The Manitoba Moose (33-18-3-2) tangled with the Rockford IceHogs (27-23-3-1) Wednesday night at BMO Harris Bank Centre. The Moose were coming off a 3-2 shootout win against Iowa on March 20.
Rockford found the back of the net with less than two minutes left in the game’s opening period. A puck at the offensive blueline was hopping and Rockford took advantage and countered down the ice. Andrei Altybarmakian collected a pass from Michal Teply and made a slick move to beat Arvid Holm for the late 1-0 lead. Arvid Soderblom was excellent for the IceHogs and saved all 14 shots he faced in the opening period. Manitoba trailed 1-0 after the opening 20 minutes of play.
The Moose tied the contest off the rush in the second. Bobby Lynch sped into the zone and dropped the puck to Nicholas Jones. The forward fired the disc along the ice and beat Soderblom low to tie the game 1-1 three minutes into the period. Rockford reclaimed their lead with a tally from Brett Connolly at the seven-minute mark. The forward snuck behind the Moose defence and beat Holm on the breakaway for a 2-1 lead. Rockford pushed their lead ahead to 3-1 with a power play goal from Connolly with seven minutes left in the middle frame. Manitoba outshot Rockford 12-7 in the second, but trailed 3-1 after 40 minutes of play.
Manitoba cut into the Rockford lead early in the third with a tally from Mikey Eyssimont. The forward make a quick move and slipped the puck past Soderblom to pull the Moose within one. Rockford reclaimed its two-goal lead with a four-on-four tally from Lukas Reichel. With time dwindling, the Moose pulled Holm in favour of the extra attacker. After a bout of Moose pressure, Josiah Slavin grabbed the puck and hit the empty net to make it 5-2. Undeterred, the Moose received a second tally from Jones after a scramble in front. That would be all the offence for the night, as the horn sounded with Rockford skating away with a 5-3 victory. Soderblom recorded 37 saves and the win for the IceHogs.
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