WINNIPEG, Man – In an exhibition of tight systems play by both teams, the Manitoba Moose beat the Houston Aeros 2-1 Friday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.
Though they had been out of action for nine days, the Moose showed no signs of rust and played a poised, polished game for the full 60 minutes. As a result, the Aeros, whose bread and butter is the power play and capitalizing on opponents’ mistakes, had little to work with.
Manitoba only visited the penalty box three times, during which the Aeros scored their only goal, when Corey Locke and Tony Hrkac made a strong play in front of the net to get goalie Cory Schneider committed and then passed to Matt Beaudoin who swept the puck in backdoor.
The Aeros outshot Manitoba almost 2-to-1, but strong defensive play forced the visitors to rush many of the shots. Meanwhile, Manitoba was patient and choosy with their shots, and while they were unable to beat the Aeros’ lauded penalty kill on any of the four opportunities, they had no trouble 5-on-5.
Manitoba’s Dusty Collins drew first blood at 14:45 in the first period off a rebound from a Greg Rallo shot. Vancouver Canucks 2008 first round draft pick Cody Hodgson, playing his first professional game, got the second assist and his first pro point on the goal.
Just over two minutes after Beaudoin scored Houston’s goal midway through the third period, Mario Bliznak scored the game-winner on a clean, sharp-angled shot that beat Anton Khudobin as the goaltender was falling in an attempt to get his arm in front of it. Moose captain Mike Keane and Guillaume Desbiens assisted on the goal.
Schneider showed why he is the AHL Goaltender of the Year, appearing calm and steady in spite of the volume of work. In addition Hodgson looked like he had been playing in the AHL rather than the OHL all season as he had a solid pro debut with the Moose.
Aeros post-season recruit J.P. Testwuide, a former University of Denver defenseman, was a battering ram and made several critical defensive plays to put together his best game since joining the team.
There will be no rest for the weary as the teams reunite Saturday for Game 2 before the series moves to Houston. The Aeros will look to head home with the split, while the Moose will enjoy the advantage of a home crowd nearly 10,000 large to try and get up 2-0 on their opponent before heading to enemy ice.
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