Manitoba Moose kick off homestand with wild 6-4 win over the Rampage

The Moose came into action sporting a 14-17-0-0 record after they went 1-4-0-0 on their road trip down south.  Tonight would be the first of six they are playing at Bell MTS Place (with the Christmas break tossed in).

Moose lineup:

Chibisov-Suess-Griffith
Vesalainen-Maier-Lipon
McKenzie-Hulak-Poirier
Pedersen-Todd-Reichel

Schilling-Kovacevic
Oligny-Nogier
Stanley-Gawanke

Berdin
Outhouse

Gameplay:

The Moose jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead just four minutes into the game on just four shots.  It was as a good a start to a game as they could have asked for to begin the homestand.  Seth Griffith would score the third and fourth goals of the opening period to make it a 4-0 lead for the home side after 20 minutes.

San Antonio pushed back in the 2nd frame outshooting Manitoba 14-7 but the Moose were able to handle the pucks that came their way both because Mikhail Berdin was very good and when he needed an assist his D came to his aid to prevent pucks from ending up in the back of the net.

Things were looking good for the home side as the game approached the midway point of the 3rd period until former Jets draft pick/Moose forward Ryan Olsen got the visitors on the boards off a nice pass by Jordan Nolan which made it a 4-1 hockey game.  However a minute and a half later CJ Suess, whose role has increased significantly with the promotion of Jansen Harkins to the Jets, helped his squad re-take that four goal lead when he buried a no-look pass by Andrei Chibisov.

Of course the play that everyone was left talking about during the final frame was the curious decision by Mikhail Berdin to attempt to drop kick the puck on a Moose penalty kill.

The visitors made a game of it as they scored twice more but Seth Griffith essentially ended it with an empty net tally with just under two minutes to go.  Although Brandonite Tanner Kaspick did make it interesting when he scored 29 seconds later to make it a 6-4 game which is how it would end.

Notable:

– Seth Griffith 3G;
– Andrei Chibisov 3A;
– Jimmy Oligny 2A.
– Cole Maier 1G 1A.

Streaks:

– CJ Suess 4G 3A in four games;
– Skyler McKenzie had 4G 4A in his last 10 games.

Post-game Interviews:

Next Up:

The Moose have a re-match with the Rampage on Sunday at 2 pm.