Marlies beat Moose

The Manitoba Moose (23-31-4-4) turned back the clock on Retro Jersey Day against the Toronto Marlies (31-25-4-1) on Sunday afternoon.  The Moose opened the scoring in their 1996-97 throwback jerseys as Nelson Nogier’s point shot found its way through a crowd in front for the 1996-born player’s second goal of the season.  Toronto tied the game just 1:14 later when Mike Sislo dug the puck off the side of the Moose net and forced it over the line.  Manitoba regained the advantage on the powerplay courtesy of Brandon Tanev sneaking a shot past Antoine Bibeau at 15:38.  Toronto had a quick reply again as Brett Findlay tallied on a two-on-one to put the score at 2-2 after one period.

The Marlies took their first lead of the game 2:57 into the second.  Kerby Rychel called his own number on an odd-man rush and snapped a shot to the back of the net.  Manitoba had a quick answer of its own at the 5:32 mark.  With the Moose on the powerplay, Kevin Czuczman wired a shot off Bibeau’s pad and Patrice Cormier flicked the rebound into the goal on his backhand to tie the game 3-3.  Eric Comrie made sure the score stayed that way with a jaw-dropping pair of saves late in the frame.  The Moose held a 22-18 edge in shots as the teams went to the third tied.

Toronto pulled back in front seven minutes into the third off the stick of defenceman William Wrenn.  Continuing the trend of fast responses, the Moose tied it up 3:08 later.  Jimmy Lodge sent Ryan Olsen a step ahead of the defence and Olsen cut across the crease on a nice backhand finish to tie the game 4-4.  The back-and-forth continued when Kerby Rychel was able to strike for the Marlies on the powerplay with 7:35 left in the third.  The Moose came within inches of tying the contest late, but Brenden Kichton’s shot went bar down and out with 1:15 remaining.  The hosts couldn’t find a way to tie the game as Toronto came away with the 5-4 win.