Recap: Manitoba 5 at Toronto 0
By: Anthony Fusco | Published: October 17th 2021
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Quick Hits
- Johnathan Kovacevic picked up a goal and an assist.
- Mikhail Berdin made 18 saves for the shutout.
- Mark Morrison has gets his first win as an AHL Head Coach
Game Story
The Manitoba Moose (1-1-0-0) continued their season-opening road trip with a Sunday afternoon date against the Toronto Marlies (1-1-0-0) at Coca-Cola Coliseum. The Moose were looking for some revenge against the Marlies after suffering a 5-1 defeat yesterday.
The Moose got on the board first with a goal through traffic off the stick of Greg Meireles. The forward knocked in the loose puck after Bobby Lynch drove the net attempting a scoring chance. That gave the Moose a 1-0 lead at 4:54. As the period continued, Manitoba kept the pressure on and found themselves with a 2-0 lead courtesy of Mikey Eyssimont. The forward broke into the Marlies zone and fired a laser up and over the glove of Erik Kallgren at 15:54. The tally was the second in as many days for the forward. After the first, Manitoba led 2-0 and were up in shots 14-5.
The Moose struck again to open the middle period, this time off the stick of Johnathan Kovacevic. The veteran defender uncorked a wicked shot that found twine through traffic and gave the Moose a 3-0 lead at 2:41. Manitoba found the back of the net again in the second half of the period with a goal from Austin Poganski. The forward, who made his Moose debut yesterday, broke in all alone and roofed a perfect backhand over Kallgren. That strike made it 4-0 for the Moose at 11:22. The middle frame ended with the Moose heading to their dressing room up 4-0 and ahead in shots 27-13.
The Moose continued their assault in the third period and were able to score their first power play goal of the season. Ville Heinola took the shot and Kristian Reichel was in front of the cage to redirect it for a 5-0 Moose lead at 2:23. Toronto had a few late chances late on their own man-advantage but Moose goaltender Mikhail Berdin held the line as the time ticked down. The final horn sounded and the Moose skated away with their first victory of the season on the back of an 18-save shutout from Berdin. Final shots on goal favoured Manitoba 35-18.
Statbook
- Mikey Eyssimont has goals in two straight games
- Austin Poganski scored his first as a Moose
- Johnathan Kovacevic leads the Moose with three points (1G, 2A)
- Greg Meireles scored his first AHL goal in the victory
Quotable
Forward Krisitan Reichel (Click for full interview)
"I think we played a solid game tonight. We got pucks in deep and were hard on the forecheck. We didn't give them much. I think we were the better team today."
What's Next?
The Moose will face the Laval Rocket this coming Wednesday, October 20th. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:30pm CT. Listen to the game on 680 CJOB, CJOB.com/sports, or Moosehockey.com/LISTENLIVE. Watch all the action on AHLTV.com
