MANITOBA 4, HAMILTON 3 (SO)
Manitoba rookie goaltender Eddie Lack turned aside all four of Hamilton’s shootout tries as the Moose eked out a 4-3 win over the visiting Bulldogs on Thursday at the MTS Centre.
The 22-year-old Lack denied Max Pacioretty, Ben Maxwell, David Desharnais, and J.T. Wyman in succession after stopping 31 of 34 shots through the first 65 minutes, improving his season record to 2-1-0.
Marco Rosa and rookie Jordan Schroeder notched shootout goals for the Moose, who snapped a brief two-game losing skid in their first meeting with Hamilton since dropping a six-game opening-round series to the Bulldogs in last spring’s Calder Cup Playoffs.
Rookie Kevin Connauton put Manitoba on top 2-0 with a pair of first-period goals, but Hamilton defensemen Brendon Nash and Yannick Weber responded to make it a 2-2 game after 40 minutes.
The Moose’s Kevin Clark and the Bulldogs’ Andreas Engqvist then traded third-period tallies, with the latter scoring his first North American goal.
The two teams will square off for a rematch on Friday night in Winnipeg.
