The Manitoba Moose (27-30-1-1) rematched with the Central Division’s Grand Rapids Griffins (30-18-7-4) on Wednesday evening at Canada Life Centre. Manitoba was coming off a 5-1 win against Grand Rapids on Tuesday morning.
Grand Rapids opened the scoring six and a half minutes into the contest with a goal from Zach Aston-Reese. Antti Tuomisto flipped the puck down the ice and sprung Aston-Reese. The forward caught up to the disc and beat Thomas Milic with a quick deke off the breakaway. The Moose were forced to kill a late five-on-three Griffins power play to keep it a one-goal contest. The first period ended with the Moose trailing 1-0. Milic, making his fifth consecutive start, ended the frame with eight saves, while Sebastian Cossa countered with 11 of his own.
The Griffins struck for a tally 7:03 into the second with a marker from Elmer Soderblom. With Manitoba unable to clear the zone, Matt Luff got loose down low. The forward centered for Soderblom, who roofed it past Milic. Manitoba struck back with a goal from Jeff Malott on a delayed penalty. With the call upcoming, Milic sprinted to the net to get the extra attacker on the ice. Brad Lambert curled in from the point and sent the shot on target. Malott was in front providing a screen and knocked it through the wickets of Cossa. Manitoba outshot Grand Rapids 8-7 in the second period and trailed 2-1 heading into the final 20 minutes of play.
Grand Rapids notched a two-goal advantage 12:55 into the third period with a tally from Brogan Rafferty. Amadeus Lombardi fed Rafferty who unleashed a shot from the point for the goal. With time winding down and the Moose trailing by a pair, the call was made to lift Milic from the net in favour of the extra attacker. The gambit was unsuccessful and Griffins took advantage with Luff stealing the puck and hitting the empty net to ice the contest 4-1. Milic was hit with the loss and finished the contest with 19 saves, while Cossa picked up the road win on the back of 32 stops.
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