Road Runners rally to stun Moose

Published on October 24, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release


The Edmonton Road Runners scored two goals in the final minute-and-a-half to defeat the Manitoba Moose 5-4 Saturday night. J.J. Hunter scored with 1:21 remaining on the clock and Sean McAslan scored with 17 seconds to play to put the visitors ahead.

Tonight marks the second of four games to be played at the Winnipeg Arena before the Moose close out the old barn and move into the downtown state-of-the-art MTS Centre. After tonight's game, the Moose will travel all day Sunday in order to play a pair of games at St. John's Monday and Tuesday.

The Moose started off on a much better note Saturday than they had the night before. Less than two minutes in, Peter Sarno had a breakaway chance but shot wide. Several minutes later, with the Moose on the powerplay, Road Runners goaltender Jeff Deslauriers made several big stops as the home side cycled the puck around.

Eventually, they were able to inch one by Deslauriers as Jason King tipped a Nolan Baumgartner point shot that barely crossed the line in behind the rookie netminder.

15 seconds later, Wade Brookbank fed Josh Green at the side of the net as he rifled a shot past Deslauriers for his first goal as a Moose.

Manitoba kept coming at Edmonton. A minute after the second Moose goal, Jason King broke in past the Road Runners defence and took two shots on Deslauriers in close, however he was turned aside both times.

Jimmy Roy, playing in his first Moose home game this season, did some crowd pleasing of his own in dropping the gloves with Edmonton's Dan Baum. It was Baum's second fight in as many games, having fought Lee Goren the night before.

Down by two goals, Edmonton started to press but Wade Flaherty shut the door for the Moose on a series of solid stops. Among the better saves, Flaherty had to be sharp in sticking a pad out to block a Jeff Woywitka shot redirected by Kyle Brodziak.

Flaherty was especially good during an Edmonton powerplay, where he was forced to make several big stops from in close. Jamie Wright took two shots from just outside the crease area but Flaherty was able to smother it.

After one period, the shot count was the complete reverse of the night before with Edmonton holding a 12-7 edge in shots. However, it was Manitoba ahead this time, 2-0.

Edmonton came flying out of the gates in the middle frame, with Kyle Brodziak scoring his first professional goal at the 53 second mark. The goal came off a wild goalmouth scramble before Brodziak potted the loose puck into the back of the net.

As the Moose have done often this season, it didn't take them long to get the goal back. 20 seconds later, Jason King and Jesse Schultz rushed up the ice and King pulled several moves on Deslauriers before potting his ninth of the year.

The Road Runners pulled to within a goal again after J.J. Hunter scored on a wraparound attempt that snuck between Flaherty's legs.

The Moose continued to get great chances while on the powerplay. With Brent Henley in the box for holding the stick, the Moose buzzed around the Edmonton goal for the entire two minute duration of the man advantage. The Moose managed five shots on the man advantage, including a lengthy display of puck handling by Peter Sarno, but were unable to score.

After two periods of play, it was a one-goal game with Manitoba ahead of Edmonton 3-2. The shot count was 26-16 in favour of the Road Runners.

In the third, Lee Goren made it 4-2 Manitoba after scoring a breakaway goal. Goren took a pass from Kevin Bieksa and broke in alone on Deslauriers. He deked left and put it through the netminder's legs.

With the extra attacker out for a delayed penalty, Edmonton scored to draw within one for the third time on the evening. Brock Radunske scored for the Road Runners.

Edmonton continued to press throughout the final frame and it finally paid off with 1:21 to play in the third. J.J. Hunter wristed a shot from the end boards that evaded Flaherty and found its way into the back of the net.

Just over a minute later, the Road Runners struck again to take the lead. Sean McAslan picked up a J.J. Hunter rebound and scored to make it a 5-4 game, which is how it would end.

NOTES: Johnathan Aitken (healthy) and Nathan Smith (abdomen) were not dressed tonight, though Aitken did take the warmup... The Road Runners' win tonight makes Edmonton's all-time record against Winnipeg teams at the Winnipeg Arena 39-22-4, including an 8-3 record in the playoffs.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from October 24, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central