Moose halt Griffins’ streak at 11

The Manitoba Moose beat the Grand Rapids Griffins by a score of 4-2 on Saturday night at the MTS Centre, putting an end to the Griffins eleven game winning streak.

Manitoba’s Lee Goren led the way for the Moose with his 19th and 20th goals of the season. Wade Flaherty was sharp in net for the Moose, making 27 saves on 29 shots to pick up his 24th win of the season.

Manitoba drew first blood in the first period when Alexandre Bolduc and Goren scored just under three minutes apart, giving the Moose a two goal lead going into the first intermission.

Ryan Oulahen answered back for the Griffins with a second period goal at the 14:33 mark of the second period. The Moose would soon respond with two more quick goals. Ryan Bayda scored with 2:32 remaining in the second period, and Goren scored his second of the game 1:14 later to give the Moose a three goal lead heading into the third period.

Oulahen would add his second goal of the game at the 16:56 mark of the third to round out the scoring.

Jimmy Howard stopped just 12 shots on the night as his personal winning streak ended at 12.

With the win the Moose (41-21-7-5, 94 pts.) move into second place by themselves in the North Division. The Griffins (53-17-1-4, 111 pts.) remain one win shy of tying a franchise record for wins in a season, and four wins away from tying the all-time AHL record for wins in a season set by the Binghamton Rangers in the 1992-93 season.

Elsewhere on Saturday:

  • Iowa scored three unanswered goals, beating Cleveland 3-1, and pulling to within two points of Omaha for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West Division.
  • Chicago won its seventh in a row with a 5-3 victory over Toronto; the Wolves have moved to within five points of Omaha.
  • Denis Hamel became the second AHL player to score 50 goals this season, but it wasn’t enough for Binghamton in a 3-1 loss to Norfolk.
  • Krystofer Kolanos, Maxime Talbot and Matt Hussey each tallied a goal and an assist as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton defeated Lowell, 4-3.
  • Six different players scored for Philadelphia as the Phantoms overpowered Hershey by a score of 6-2.
  • Duncan Milroy scored the overtime winner on a penalty shot to give Hamilton a 2-1 victory over Manchester.
  • Aaron Gavey scored a goal and two assists as Portland routed Albany, 8-1.
  • Admirals goaltender Pekka Rinne made 37 saves on 38 shots and stopped three of five shots in the shootout to lead Milwaukee to a 2-1 win over Omaha.
  • Nigel Dawes, Colby Genoway and Brad Smyth each scored a goal and an assist to lead Hartford to a 5-3 win over Springfield.
  • Jonathan Sigalet scored 46 seconds into overtime to give Providence the 4-3 win over Bridgeport.
  • Seamus Kotyk stopped all 36 shots he faced and Kirby Law scored twice as Houston downed Peoria, 5-0, ending an eight-game winless streak.
  • Michael Ryan scored two shootout goals to help Rochester defeat Syracuse by a score of 3-2, staving off mathematical elimination for another night.