As part of my Sports Journalism class at Red River College, I was able to cover a Moose - Monsters game from the press box, earlier this year. Because it was a school project it never saw the light of day. Here it is:
Three games of an 80 game schedule may seem insignificant, but when your team is mired in a losing streak, three games can seem like an eternity. Not wanting to extend their misery, the Manitoba Moose broke their losing skid in convincing fashion.
In front of minor hockey players from Swan River to Gateway to Altona, at the MTS Centre celebrating Hockey Night in Manitoba, the Moose downed the Lake Erie Monsters, moving back into a tie for first place in the American Hockey League's North Division. Recovering from a 5-1 loss to the Monsters the previous night, goaltender Eddie Lack backstopped the team to a 4-2 victory. The win prevented the Moose from setting a team record for futility. No Moose team had ever lost four regulation games in a row.
“A lot of things went our way tonight,” said Kevin Clark, the game's first star. “I don't know if it was the crowd, but guys we're making plays for each other. We showed that we weren't the same team from last night and that we're a first place team.”
The Moose took control early, pounding Monsters' goalie Jason Bacashihua with 17 shots in the first period. Their reward for this sustained pressure was a pair of quick goals near the end of the period. Alexandre Bolduc scored on a breakaway that pushed Bacashihua into his net, a minute and a half after Garth Murray opened the scoring.
The Moose kept the pressure on in the second period. Sergei Shirokov scored his team-leading 17th goal and then set up Mario Bliznak for the team's fourth goal of the night. Bliznak's goal meant an early exit for the beleaguered Bacashihua. The Monsters rallied late in third, led by goals from Ben Walter and Luke Walker, but it too little, too late.
After only scoring 15 goals in their past seven games, you couldn't fault the 14,775 in attendance for being surprised by the home team's offensive explosion. Moose coach Claude Noel chalked it up to some soul searching in the dressing room.
“Sometimes it's important to prove that you're a good team and we've got a lot riding on the next few games,” said Noel. “It's a lot about will, the will to play and the will to succeed. Tonight the guys showed that they have that will.”
The Moose have a few days of rest before hitting the road for a franchise record-tying ten game road swing, beginning Wednesday night in Rochester. A win against the North Division cellar dweller Americans would catapult the team past the Monsters for first in the division.
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