The Manitoba Moose snapped their eight-game winless drought in a 2-1 shootout victory over the Rockford IceHogs.
It took nearly half of the first period until Manitoba found the back of the net, but it was recently waived defenseman Dylan Coghlan who scored his first goal with the Moose to put the team ahead. Parker Ford was tied up on the boards with two IceHogs defenders, Ford fed the puck to Coghlan through traffic and Coghlan tapped the puck in to make the game 1-0.
A few minutes later, Nikita Chibrikov, recently sent back to the Moose after a four-game stint with the Winnipeg Jets, would get called for tripping. C.J. Suess got tied up on a breakaway as an IceHogs defender was a step behind him, Suess got the backhand on the net, but couldn’t beat IceHogs netminder Drew Commesso.
Kaapo Kahkonen kept the lead intact with a strong veteran play by making a massive cross-crease pad stop. A recurring trend throughout the game, Kahkonen kept the Moose in the game even with Rockford pelting many shots on goal.
“I think in general, we’ve gotten better through the past few games and certain things, we’ve put emphasis on,” Kahkonen said about the game. “It doesn’t always turn around in one or two games, you just gotta stick with it and tonight was a great example of us getting the job done,” Kahkonen added.
When Rockford pushed back, Manitoba dug deep and went back even harder.
Gerry Mayhew, a Rockford standout player, finally found the back of the net as Manitoba miscommunicated and Mayhew picked up the puck. Mayhey evened the score nine minutes into the second period with a backhand that beat Kahkonen and breathed life into the IceHogs.
“I think the effort level was great, but it should be great. After losing some games in a row, it was good. I thought we had a great performance,” Head coach Mark Morrison said about the team pushing back against Rockford.
Both teams had their own chances on the power play to get the go-ahead goal, but remained scoreless in the third period and overtime. Kahkonen faced a ton of shots in the third period but steadied the net during the final minutes of regulation and opening seconds of overtime.
In the dying seconds of overtime, Manitoba kept pushing, but Rockford netminder Drew Commesso sent the game to a shootout.
Nikita Chibrikov scored on Manitoba’s first attempt while Gerry Mayhew scored on Rockford’s third attempt. Jaret Anderson-Dolan shot third for Manitoba and found the back of the net, ending the eight-game winless drought, and sent the Winnipeg crowd home on a high note.
Manitoba and Rockford are set for the rematch on Sunday, December 22nd for a 2:00 pm CST matchup.
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