The Moose wrapped up their last game of 2007 on a high note, defeating the Lake Erie Monsters 3-1. After a hellacious road trip and being savaged further by injuries, all sorts of excuses could have been made, but they weren't needed. Milan Gajic, who has been impressing me with his poise and his abilities on the ice, scored his second and third goals of his season while rookie Michael Grabner rose to 11th in the AHL rookie scoring race with his third goal in as many games. The 3G line (Grabner - Gajic - *G*reg Classen...yeah, I suck at coming up with names!) looked very strong out there, notching three goals on the man advatange, a notable feat considering that Lake Erie had been very impressive on their penalty kill until last night.
Drew MacIntyre wasn't tested much, but was strong when he needed to be. A late third period goal denied him the shutout, but looked great.
Juraj Simek continued to impress and had a great game, showing some smooth puckhandling and passing. I'd like to see him shoot the puck a little more and hopefully he'll start reaping some rewards soon. The other notable thing about Simek, last night, is that he was being very vocal towards opposing players, not really backing down when they got into his face. Always nice to see.
Luc Bourdon had 6 min of penalties last night, 2 interference calls and an unsportsmanlike penalty, but I would say that the calls made against him were bunk. I try not to criticise officiating (unless it's a Mick McGeough game...) but the two obstruction calls were rather weak ones. The first, at the end of the first period, happened to be incidental contact between Bourdon and another player, while the second was a phantom call. Frustrating for him, as Bourdon's been struggling as of late.
Tonight's game, the 1st game of 2008 for the Manitoba Moose, should be a lively one, considering that there were three fighting majors assessed last night. Wingnut Dale Purinton and Pierre Cedric Labrie seemed to have a bit of a rivalry going, although Labrie didn't seem to be too particular with who he wanted to drop the gloves with, as he squared off with Purinton twice and then capped off his night by having a dance with Chris Stewart.
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