Game Recap:
Prior to puck drop both Jack Roslovic and Michael Hutchinson were presented with their CCM/AHL Player and Goalie of the Month award for November.
Photo Credit: Dave Mahussier
The Moose started off the game with much the same lineup (Harkins and Kramer drew in, Beauvillier and Sutter are out) as they had used in the 7-1 win over the Monsters on Thursday including Michael Huctchinson making his third straight start.
The Moose started off well in this contest and were rewarded with a Julian Melchiori goal after Mike Sgarbossa won the faceoff in the Monster zone. It was the second consecutive game for Melchiori with a goal and his fourth of the year meant he had surpassed his career high for goals in a season. Next up in the opening frame was Jack Roslovic who was perfectly positioned on the power play to tip home the Sami Niku shot from the point. Originally credited to the smooth skating Finnish defenceman it was changed to Roslovic which meant he had matched his goal total for all of last season at 13 but this season did it in 24 games as opposed to the 65 it took in 2016-17.
Photo Credit: Dave Mahussier
Both teams took a number of penalties in the middle frame and special teams were the name of the game with eight minors called between the two teams. Michael Spacek scored a carbon copy of his goal this past Thursday also on the power play to give him, like Melchiori, goals in back to back games. It was a nice slap shot by the rookie and Nic Petan deserves credit for digging the puck out and feeding him the pass which set up the goal. The Moose would take a 3-0 lead into the final frame.
Nic Petan had a very solid final frame which included a similar situation to the second Moose goal. Sami Niku had the puck on the blue line, fired a wrister towards the net which Petan redirected for the fourth Manitoba goal, third goal on the power play, but it was credited to Niku. Eventually that was rectified and Petan was credited with the goal. All that remained was Michael Hutchinson holding on for the shutout which almost didn’t happen when he was beaten with less than a second to go in the 3rd but it hit the post and stayed out of the net.
This means the Moose have now won nine games in a row and 13 of their last 14 games. They sit atop the central division and are second overall in the AHL. Their special teams at both ends of the ice has been fantastic with the power play clicking at 23.3% (2nd overall) and the penalty kill at 88.7% (3rd).
Notable:
– Nic Petan 1G 2A
– Jack Roslovic 1G 1A
– Michael Spacek 1G 1A
– Michael Hutchinson 27 saves in shutout.
Audio:
Julian Melchiori
Sami Niku
Coach Vincent
