dished it over to David Ling who fed Kyle Wellwood. Flaherty got a piece of Wellwood's shot but not enough as it trickled into the net.

The Moose drew even several minutes later as Sarno stripped Carlo Colaiacovo of the puck and fed Burrows, who dished it off to a streaking Jason King. King then fired it by Tellqvist to tie the game at 1-1.

But Manitoba's lead didn't last long. 35 seconds after King's goal, Jeremy Williams scored for the Baby Leafs. Flaherty made the initial save but Williams pushed it over the goal line as it was sitting in the crease.

With Johnathan Aitken in the box, Wade Flaherty had to come up big. He made a couple of rapid-fire stops on Clarke Wilm and Nathan Perrot in close and then made a spectacular toe save.

Not to be outdone, less than a minute later Tellqvist made a great stop off Nolan Baumgartner in the slot to keep his club up by one.

The Leafs got one more late in the period on a goal by David Ling. Kyle Wellwood got the lone assist.

After one period, the Moose were down 3-1 with shots 10-9 for St. John's.

Midway through the second, Scott May received two minutes for slashing and the Moose capitalized ten seconds later with Jason King's second of the night.

King picked up a Baumgartner rebound at the side of the net and fired it on Tellqvist. The Leafs netminder kicked it out but King got the puck again and stuffed it in on the short side.

One of the biggest stops of the period came when Koltsov blasted a shot from the slot. Tellqvist managed to get a pad on it.

After two periods of play, the Moose trailed 3-2 despite outshooting the Leafs 20-18.

St. John's looked to go ahead 4-2 early in the third as David Ling appeared to put the puck behind Flaherty, but Referee Brian Pochmara ruled that the net was dislodged.

The Leafs did eventually manage to get an insurance marker at the eight-minute mark as Brendan Bell wired one for the top corner to make it 4-2 while on the powerplay.

The Moose pressed to get back in the game but Tellqvist was remarkable at times. He made a stop off Lee Goren on a one-timer after a cross-ice pass from Josh Green.

St. John's added their fifth goal with a blast from Kris Newbury at the top of the faceoff circles that found the corner of the net.

Things got ugly in the final minute. The gloves came off in a skirmish at the Moose blueline. The resulting penalties were two minutes to Alex Burrows and four minutes to Brendan Bell.

It didn't long for Manitoba to score on the ensuing powerplay. Right off the faceoff, Lee Goren ripped the puck past Tellqvist to make it a two-goal game. Kevin Bieksa and Johnathan Aitken got the assists.

The final shot count was 36 to 25 for the Moose as Tellqvist made 33 saves in his return from injury.

NOTES: Manitoba scratches were Joe DiPenta (injured), Tim Smith and Jesse Schultz...

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