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Moose Swept up by Marlies 5-3

February 16, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


WINNIPEG, MB - The Manitoba Moose (29-19-1-5) gained top spot in the North Division on Feb. 5 and have retained that spot but in the mean time have gone 1-4-0-0. Manitoba hoped to keep the Toronto Marlies (27-22-0-7) and the rest of the division at bay with a win on Wednesday night at MTS Centre. The Marlies built up a 4-1 lead but the Moose, motivated by the 6,392 in attendance and a late game scrap by their leading scorer Sergei Shirokov, nearly completed the comeback. Manitoba fell short as Ryan Hamilton completed his hat trick with an empty net goal in Toronto's 5-3 victory.

Moose forward Guillaume Desbiens has all the tools of a power forward and displayed them during this week's series against Toronto. Desbiens scored Manitoba's only goal on Tuesday, then early in Wednesday's game Desbiens threw a pair of big hits on Marlies defencemen. First he caught defenceman Marcel Mueller with an open ice hit as he tried to carry into Manitoba's zone. Then on the next shift he pasted Josh Engel behind the Marlies net while on the forecheck.

Desbiens helped draw the first penalty of the game as he was hit into the boards from behind by Juraj Mikus but before he was called on the delayed call, Justin Hodgman got his goloves into the face of Manitoba centre Alexandre Bolduc. The Moose received a two-minute 5-on-3, then added another drawn call less than a minute into that when Toronto's Mike Zigomanis hooked down Mario Bliznak.

The Moose came out empty handed after the extended an lopsided man advantage. Marlies goalie Ben Scrivens looked as sharp as on Tuesday night when he stopped 34 of 35 Manitoba shots. Scrivens frustrated the line of Cody Hodgson, Bill Sweatt, and especially Jordan Schroeder as the rookie trio were out for much of the power play.

Tyler Weiman's first start for the Moose was five days earlier when he lost his third game in a row. Weiman appeared motivated on Wednesday night, looking sharp and nearly rebound free on all 14 Marlies shots he saw in the first period. He had his work cut out for him in the goaltending duel as Ben Scrivens stopped 18 of 18 shots by Manitoba. The two teams entered the first intermission scoreless.

The first goal of the game came 1:54 into the second period when Marlies rookie Nazem Kadri put the visiting team up by one. Kadri charged through the neutral zone and backed Manitoba's d-men into the high slot, then instead of trying to split them Kadri fired a wrist shot that deflected off the post and in.

The Moose were given a chance to even the score moments later when Justin Hodgman was called for hooking at 2:38. One minute into Manitoba's man advantage, Marlies winger Ryan Hamilton carried the puck wide on the lone defenceman back and beat Tyler Weiman from a tough angle. Hamilton's goal at 3:38 was the first shorthanded goal surrendered by the Moose this season.

Late in the second period, a blue collar shift by Alexandre Bolduc, Sergei Shirokov, and Desbiens ended in a blue collar goal. The three Moose forwards put in a long shift spent entirely in the Marlies end that resulted in Desbiens' fifth goal of the season after Bolduc crashed Toronto's crease. Manitoba closed to gap to 2-1 but still trailed the Marlies with 4:56 remaining in the period.

Toronto restored their two goal lead off of the ensuing draw as a scramble in the neutral zone following the puck drop sprung Ryan Hamilton on a partial break that he capitalized on for his second goal of the game. Just 11 seconds after Manitoba's first goal, the Marlies extended their lead to 3-1.

An early third period penalty to Alexandre Bolduc put the Moose down one man when already down two goals. But Manitoba's top ranked PK unit nearly made it a one goal deficit as Guillaume Desbiens escaped on a shorthanded breakaway. Desbiens missed the top of the net trying to shelve it on Scrivens, then moments later the Marlies regained Manitoba's zone. A slick back door pass to Toronto's Simon Gysbers resulted in a tap in goal for the Marlies at 3:05 of the third.

The play started with Toronto's Nazem Kadri slashing Moose leading scorer Sergei Shirokov, then it boiled over into one of the more unlikely fights to ever happen at MTS Centre. Kadri dropped his gloves with Shirokov with the Moose scorer taking the upper hand in the bout.

The fight may have sparked the hometown team because two minutes later the Moose scored their second of the game as a Ryan McGinnis point shot wandered through a screen and into the back of the Marlies net at 4:33. The goal, assisted by Jordan Schroeder and Garth Murray on the power play, was McGinnis' first with the Moose.

The Moose drew within one goal moments later when Schroeder spotted a wide open Cody Hodgson in the right circle, who made no mistake firing a wrister high and by Ben Scrivens at 16:46. Manitoba suddenly trailed 4-3 with over three minutes to go.

The Moose poured it on with Tyler Weiman on the bench in favour of the extra attacker but the Marlies prevent defence didn't allow for many chances against in the dying minutes. With just 2.2 seconds remaining, Ryan Hamilton scored the empty netter and completed his hat trick. Manitoba and Toronto combined for 74 shots in the game as Tyler Weiman stopped 35 of 39 shots against while Ben Scrivens made 31 saves in his team's 5-3 win. The Moose will host the Lake Erie Monsters on Friday & Saturday, Feb. 18 & 19. Saturday night, the Moose take on the Monsters on 'Hockey Night in Manitoba' when the Moose will wear the jersey of the Gateway Flyers in honour of minor hockey in the province. Also, the first 5,000 fans will receive an Eddie Lack wall decal. Game time of both games are 7:30 p.m. CST.

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