Recap: Manitoba 4 vs Grand Rapids 2
By: Anthony Fusco | Published: December 10th 2021
Linked Up
Quick Hits
- Cole Maier, Haralds Egle and Mikey Eyssimont had two points in the win
- Calvin Pickard finished the night with 38 saves for Grand Rapids
- The Moose fired 20 of their 42 shots in the second period
Game Story
The Manitoba Moose (14-7-1-0) faced off against the Grand Rapids Griffins (9-9-2-1) for their first of two straight games at home. The Moose were coming off a 3-2 road loss against the Laval Rocket the previous outing.
It was a quick moving first period, but neither the Moose or the Griffins could find the back of the net. Manitoba had a couple of chances on the power play, but Calvin Pickard was solid for the Griffins and saved all six shots he faced. In the other crease, Arvid Holm was perfect as well and ended the first frame with five total saves of his own.
The Griffins struck less than two minutes into the middle frame with a goal from Tyler Spezia. Grand Rapids pushed the lead to 2-0 just over halfway through the period, with Turner Elson lifting a short-side shot over Holm's shoulder. The Moose produced some solid chances and outshot the Griffins 20-6 in the middle frame, but trailed 2-0 after 40 minutes.
Manitoba grabbed the first goal of the third period off the stick of Cole Maier. Mikey Eyssimont worked from behind the net and sent the puck out front. Maier was waiting and swept it into the open net to pull the Moose within one at 2:22. Manitoba kept the pressure on and were rewarded with the tying goal from Eyssimont. Maier worked the puck free and sent in on net. Eyssimont was waiting and knocked the rebound through the pads of Pickard for the 2-2 tie at 7:55. The Moose kept on rolling and David Gustafsson sniped the go-ahead tally with 3:27 to go. Kristian Reichel iced the game with an empty netter in the final minute of play as the Moose rode four unanswered goals to a 4-2 win.
Statbook
- David Gustafsson and Cole Maier are both tied for the Moose goal scoring lead with seven apiece
- Haralds Egle's two-assist contest was his first AHL multi-point game
- Austin Poganski's 11th assist of the season ties him with Leon Gawanke for second on the team
- The Moose are 6-0-1 after losses this season.
Quotable
Moose Forward Cole Maier (Link to Full Interview)
"I think the nicest part of the comeback was that we didn't need to make many adjustments. It was just sticking with what we knew. With the second period, there wasn't any put this guy here or do anything crazy. We just had to stick with it, trust ourselves and everything worked out for us."
What's Next?
The Moose rematch against the Griffins on Saturday night at Canada Life Centre. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT. Tickets are available at MooseHockey.com/TICKETS.
