Rampage Beat Moose 3-2 At The Buzzer

January 15, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


SAN ANTONIO, TX. -- With the game tied at two and seemingly destined for overtime, Chris Durno scored with 0.1 seconds left on the clock to give San Antonio a 3-2 victory over the Moose Tuesday night. With the loss, Manitoba went winless on their Texas road trip and will carry a four-game skid into Thursdays game vs. Peoria.

Showing signs of the offensive ability they showcased on Sunday night, the Rampage took an early 4-1 shot lead over the Moose in the first four minutes of the game. A minute later, San Antonio drew a high-sticking penalty from Mike Keane and benefited from the game's first powerplay.

With 24 seconds left in the man-advantage, the Rampage capitalized on a Moose line-change and descended on netminder Drew MacIntyre. Working with Chris Durno and Bryan Helmer, Matt Murley made the home-team 1-for-1 on the powerplay with the opening goal at 6:35.

Seconds later, Helmer took a tripping penalty and offered the Moose their first five-on-four. But a fight between Pierre-Cedric Labrie and Logan Stephenson, as well as a hooking minor to Mason Raymond, negated the majority of Manitoba's man-advantage.

A heated race for the puck near the period's halfway point resulted in a hooking penalty to Moose rookie Daniel Rahimi and San Antonio's third powerplay of the game. On the home team's 10th shot, Bill Thomas tipped in Ryan Caldwell's initial shot from the point to give the Rampage their second powerplay goal of the game and a 2-0 lead.

The teams traded penalties with about five minutes left on the clock, triggering nearly two minutes of four-on-four play. In Manitoba's brief 28-second powerplay at the tail end of the infractions, first-year forward Juraj Simek beat Josh Tordjman to get his club on the scoreboard at 16:46.

A cross-checking penalty to Travis Roche would help the Moose finish the first on the powerplay, and the club's man-advantage was extended early in the second as the club drew a high-sticking penalty 34 seconds in. Poised in the near face-off circle, rookie Raymond evened the odds for the Moose by notching the game-tying goal on the powerplay at 1:22.

At the seven-minute mark, Jason Jaffray and Helmer decided to drop the gloves and shared five minutes in the penalty box as a result. A tripping penalty to Milan Gajic put the Moose back on the penalty-kill, but no go-ahead goals would be scored through the infraction and the remainder of the period.

Both the Moose and Rampage struggled to find the back of the net through the first half of the third, firing two and six shots respectively. A tripping penalty to Brendan Bell broke up five-on-five play at 10:05, but Manitoba couldn't make it 2-for-5 on the powerplay and the game stayed tied at two.

A sixth San Antonio powerplay with six minutes left failed to break the stalemate, and the man-advantage swung the other way in the final 40-seconds, giving the Moose one last regulation-time powerplay.

As the clock ticked down and the puck was dumped in the Moose zone, the game seemed destined for overtime. But the bouncing puck fooled MacIntyre behind his net and Durno pounced, snatching the disc and wrapping it across the goal-line to score the game-winning goal at the final buzzer.

With the 3-2 victory, San Antonio made Manitoba winless on their Texas road-trip and extended the club's losing streak to four games.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Moose close out their six-game stretch vs. West Division opponents Thursday and Friday nights vs. Peoria. Both games face off at 7:30pm at the MTS Centre.

NEXT GAME: THURSDAY, JAN. 17 (MTS CENTRE - WINNIPEG, MB.)



American Hockey League Stories from January 15, 2008


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