WINNIPEG, Manitoba – The home opener for the 2017-18 Manitoba Moose brought the Cleveland Monsters to town AND introduced some new players to the Moose roster this season. Some old, familiar names (Michael Hutchinson, Mark Flood) and some new as well. You only get one chance to make a good first impression so this will be a good test for the Winnipeg Jets hopefuls.
The first period had some good back and forth hockey, but the Moose eventually carried the bulk of the play. Monsters starting goaltender Brad Thiessen had to be sharp and compared to Hutchinson, was definitely the busier of the two tenders. The Moose struck with the opening goal of the game at the 16:40 mark on a bullet from the point off the stick of Julian Melchiori. His first tally of the season was assisted by newcomers Cam Maclise and Brody Sutter.
The Moose had a decisive edge in shots 19-7 at the end of 20 minutes of play.
The second period was a very different story as the Moose got back into some bad habits and sloppy play.
A defensive zone turnover by JC Lipon set the table for Cleveland’s Calvin Thurkauf who buried one past a defenseless Hutchinson. The Monsters’ Carter Camper then put his team ahead on a rebound at the 15:08 mark – a power play goal assisted by John Mitchell and Hayden Hodgson. Just 33 seconds later, Manitoba’s Jack Roslovic sniped a beauty top corner on a feed from Kyle Connor to tie the game at 2-2.
Sami Niku picked up the second assist, his 3rd point in as many games. But a determined Joe Pendenza slipped a backhand from a sharp angle past Michael Hutchinson to restore the Monsters’ lead 3-2 at the 16:30 mark. Cleveland carried the play in the middle frame and outshot the Moose 18-6, making the total shots 25-25 after 2 periods.
The third started on a positive note for the Moose with captain Patrice Cormier sprung on a breakaway. Cormier pulled a nifty deke on Thiessen to tie the game at 3-3 at the 1:42 mark. Lipon and Kirill Gotovets picked up the assists.
Again, the Moose couldn’t hold the even score as Joe Pendenza beat Hutchinson glove side to put the Monsters back in front after 6:54 of play. Cleveland then shut things down on the Moose the rest of the way to take this contest 4-3.
Sloppy defensive zone coverage and some shaky goaltending got the best of the Moose this night – old problems coming to light again. These teams renew hostilities Sunday at Bell MTS Place.
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