Griffins blank Moose to even series

Tyrel Bauer had a message for anybody worrying that the Manitoba Moose were simply going to fade quietly into the night.

Even after dropping a 2-0 decision to the Grand Rapids Griffins on Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 5,487 at Canada Life Centre, the Moose believe they’re in strong position to advance in these Calder Cup playoffs.

“We feel good going into Grand Rapids. We thought we made a statement here this weekend,” said Bauer, whose team earned a 1-0 victory in Game 1 on Saturday. “We thought we played two hard games, two solid games. It’s the nature of the playoffs in the AHL. The series are a little shorter, but we’re going to go into Grand Rapids and we’re going to play the same way. We’re going to play hard and we need two of three. It’s very manageable for our group.”

The Griffins may have finished 29 points ahead of the Moose in the standings and taken six of the eight meetings during the regular season, but that hasn’t proven to be much of an advantage in a series that has been hotly contested and tight checking throughout the first six periods.

“We’re worried about ourselves. We go into any barn in this league, we know we can play a hard hockey game and win,” said Bauer. “When we’re playing at our best, we can play with any team in this league. We know that and we proved that here this weekend. I don’t know if there’s any reason to be intimidated when we’re at our best.”

Game 3 is set for Wednesday night at Van Andel Arena, with puck drop scheduled for just after 6 p.m. CT.

After playing in front of two enthusiastic crowds, the Moose go into enemy territory knowing they’ll need to take two of the next three games to extend their season in a building where the Griffins were fifth in the AHL in attendance averaging 7,950 fans per game.

“Yeah, you can look at it two ways. Obviously they have a good environment, but you can also feed off that. That’s what I think we’ll look to do,” said Moose winger Phil Di Giuseppe, who helped the Abbotsford Canucks capture the Calder Cup last spring. “Biggest takeaway? I mean that’s a good team. I thought we played them hard (on Saturday). I thought we played them hard (on Sunday). We obviously want two (wins), but I like where we’re at.

Here’s what else transpired on Sunday:

Costly minor

It was another feisty and physical affair, which isn’t surprising when you have two teams that have already played one another 10 times this season (and counting).

There were a number of scrums and heated discussions after most whistles in the opening five minutes and it was clear neither team wanted to give an inch.

Moose winger Walker Duehr, who has been heavily involved in this series, took a tripping minor in retaliation on Griffins captain Dominik Shine late in the first period. That penalty was costly and led to the eventual game-winning goal from Michael Brandsegg-Nygard — who scored with 10 seconds to go in the man-advantage.

“Those small little things mean a lot in the playoffs, and those are two penalties that we really can’t take,” said head coach Mark Morrison, who also didn’t like a roughing minor that captain Mason Shaw took during a scrum at the end of the second period. “It’s an emotional game, and sometimes you have to bite it a little bit and take a little, but we’ll be better.”

The power-play marker from the Griffins snapped a streak of 11 consecutive penalty kills in the first five games of the playoffs.

The Moose aren’t about to back down when it comes to physical play and the chippiness that comes along with it, but they’ve got to be careful that it doesn’t lead to taking too many undisciplined penalties.

“It’s a hard series, a physical series. Two big teams, two good teams,” said Bauer. “Everybody is trying to give as good as you get out there. That’s kind of the way the playoffs work. We’re going to keep doing that.”

The key play

Sheldon Dries made a beautiful backhand pass to Brandsegg-Nygard for a one-timer that resulted in the power play goal late in the first period that proved to be the game-winner at 17:04 of the first period.

The three stars:

1. Michal Postava, Griffins, 30-save shutout.
2. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, One goal, one assist.
3. Dom DiVincentiis, Moose, Made 32 saves.

The masked men

For the second time in as many games, the goalies stole the show.

Moose goalie Domenic DiVincentiis turned aside 32 of 34 shots, while Michal Postava made 30 saves to record the shutout.

“Lights out. Rock solid. He’s been our rock back there and we’ve needed him to be a few times,” said Bauer. “We’re playing hard in front of him and he’s there when we need him. All the credit to Dom. Unreal.”

DiVincentiis has done an exceptional job since taking over from Thomas Milic in Game 2 of the opening round series with the Milwaukee Admirals, turning aside 121 of the 125 shots.

Following Game 1, after DiVincentiis made 39 saves to record the shutout, Morrison said a discussion with his coaching staff would be required before finalizing his Game 2 starter.

But in the end, there wasn’t much of a debate.

“There wasn’t much of a wrestle,” said Morrison. “We went and talked with the coaches, and everybody was unanimous that he’s got to go back and he looked real good in there again. Gave us a chance, for sure.”

Although Morrison didn’t really want to publicly announce his goaltending plans for Game 3 with two days before the series resumes, he left a few bread crumbs for the assembled media.

“We’ll have to see,” he said. “I mean, we have a couple days off. I don’t want to say who our goalie is playing the next game, but I guess you could probably figure that out if you were smart.”

As for the Griffins, the decision to go with Postava over Sebastian Cossa has proven to be a wise one for head coach Dan Watson, as his goalie has given up a single goal through two outings so far.

Goal-scoring concerns?

Although there has been plenty to like for the Moose so far, one thing that can’t be ignored is that they’ve been limited to six goals scored through five games – with two of those coming on the power play.

They’ve yet to score an even-strength marker against the Griffins through 120 minutes of action, though they’ve only allowed one — a wrister off the rush to defenceman William Wallinder with 5:12 to go in regulation on Sunday that proved to be a valuable insurance marker.

What can the Moose do to generate a bit more offence against this stingy Griffins team?

Having more of a net-front presence is something the Moose will be looking to do as the series progresses.

“It’s been a struggle all year to maintain, getting in his eyes, getting into those dirty areas,” said Morrison. “We’ll do it, and then we lay off. We want to try to make plays to score goals. It’s been a struggle for us all year to make plays to score goals, so we like to push them to get dirty ones.

“This is a time where we have to get dirty ones. We’ll talk about it for the next couple days, and I’m pretty sure we’ll be spending some time in their crease.”

winnipegfreepress.com/kenwiebe