Moose Split Back to Back

The Manitoba Moose headed into Lake Erie looking to take advantage of a Monsters team that was in the basement of the AHL.



In game 1 on Friday they did not start the way they would have liked, but quickly turned that around to pull out a 3-2 victory. After surrendering the first goal of the game the Moose scored three in a row and held on for the victory. Eric Walsky scored the first goal of the night, his first goal as a pro, to tie the game at one only two minutes after the Monsters had taken a 1-0 lead. Walsky's strong play would continue as he would take a feed from Mike Funk and wire a shot which was deflected home by Marty Murray. Just a few minutes later, the ageless wonder Mike Keane netted his fourth goal of the season to put the Moose up 3-1, a lead they would not look back on. The Schneider Show then took over as the last minute of play was frantic with the Monsters having a 6 on 4 advantage (Funk in the box) but not able to find a hole in the Moose net minder. Schneider make 26 saves in total to preserve a 3-2 victory and a good start to the 6 game road trip.



In game 2 the Moose not only did not start the way they wanted to, they did not start at all. The Monsters struck early and often on their way to a 5-2 victory. Chris Durno and Ryan Stoa scored 30 seconds apart to give the Monsters a quick 2-0 lead only 5 minutes into the contest. Shortly after a perfect penalty kill by the Moose Matt Pettinger scored his first since his return to the club. It wasn't pretty, a rebound going off his skate and in, but it was just what Manitoba needed to get back into the game. Eric Walsky picked up a helper on the goal, his third point in two games, while the other assist was credited to Nathan McIver. In the second period Pettinger took a high-sticking penalty to put the Moose down two men and Stoa capitalized with his second goal of the game putting Lake Erie back up on top 3-1. Durno then took advantage of a Moose giveaway to score his second of the game and put the Monsters up 4-1. Manitoba tried to make a game of it with Desbiens scoring on the power play from Marty Murray and Evan Oberg to bring the score to 4-2. With this PP goal the Moose have now scored on the PP in six straight games. Darren Haydar would score in the third to make it 5-2 Monsters which would end up being the final.



Next Up for Manitoba is a back to back series with the Hamilton Bulldogs starting tomorrow. Hamilton is undefeated in regulation thus far with a record of 3-0-1 with their only loss coming via shootout. The Bulldogs are led by a few familiar names. Marc-Andre Bergeron, getting back into playing shape as he was signed late and missed training camp, leads the team with 6 points, all assists, in only 3 games. Better than the points is his +6 rating which the Canadiens are sure to be pleased with as the criticism on Bergeron has always been his size and inability to play down low in his own zone. Sergei Kostitsyn, who initially refused his assignment to Hamilton, has 2 goals and 2 assists in only 3 games and Tommy Pyatt, younger brother of former Canuck Taylor, has 3 points in 4 games. The Moose will also run into Curtis Sanford, who played for the team briefly last season. He currently is 2-0-1 with 1 shutout, a .944 save percentage and a very clean 1.62 GAA. He has only allowed 5 goals in the 3 games he has played thus far.

Check back in a couple of days for the recap of the series with the Bulldogs, a look ahead to the end of the road trip in Chicago to take on the Wolves and Milwaukee to face the Admirals, as well as the Player of the Week, Transactions, and Who to Watch. And don't forget to follow us on twitter @moosehockeyblog.