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Rivermen Sink Moose 4-2

January 17, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


WINNIPEG, MB. -- Buoyed by Hannu Toivonen's 24 saves and offensive contributions from four different skaters, the surging Peoria Rivermen defeated the slumping Manitoba Moose 4-2 Thursday night. Although Jason Jaffray and defenceman Maxime Fortunus tallied a goal and assist each in the game, the Moose were unable to break their losing skid and registered their fifth consecutive loss.

After five minutes of back-and-forth play totaling one shot on either net, Peoria's persistence paid off. With Moose goaltender Drew MacIntyre on his side and out of position, Nikolay Lemtyugov tucked the puck into the corner of the net to give the visitors an early one goal lead.

Though the Rivermen gained some ground in the shot department following the goal, the Moose clawed back to take a 9-7 shot-lead in the latter half of the period. By the end of the first, Peoria was up 1-0 but matched the Moose with nine shots.

Manitoba started strong in the second period, setting themselves up in the Peoria zone with Maxime Fortunus and Luc Bourdon manning the points. 1:30 into the middle frame, Brad Moran fed the puck to Fortunus, who wired it through a crowd in the slot and slipped it over Hannu Toivonen's left shoulder to put the Moose on the scoreboard and tie the game at one.

12 seconds after the goal, Peoria's Tyson Strachan took a high-sticking penalty and Manitoba earned the game's first powerplay. Although the Rivermen rode out the man-advantage and benefited from their own powerplay soon after, the Moose weathered the turning tides and took their first lead of the game at 8:19. Bursting out of the penalty box, Rick Rypien surged into the Rivermen zone with Jason Jaffray at his side. The energetic center passed the puck to Jaffray, who scored his 12th of the season to put the Moose up by one.

Manitoba's lead wouldn't last long, however. With Mike Brown in the penalty box for hooking, Peoria's Julian Talbot redirected a rebound past MacIntyre to tie the game at two.

Although a second Moose powerplay late in the second failed to result in a goal, the Rivermen made it happen during five-on-five play. Poised at the point, Jeff Woywitka drilled Peoria's third goal past MacIntyre to renew the Rivermen lead and close out the second up 3-2.

The Moose and Rivermen were evenly matched through the third, with both clubs posting 18 shots at the 10-minute mark of the one-goal game. As the match progressed, Jean-Guy Trudel's interference penalty postponed even-strength hockey for two minutes, but the Moose went 0-for-3 on the powerplay and stayed down by one.

With 24 seconds on the clock and MacIntyre out of his net, Manitoba's six skaters struggled to score the equalizer. After prying the puck past the visiting blue line, Yan Stastny potted an empty-netter to secure a 4-2 victory for Peoria and extend Manitoba's losing streak to five games.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Moose close out their six-game stretch vs. West Division opponents tomorrow night vs. Peoria. Both game faces off at 7:30pm at the MTS Centre.

NEXT GAME: FRIDAY, JAN. 18 (MTS CENTRE - WINNIPEG, MB.)

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American Hockey League Stories from January 17, 2008


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