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Moose Take Over Texas 4-3

March 18, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The season long battle between the Manitoba Moose (38-26-1-5) and Texas Stars (35-24-4-6) continued on Military Appreciation Night at MTS Centre with both teams tied in the Western Conference standings. The Stars grabbed a very early lead scoring on the first shift of the game but the home team, decked out in camouflage jerseys, took control with the next three goals including breakaway markers by Guillaume Desbiens and Sergei Shirokov. With help from goalie Tyler Weiman, the Moose earned their 38th win of the season with a 4-3 victory in front of 9,129 on Friday night.

The Moose came crashing into the Stars zone on the game's first sequence, but after Texas broke out Stars centre Aaron Gagnor crashed Tyler Weiman's crease cleaning up a rebound for the game's first goal just 23 seconds in. The originaly shot came from Stars winger Ondrej Roman who charged into the Moose zone down the right side boards.

A former Moose player helped out the home team when he took the first penalty of the game. Greg Rallo tripped up Moose forward Shawn Weller, leading to a Manitoba power play at 6:59. Moose rookies Bill Sweatt and Cody Hodgson connected on their team's first goal when Sweatt worked the puck loose in the corner and spotted Hodgson open in the slot, who wasted no time releasing a wrister to the top shelf at 7:40. Manitoba's tying goal was Hodgson's 16th of the season.

The Stars got their first power play of the game when Keith Seabrook was called for interference at 12:58. That man advantage became a five-on-three 1:19 later when Moose captain Nolan Baumgartner was assessed a tripping call after swiping out the skates of a Stars forward in front of the net.

Shortly after Seabrook exited the box, penalty killer Mario Bliznak bounced a pass through two Stars defencemen to Guillaume Desbiens streaking through the neutral zone. Desbiens carried the puck in alone and ripped a shot past Texas goalie Tyler Beskorowany at 15:21. Desbiens' 11th goal was Manitoba's ninth shorthanded marker this season.

The Moose regrouped after a disastrous first shift to end the first period with a 2-1 lead over the visiting Stars. Texas outshot the home team 12-10 in the opening 20 minutes.

Along with the go ahead goal, Bliznak played setup man on Manitoba's third goal as well after stripping a Texas defenceman of the puck in the offensive zone. Upon stealing the puck, Bliznak pushed it over to Jordan Schroeder who ended a 18 game goal drought with a shot placed to the top corner of the net 7:16 into the second period. Manitoba's third goal was enough for Stars coach Glen Gulutzan as he swapped goalie Tyler Beskorowany for usual starter Richard Bachman.

Schroeder's 10th goal gave the Moose a two goal lead that proved temporary. The Stars scored 1:43 later on a classic case of "You can't stop what you can't see". Stars defenceman Dan Spang sent a low wrist shot on net from the point through a maze of skates and past Tyler Weiman making the game 3-2 for the home team.

On a play similar to Manitoba's second goal, Moose centre Alexandre Bolduc labelled a pass through two zones onto the stick of Sergei Shirokov who skated away on a breakaway. Shirokov stuffed his shot through Bachman's fivehole for Manitoba's fourth goal of the night.

One game after scoring his first goal in nearly three months, Moose centre Joel Perrault seemed determind to prevent the start of another streak. Perrault nearly buried a rebound top corner early in the third period but bounced the puck off the connection and it stayed out. On his next shift, he kept on a two on one and fired a slap shot from close range that squeaked through Bachman and wide of the net.

Tyler Weiman looked nearly unbeatable during a series of point blank shots by the Stars on a late game power play. "Nearly" unbeatable because Texas finally scored on Weiman after Manitoba's goalie made three unbelievable saves. The Stars Travis Morin lifted a cross crease pass over Weiman's stacked pads with 4:26 left in the third period, closing the gap to 4-3 in favour of the Moose.

Perrault very nearly had his goal on an empty net but was hooked down. The final 39 seconds of the game expired with Manitoba holding onto their 4-3 lead. Tyler Weiman made 27 saves for his 14th win of the season.

The Moose will wrap up the season series with the Texas Stars on Family Day, March 20th. Game time at MTS Centre on Sunday is at 2:00 p.m. CST with Brian Munz and Jim Toth calling the action live on CJOB 68.

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