Moose Recap: Manitoba 3 vs. Toronto 2

By: Anthony Fusco | Published: January 29th 2023

Linked Up

Quick Hits

• Dominic Toninato notched the late game-winning tally
• Oskari Salminen made 22 stops and captured the victory
• Erik Kallgren was hit with the loss and ended with 16 saves

Game Story

The Manitoba Moose (22-14-2-1) rematched with the Toronto Marlies (29-11-1-1) on Sunday afternoon at Canada Life Centre. Manitoba was coming off a 2-1 loss against Toronto on Friday evening.

Manitoba opened the scoring in the first frame. Simon Lundmark fired a shot that was blockered away by Erik Kallgren. The puck was picked up behind the net by Cole Maier, who pulled it between his legs and deked to the front of the net, before sliding it past the netminder. The tally was the lone marker of the opening 20 minutes of play. Toronto was granted a pair of chances to Manitoba’s one on the power play, but neither side found twine. Oskari Salminen stopped all nine Toronto shots he faced in the first frame.

Neither side was able to find twine in the middle stanza. There were two power plays in the period, but Salminen and Kallgren were up to task and halted every chance they faced. Shots continued to be even, as Manitoba and Toronto both fired six apiece on net in the second. The Moose took a 2-0 lead into the second intermission.

Toronto tied the contest 78 seconds into the third. Adam Gaudette slipped past to create a two-on-one rush and sent the puck across to Kyle Clifford, who fired it past a diving Salminen. The contest stayed tied until the final eight minutes of regulation when the Moose took the lead with a power play goal from Leon Gawanke. Alex Limoges passed the disc to Gawanke, who one-timed it past Kallgren from the top of the dot. Manitoba pulled further ahead in the final minute, as Dominic Toninato converted on a pass from Jeff Malott to push the Moose ahead 3-1 with 42 seconds left. The Marlies got back within one off a goal from Alex Steeves with 16 seconds to play, but were unable to tie the contest as the horn sounded to end the game. Salminen notched the victory on the back of 22 stops, while Kallgren was hit with the loss and ended with 16 saves of his own.

Quotable

Moose Forward Cole Maier (Click for full interview)

“We know that Toronto is a really good team. We see the standings. They’re always close games between us two. Anytime you can help out against those guys, it’s always big, so it was definitely really nice to get started that way.”

Statbook

• Ville Heinola has a…