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Moose sweep five-game road trip

January 24, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


It was the final game of a five-game road tour for the Manitoba Moose, and the club couldn't have asked for a better ending, beating the Syracuse Crunch 3-2 in overtime at the War Memorial at Oncenter on Saturday night. This victory capped off Manitoba's first road sweep of the season while extending the club's road winning-streak to eight consecutive games. Dusty Collins earned his first goal of the season, Maxime Fortunus notched his fifth, while Shaun Heshka earned the game-winner with a slapshot in overtime. Former Syracuse tender Karl Goehring beat his former club for the first time this season by stopping 24 shots.

Manitoba's first shot of the night resulted in their first goal of the night, as Dusty Collins earned his first point in Moose colors to put the visitors in an early lead at 5:43.

A tripping penalty to Steve Kelly offered Manitoba the game's first man-advantage, and Syracuse's penalty killers were faced with the task of stopping the 24th ranked powerplay unit in the AHL. Even though the visitors registered two shots on the advantage they weren't able to break LaCosta for the second time.

The Moose drew their first penalty shortly after, when Mario Bliznak was fined for tripping. Rushing the Moose zone with an extra-attacker, the Crunch tried to put extra pressure on former Syracuse tender Karl Goehring, but Manitoba's penalty killers, 4th in the league, ensured the puck would not get close enough to the net to create any opportunities.

At 4:05 into the second, the Moose benefited from their third powerplay when Andrey Plekhanov was put away for hooking. Manitoba quickly took advantage of the man-advantage, with Maxime Fortunus snapping up Jason Krog's initial shot and redirecting the puck past LaCosta to put the Moose in front by two.

At the midway point of the contest, the Crunch found a spot on the scoreboard when Derek MacKenzie slapped the puck over Goehring to inch close, 2-1.

Back-and-fourth plays consumed the majority of the final frame with the Crunch leading in shots 19-13, but still short a goal to the visiting Moose.

Alexandre Bolduc's cross-checking penalty and Jason Jafray's hooking call put the Crunch on two late powerplays for a chance to tie the game. With stellar defense and key saves by Goehring, the Moose killed-off the first penalty but Craig MacDonald got the puck into the net on the second advantage to knot the game at two with seconds left, forcing overtime.

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