PREVIEW: Back at it With Belleville
By: Manitoba Moose Staff | Published: October 13th 2018
Oct. 13, 2018 vs BELLEVILLE SENATORS
The Manitoba Moose (1-2-0-0) notched their first win of the season last night at Bell MTS Place against the Belleville Senators (1-1-0-0). It was also the first time the Moose were victorious in a home opener since their move back to Manitoba. Tonight’s rematch starts at 6 p.m CT, and tickets are still available at moosehockey.com/tickets/.
Last night’s win came with the success of newcomer Seth Griffith. Griffith secured his first two points as a member of the Moose with a goal just over three minutes in, and an assist on Mason Appleton’s game winning power play goal.
Manitoba did run into some penalty trouble early, sending the Senators to the man advantage three times in the first period alone, but they finished the game perfect on the penalty kill (6/6). For goaltender Eric Comrie, that unit’s play was a huge factor in the victory.
“They didn’t have a ton of shots on their power plays either. Our team did a really good job of making sure everything stayed to the outside and everything was controlled.”
Comrie stopped 30 of 31 shots in the game, good for a .968 save percentage. A total of 14 of those shots came in the second frame. Comrie is now 3-0-1 all-time against Belleville.
Moose Head Coach Pascal Vincent spoke after the game about how strong play in the net pushed the rest of his squad.
"He was really good. He’s always working hard. When he plays that way he gives us a lot of confidence, and we’ve seen that in the past. When your goalie plays a game like this it definitely gives your bench a lot of confidence.”
Vincent and his coaching staff used a long week of practice to help the team get past the disappointment of last weekend’s trip to Iowa. The time was also used to build their understanding of the team’s systems. Vincent admitted there is still a long way to go, but a win helps the roster see what hard work can do.
“You want to develop in an environment where what you work on, when the guys do it on the ice they see it works. There’s no perfect system but if all five guys are on the same page it becomes a good system. When you work on stuff, on your forecheck, your d-zone coverage, your neutral zone…. Once the guys are doing it and in sync, then it works and creates a confidence.”
With 7,652 fans in attendance, Appleton gave credit to last night’s noisy gathering at Bell MTS Place in his post-game scrum.
"The crowd deserved a win tonight. In a home opener it's really important to set that tone for your fans and your community that you're gonna be a winning team. That's what we started with tonight. Now we have to take another step and find a way to win tomorrow."
Get your tickets to tonight’s game at moosehockey.com/tickets/, or you can listen on TSN 1290, at moosehockey.com/listenlive/ or on the Moose App
