Moose come from behind to defeat Griffins 3-2, lead best-of-five series

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This article was published 20/04/2018 (2195 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

His nervous teammates could seemingly do nothing right as they bumbled their way through an ugly opening period of their first-round playoff match with the defending champion Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday.

The Manitoba Moose, it appeared, were grossly overmatched in their first playoff game in the three years since returning to town.

But Eric Comrie did everything he could to keep his team in the game — turning aside 19 of 20 shots over the first 20 minutes — and kept it from turning into a rout.

And wouldn’t you know it, but these young Moose found their legs as the game went on, and eventually their scoring touch, in pulling off a dramatic 3-2 come-from-behind victory Saturday to take the lead in the best-of-five series before 5,307 fans at Bell MTS Place.

Defencemen Jan Kostalek and Cam Schilling scored on blasts from the point in the third, and then rookie Michael Spacek hammered home the winner with just 1:09 left in the final frame off a beautiful pass from Nic Petan while the Moose were on the power play.

“For a lot of our guys, it was their first pro hockey playoff game. So, we’re going to get a bit nervous. (Grand Rapids) went all the way last year, they know how to play in the playoffs. We knew they were going to come and attack us in the first period. I guess it was our job to take the siege and move on from there,” said Comrie, who finished the day with 34 saves overall.

“The second and third period, we were the Manitoba Moose that we always are. We were playing the way we have to, to win. If we play that way, I don’t think anyone can play with us.”

Indeed, the Moose of the first period looked a lot like the team that really stumbled down the stretch as injuries and call-ups took a toll. Manitoba won just four of their last 13 games, falling from what looked like a sure first place finish in their division all the way down to third.

But as Saturday’s game went on there were certainly flashes of the Moose powerhouse that roared out of the gates and at one point sat on top of the entire AHL standings.

After being outshot 20-8 in that first period, Manitoba outshot Grand Rapids 23-16 over the final 40 minutes.

“I knew we were going to score, it was going to come. We just have too much skill on our team. If we play defence the way we can and limit their chances, we’re going to score goals, we don’t have to worry about that,” said Comrie, the fourth-year pro who also got in three games with the Jets this season.

Kostalek tied it up 1-1 just over six minutes into the third as he blasted a pass from defence partner Schilling past goalie Tom McCollum. The Griffins jumped back into the lead just past the midway mark, but Schilling got the equalizer just 31 seconds later.

“I think it took us a full period to kinda get into it. I think once the second started, we settled into our own game, got a couple power plays and were able to start getting some chances. That gave us some confidence going into the third,” Schilling said of the sudden offensive explosion. The 29-year-old has carved out an impressive AHL career and is one of the few veterans on this team with playoff experience.

Comrie maybe saved his best for almost last, turning away a Griffins breakaway late in the period. Then came Spacek’s winner just a couple minutes later.

“It’s a little bit different than regular season games. It’s faster and more hits. It’s more fun, actually, now. For this win is very important for us,” said Spacek, a 2015 fourth-round draft pick of the Jets who scored 17 goals for the Moose during the regular-season. “It was a great pass by (Petan). I just tried to hit the net. I’m happy it works.”

The Moose went 2-5-1 against the Griffins during the regular season, which included four straight losses. The last two were both shutouts for Manitoba on home ice.

Manitoba will look to take a commanding series lead when they meet again today at 2 p.m. at Bell MTS Place. The series then shifts to Michigan for the duration.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg