MANITOBA 5, LAKE ERIE 0
Manitoba scored twice in the first period and added three more goals in the second en route to a 5-0 win over visiting Lake Erie on Monday before 6,044 fans at the MTS Centre. Josh Soares and captain Mike Keane each had a goal and an assist for the Moose, who snapped a two-game winless skid (0-1-0-1).
The victory also lifted the Moose (33-14-0-3, 69) back atop the North Division standings, one point up on idle Grand Rapids.
Jason Krog kicked off the scoring with a power play goal 4:52 into the game, his team-leading 50th point of the campaign (17-33-50). Greg Rallo followed with his first goal of the season just 1:55 later.
Soares, signed by the Moose earlier in the day, lit the lamp just 41 seconds into the second period, and Nolan Baumgartner made it 4-0 with a shorthanded marker at the 5:23 marker.
Keane added his sixth of the season later in the stanza, and neither side scored in the third frame.
Guillaume Desbiens (0-3-3) and defenseman Shaun Heshka (0-2-2) each chipped in multiple assists for the Moose, and AHL All-Star goaltender Cory Schneider turned aside 17 shots to earn his third shutout of the season.
It marked Manitoba’s second shutout of the Monsters in a little more than two weeks, as Curtis Sanford made 26 saves in a 1-0 victory in Cleveland on Jan. 17.
The Moose and Monsters will clash in a rematch at the MTS Centre on Tuesday evening.
