By: Anthony Fusco | Published: March 19th 2023
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Quick Hits
- Cole Maier scored the shootout-winning tally
- Jansen Harkins tied the contest late in the third period
- Oskari Salminen notched 34 saves and denied all three Wolves skaters in the shootout
Game Story
The Manitoba Moose (33-19-5-3) rematched with the Chicago Wolves (26-27-3-3) on Sunday afternoon at Allstate Arena. Manitoba was coming off a 6-1 win over the Wolves yesterday evening.
Neither side was able to find twine in the opening frame. Chicago was granted the lone chance on the man advantage, but Oskari Salminen and the Moose kept the door shut. Salminen finished with 10 total saves through the first 20 minutes, while Zachary Sawchenko nabbed all five Moose chances that came his way through the opening stanza.
Manitoba opened the scoring near the halfway point of the contest. Alex Limoges carried the puck into the attacking zone and dropped a pass behind him to the waiting Dominic Toninato, who roofed it over the shoulder of Sawchenko. Chicago tied the contest three minutes later, as Josh Melnick tipped an Alex Green shot past Salminen. Manitoba restored the lead with under five to go in the frame. Tyler Boland gathered up the puck and sped down the ice. The forward ripped a bullet of a shot into the top corner past the blocker of Sawchenko. Manitoba took a 2-1 lead into the final 20 minutes of play, despite being outshot 20-16.
Chicago tied the contest 27 seconds into the period. With Manitoba on the power play, Vasily Ponomarev stripped the puck and raced down the ice on a breakaway before beating Salminen with a slick move to the backhand. Chicago pulled ahead for the first time in the contest with under 10 minutes to play as Zach Senyshyn redirected a shot past Salminen. With time dwindling, Manitoba opted to pull Salminen in favour of the extra attacker. The gambit was successful, as Jansen Harkins blasted a hard shot off a Wolves defender in front and past Sawchenko. The horn sounded to end the third with both sides gearing up for overtime. The extra frame saw five total shots between the clubs, but Salminen and Sawchenko kept the contest going. The overtime period ended and a shootout was needed to decide the winner. The third round of the shootout saw Cole Maier score the only goal of the segment, while Salminen denied all three Wolves shooters as Manitoba secured the 4-3 victory and the weekend sweep. Salminen notched the win on the back of 34 stops, while Sawchenko was…
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