MANITOBA 3, LAKE ERIE 1
Rookie goaltender Eddie Lack made 14 of his 29 saves in the first period, and Manitoba broke a 1-1 tie with a pair of third-period goals to take a 3-1 road win over Lake Erie on Sunday at Quicken Loans Arena to force a decisive Game 7 in this North Division semifinal.
That winner-take-all tilt will take place on Tuesday in Cleveland, with the winner moving on to battle Hamilton in the North Division Finals.
The game was deadlocked at a goal apiece heading into the third period, but Moose defenseman Keith Seabrook broke the tie on the power play at 7:36 of the third frame. It marked Manitoba’s first power play goal of the series after going 0-for-21 through the first five contests.
Kevin Clark and Jordan Schroeder picked up assists on Seabrook’s first goal of the playoffs and just his second goal in 19 games overall since joining Manitoba from the Abbotsford Heat.
Manitoba nursed the 2-1 advantage for nearly 10 minutes before Sergei Shirokov provided insurance at 17:02 with his team-leading fourth postseason goal. Marco Rosa earned an assist for his 10th point of the playoffs (3-7-10), and Jason Jaffray also helped out.
The teams played a scoreless hockey until Lake Erie’s Julian Talbot and Manitoba’s Bill Sweatt traded goals just 1:33 apart early in the second period.
Lack, the AHL’s All-Rookie goaltender for 2010-11, has now stopped 54 of 55 shots (.982) over the past two contests after backing up Tyler Weiman for Games 2, 3, and 4 of this series.
North Division Semifinal – Series “F” (best-of-7)
N2-Lake Erie Monsters vs. N3-Manitoba Moose || Preview
Game 1 – Sat., Apr. 16 – LAKE ERIE 6, Manitoba 4
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 17 – Manitoba 3, LAKE ERIE 2 (OT)
Game 3 – Tue., Apr. 19 – Lake Erie 2, MANITOBA 1
Game 4 – Thu., Apr. 21 – Lake Erie 6, MANITOBA 3
Game 5 – Fri., Apr. 22 – MANITOBA 2, Lake Erie 0
Game 6 – Sun., Apr. 24 – Manitoba 3, LAKE ERIE 1
Game 7 – Tue., Apr. 26 – Manitoba at Lake Erie, 7:00
