The Manitoba Moose (38-21-5-2) faced the Rockford IceHogs (33-26-4-1) Saturday afternoon at Canada Life Centre. The Moose were coming off a 2-1 overtime loss against the Chicago Wolves on April 9.
Manitoba opened the scoring just just past the four-minute mark of the first period. Cole Maier slipped a check and carried the puck into the offensive zone. He sauced the disc to the slot and Evan Polei got off a quick shot that eluded Arvid Soderblom to give the Moose a 1-0 lead. That would be all the offence in the games opening frame. Mikhail Berdin ended the first 20 minutes with seven saves, while Soderblom tacked on 12 stops of his own.
The Moose controlled the pace of play in the middle frame and continued to stymie the Rockford offence. Manitoba outshot Rockford 18-2 in the middle frame, but was unable to add to the lead. David Gustafsson came the closest, ringing a wicked wrister off the post. Polei’s 10th tally of the of the season stood alone in the goal column heading to the final stanza.
Rockford tied the contest prior to the halfway point of the third. Jakub Pour broke in and sped around a Moose defender before tucking equalizer home to knot the game 1-1. The Moose restored the lead four minutes later with a goal from Nicholas Jones. The forward batted the puck out of the air and gave the Moose a 2-1 lead. Play continued for a full minute before the next stoppage allowed for a video review to confirm the goal. It only took 29 seconds following the restart for the Moose to push ahead 3-1 as Jeff Malott broke in and converted his own rebound for some insurance. Rockford got back within one with four seconds left as Evan Barratt fired one home from the side of the net. The horn sounded with the Moose taking a 3-2 victory. Berdin ended the night with 17 saves and the win, while Soderblom finished with 43 stops and the loss.
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