Home opener a thriller

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This article was published 13/10/2017 (2975 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They were playing a team called the Monsters on Friday the 13th. But it proved to be a nightmare on Donald Street for the Manitoba Moose, who were downed 4-3 by Cleveland in their home opener at Bell MTS Place in front of more than 7,500 fans.

Like any thriller, this one had plot twists, some gratuitous violence and the enemy springing back to life to claim a victim.

Manitoba had the visitors running for their lives early, dominating the first period and outshooting the Monsters 19-7. You could probably count on one hand the number of times the Moose registered 19 shots in a frame last season. Heck, there were many games where they barely eclipsed that mark. But Manitoba appears to have far more offensive weapons at their disposal this season, as evidenced by the nine goals they put up last weekend against the reigning Calder Cup champion Grand Rapids Griffins in splitting their first two games of the year.

The Moose opened the scoring late in the first after some nice puck movement in the offensive zone that ended with defenceman Julian Melchiori ripping a shot past goalie Brad Thiessen. Forwards Cam Maclise and Brody Sutter, who form two-thirds of an intriguing fourth line with Winnipeg Jets prospect Mason Appleton, drew the assists.

Brendan Lemieux may be a bit leaner these days, but he doesn’t appear to have shed his mean streak. The feisty Moose power forward dropped the gloves with Cleveland’s Justin Scott following a spirited gathering in front of the Moose net. The pair exchanged a series of big blows before heading to the box for five minutes each.

The second period was a much different story as the Moose appeared to go from Jekyll to Hyde.

“It was like two different teams,” Moose head coach Pascal Vincent said of his squad’s sudden transformation.

He thinks only being up a goal after dominant 20 minutes came back to bite.

“Obviously Cleveland was going to come back hard. We knew that. But we didn’t stick to our plan,” he said. “Learning the pro game is also learning the momentum switch of the games and making sure it doesn’t happen again. Developing a winning culture is also about developing winning habits.”

Cleveland peppered goalie Michael Hutchinson with eight shots in the first three minutes and tied it up when forward Calvin Thurkauf took advantage of a defensive breakdown. He got at least three whacks at the puck before burying it.

The Monsters kept coming in waves and took a 2-1 lead on the power play as forward Carter Camper scored on a rebound.

Manitoba answered back 31 seconds later when three of the organization’s most promising prospects teamed up for a highlight-reel goal. Defenceman Sami Niku made a great breakout to forward Kyle Connor, who fed a super saucer pass to linemate Jack Roslovic. Roslovic then snapped home a wicked wrister to tie it up with his second goal of the year. Niku, a smooth-skating Finn playing in his first pro season, now has three helpers through three games.

But Cleveland regained the lead 49 seconds later as forward Joe Pendenza snuck one through the five-hole of Hutchinson. The Monsters outshot the Moose 18-6 in the middle frame.

Manitoba tied it just 1:42 into the third period, as J.C. Lipon threaded the needle and made a perfect pass to spring Patrice Cormier on a breakaway. The captain made no mistake, executing a perfect deke to fool Thiessen.

“I thought our line was average at best, all three of us. So it was kind of nice to help the team in that way,” Cormier said. “But we got scored upon the next shift again, so we need to be better for sure.”

Cleveland jumped back in front, this time for good, a few minutes later when Pendenza scored on a two-on-one break after Niku got caught up ice during a Moose chance that was turned away.

“A misread defensively. That’s something we can’t afford,” Vincent said. “Our plan is to play well offensively, to create chances, but in a smart way. We were a little bit over-aggressive offensively trying to push the pace, but in a wrong way. We need to be smart about it. That’s a learning curve.”

Hutchinson finished the night with 29 saves on 33 shots.

Manitoba is now 1-2-0 on the year, while Cleveland improves to 1-1-0. The teams meet again on Sunday at 2 p.m.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @mikemcintyrewpg