The Manitoba Moose (16-9-2-1) rematched with the Pacific Division’s Abbotsford Canucks (18-9-1-1) Saturday afternoon at Canada Life Centre. It was the second of two straight contests between the two sides. Manitoba was coming off a 4-2 loss against Abbotsford the previous night.
Manitoba struck just prior to the six-minute mark of the opening frame. Evan Polei controlled a high pass and sent the disc ahead to Cole Maier, who slipped behind the Abbotsford defence. The forward cruised in and beat Arturs Silovs with a quick shot. Abbotsford tied the game close to the halfway point of the period. Chase Wouters swatted home a rebound that Oskari Salminen was unable to locate after it dropped to the ice. The Moose reclaimed their lead late in the first with a goal from Polei. Maier sent the bouncing puck to the front of the net where Polei wrangled the puck and fired it home. Salminen ended the frame with 11 saves as the Moose took a 2-1 edge to the intermission.
Abbotsford tied the contest in the second with another rebound put-back off the stick of Wouters. It was the forward’s second tally of the contest. That marker was the only scoring of the middle frame. Manitoba was outshot 11-6 in the stanza and carried a tie into their dressing room.
Abbotsford took the lead halfway through the third as local product Jett Woo finished off a two-on-one rush to put the Canucks up 3-2. Manitoba needed offence and pulled netminder Salminen in favour of the extra attacker, but the Canucks grabbed the puck and added some insurance in the form of an empty net tally from Nils Hoglander. The Moose pulled Salminen for a second time and Justin Dowling cashed into the empty net for a 5-2 Abbotsford advantage. Salminen was hit with the loss and made 28 saves, while Silovs captured the win with 13 stops of his own.
You must be logged in to post a comment.