Moose double-up Laval

The Manitoba Moose (4-2-0-0) claimed a 4-2 victory against the Laval Rocket (3-2-1-0) on Wednesday night at Bell Centre in Montreal, Que. Just 3:11 into the contest, Brandon Baddock opened the scoring as the Rocket gained an early 1-0 lead. The Moose were awarded two consecutive power play opportunities during the first period, but Manitoba was unable to capitalize. With 5:47 remaining in the frame, a tenacious play at the net from Bobby Lynch led to Nicholas Jones connecting on a rebound and tying the game 1-1.

Action was limited in the second period as neither club was able to find the back of the net. Laval did send 13 shots toward Mikhail Berdin, but the Moose netminder was equal to the task. The teams went to the third still tied 1-1.

The Moose opened the final stanza with a power play and struck 32 seconds into the frame. Tyler Graovac set up Kristian Reichel, who capitalized on a one-timer, and gave Manitoba the one-goal lead. At 8:13 in the third period, on another power play opportunity, Cole Perfetti sent a cross-crease pass to Nathan Todd who scored to make the score 3-1. Just 42 seconds later, Jesse Ylonen scored to get the Rocket within one. With 1:38 left in regulation, Nathan Todd potted an empty net goal and secured Manitoba’s 4-2 victory.

Statbook

• Mikhail Berdin has a .955 save percentage in his last four games.
• Kristian Reichel appeared in his 100th career AHL game.
• Hayden Shaw recorded his first AHL assist during the contest.
• Nathan Todd marked the first two-goal and three-point game of his AHL career.
• Todd is riding a five-game point streak which is tied for the fourth-longest in the AHL this season.
• Tyler Graovac recorded three assists during the matchup.

Quotable

Head Coach Pascal Vincent (Click for full interview)

“We came back in the third with tons of confidence. We say all the time ‘stay in the fight’ and they did. Just a few adjustments in between periods and they applied it. They’re working together and being vocal on the bench. At the end of the day when you do it right and you win games it just reinforces that the process is right.”

Forward Kristian Reichel (Click for full interview)

“I think today it was a team effort from the start until the end. We didn’t have that many shots today, in the second we didn’t play well. We had a couple turnovers including myself and we cleaned it up in the third period. Our power play stepped up at the end. We got the two points and that’s what’s most important for us.”