Moose Recap: Manitoba 4 at Grand Rapids 1
By: Anthony Fusco | Published: November 26th 2022
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Quick Hits
- Alex Limoges recorded two points (1G, 1A) including the winning tally
- Four different Manitoba skaters recorded two points
- Oskari Salminen finished with 24 saves in the victory
Game Story
The Manitoba Moose (9-5-2-0) took on the Grand Rapids Griffins (8-9-1-0) Saturday evening at Van Andel Arena. It was the final contest of a five-game road swing for the Moose. Manitoba was coming off a 3-0 loss at the hands of the Griffins the previous night.
Neither side was able to break the scoring open in the first frame. The Griffins were awarded the only chance on the man advantage, but Oskari Salminen was up to task for Manitoba and kept all pucks out of his net enroute to a six-save stanza. Jussi Olkinuora was solid for Grand Rapids and turned away all seven Moose shots he faced. Daniel Torgersson, who is skating in his first full season with Manitoba, led both squads with two shots after the opening 20 minutes had expired.
The Moose broke the deadlock with under five to play in the middle stanza. Tyler Boland fired a shot toward the net. The puck was tipped off a Griffins skate and found its way to Greg Meireles, who snapped a quick low shot through Olkinuora’s pads. The Griffins fired back with under two minutes to go. Joel L’Esperance took advantage of a Moose change on the penalty kill and beat Salminen with a short side shot. Both Manitoba and Grand Rapids put up 14 shots in the middle period as the horn sounded with both sides locked at one apiece.
Manitoba reclaimed its lead in the third with a goal on the man-advantage from Alex Limoges. Kevin Stenlund and Jeff Malott made the first two passes before Limoges finished the tic-tac-toe play and beat Olkinuora under the blocker for his fifth of the season. Manitoba took advantage later in the frame and added some insurance with a five-on-three power play goal from Declan Chisholm. Chaz Lucius found the defenceman with a pass from behind the net and Chisholm uncorked a blast for his second point of the evening. Grand Rapids pulled Olkinuora late in favour of the extra attacker, but it was the Moose who capitalized as Jeff Malott potted the empty net tally. Salminen notched the win and finished the game with 24 saves, while Olkinuora picked up the loss and made 25 stops of his own.
Statbook
- Tyler Boland's assist is his first AHL point of the season
- Jeff Malott's empty net tally was his team-leading seventh of the season
- The Moose notched a pair of goals on the power play for the fifth time this season
What's Next?
Manitoba returns home for a morning contest against the Milwaukee Admirals at Canada Life Centre on Thursday, Dec. 1. Puck drop for is slated for 11 a.m. CT. Tickets to all upcoming Moose home games are available at MooseHockey.com/TICKETS.
You can catch the game on CJOB.com/sports, the new Winnipeg Jets App, and AHLTV.
