Moose lose on home ice to Griffins 1-0
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/02/2018 (2883 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The Manitoba Moose are models of AHL efficiency on the road – owners of a sparkling a 20-5-2-1 record away from Bell MTS Place.
On home ice they are hardly dominant with a 12-7-2-2 mark – the latest loss coming Thursday night in a 1-0 defeat before an announced crowd of 3,350 at the hands of the Grand Rapids Griffins.
“It was a 0-0 game, they score off one of our turnovers – we kinda shoot ourselves in the foot,” said Moose captain Patrice Cormier, whose club had just returned from a gruelling nine-game road trip in which they earned 14 of a possible 18 points.
“When we go on the road we play nine solid games, we chip the puck in, we forecheck and all of a sudden we get (back) here and we try to make plays in the neutral zone, cross-ice passes. I mean, it was a pretty tight game and we were there but I think we’ve shown we can better. That’s the frustrating part.”
The 27-18-1-6 Griffins, who got their lone goal from Matt Lorito in the second period, outshot Manitoba 38-28 and pulled to within 10 points of the Central Division-leading Moose.
Cormier was asked if the game had a playoff type atmosphere.
“Our energy (level) wasn’t playoff like, that’s for sure,” said Cormier. “We bring pucks back in our zone — on their goal it was a turnover in the neutral zone. We’re definitely not in the playoffs yet. We have some stuff to clean up for sure but yeah, if you want to talk about playoff mindset, that wasn’t it.”
Cormier almost forced overtime when he pounced on a turnover below the goal-line and swept to the front of the Griffins net and attempted to stuff the puck past goaltender Jared Coreau with 1:40 remaining in the game. Coreau made an excellent pad save.
All the while, Moose goaltender Jamie Phillips continued to build on his impressive body of work since being recalled from ECHL Jacksonville to replace the NHL-bound Michael Hutchinson and Eric Comrie.
Phillips, a second-year pro starting his third consecutive game, was Manitoba’s best player.
“The more shots you get you get into a rhythm and the game kinda slows down,” said Phillips. “It’s better than standing there cold for most of the game.”
The two teams return to Bell MTS Place for a rematch Saturday night. Game time is 7 p.m.
NOTEWORTHY: Defenceman Nelson Nogier, who has been out of action since suffering an upper-body injury in Manitoba’s first pre-season game, was on the ice for the second consecutive day during Thursday’s morning skate wearing a non-contact jersey. Nogier was originally expected to miss between four and six months of action and is not expected to return to active duty any time soon.
mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @sawa14