Moose edge past struggling Griffins, 2-1


Link to Thursday’s boxscores

MANITOBA 2, GRAND RAPIDS 1
Manitoba scored once each in the second and third periods to rally for a 2-1 victory over Grand Rapids on Thursday at the MTS Centre. Mike Brown netted the gamer-winner at 9:44 of the third period, propelling the Moose to their first victory in three tries this season against the Griffins (1-1-1-0). The loss extended Grand Rapids’ winless skid to seven games (0-6-0-1).

The Griffins got out to an early lead when Randall Gelech tallied his third of the season at 2:22 of the opening period. Assists went to Jakub Kindl and Tom Galvin.

Manitoba evened the score at 13:01 of the second period as Zack FitzGerald scored his first goal of the campaign. Juraj Simek and Jimmy Sharrow picked up the helpers.

Brown’s game-winner midway through the third was assisted by Greg Classen and Nathan McIver.

Moose goaltender Drew MacIntyre stopped 33 of 34 shots in the win, increasing his record to 7-3-0.


LAKE ERIE 2, QUAD CITY 0
Lake Erie finally got into the victory column at home with a 2-0 blanking of Quad City at the Quicken Loans Arena. It marked the inaugural Monsters’ first home win in eight tries this season (1-6-0-1).

Goaltender Jason Bacashihua, playing his second game in a Lake Erie uniform since being acquired from the St. Louis Blues organization, turned in a 38-save shutout performance.

After the teams played a scoreless first 40 minutes, Matt Hussey provided all the offense the Monsters would need with his fourth of the season at 2:22 of the third period.

T.J. Hensick assisted on that goal and added an empty-netter in the closing seconds to cap the scoring.

Quad City’s three-game winning streak was snapped in the defeat.