MANITOBA AN UNKIND HOST
WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Despite climbing out of an early 2-0 hole, the Grand Rapids Griffins dropped the back end of a two-game set with the Manitoba Moose 4-2 on Friday at the MTS Centre.
The setback extends Grand Rapids’ winless streak to eight games (0-7-0-1), their longest such drought since a nine-game skid from Dec. 17, 2004-Jan. 8, 2005. The season series between the Griffins and the Moose now stands at 2-2, with all four meetings to date occurring on Manitoba’s home ice.
Grand Rapids (5-9-0-1) returns home to face the Hamilton Bulldogs at 7 p.m. Wednesday, the first of three games they host at Van Andel Arena throughout Thanksgiving week.
Manitoba (10-5-1-0) wasted no time setting the Griffins on their heels, netting the first shorthanded goal allowed by Grand Rapids this season 4:09 into the game. Scott May broke up a pass at his own blue line and sent the puck to a streaking Greg Classen at center ice. Classen took the breakaway to Jimmy Howard’s stick side and slipped the puck past the Grand Rapids netminder. The Moose soon capitalized on a 5-on-3 situation at 10:54, playing keep away around the perimeter until former Griffin Danny Groulx fired a shot from the left point to give Manitoba a 2-0 lead.
Rather than panic, the Griffins notched a shorthanded goal of their own 40 seconds later, their first of the 2007-08 campaign. Carl Corazzini led a three-on-two break into the Manitoba zone and fed the puck to Jon Insana in the slot. Insana wound up to shoot, but instead dished the disc to Mark Cullen, who redirected Insana’s pass into the awaiting goal mouth. Minutes later, fortune smiled on the Griffins when Kyle Quincey’s shot from deep in the left wing corner deflected off Nathan McIver’s skate and past Drew MacIntyre to draw even at two goals apiece.
After skating through a scoreless second period, the Moose regained the advantage with 5:59 remaining in the game. Six seconds after Jonathan Ericsson was sent to the penalty box for holding, Jimmy Sharrow skated from the left point into the slot and lit the lamp for the go-ahead goal. The Moose would get an insurance goal at 15:10 when Jason Jaffray took a pass from Shaun Heshka deep in Moose territory and went coast to coast through the Grand Rapids defense.
MacIntyre racked up 34 saves for the victors, while Howard shut the door 30 times in the Griffins’ net.
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