Connor, Comrie cool in face of Rampage
One Moose fills his hat, the other stonewalls San Antonio snipers
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/02/2017 (2588 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Sure it’s a lot of pressure to place on a pair of 20-year-old rookies. But the reality is the Manitoba Moose young guns have been firing a lot blanks lately — and it’s no coincidence the team’s fortunes have followed suit.
Kyle Connor and Jack Roslovic are fellow first-round draft picks expected to produce offence, but both entered play Saturday night at the MTS Centre in major funks — Roslovic hadn’t lit the lamp in 14 games, and Connor had gone goalless in eight.
While Roslovic’s slump continues, Connor broke out with three goals in leading his Moose to a 4-2 win over the San Antonio Rampage.
“It’s a good feeling. Good to get the win as well,” Connor said following his first professional hat trick. “I think I’ve been playing real good hockey as of late. Just the bounces weren’t there. Tonight was a bit different.”
Manitoba has struggled to score lately, with just 22 goals in their past dozen games prior to Saturday. In addition to the droughts from Connor and Roslovic, Dan DeSalvo hasn’t lit the lamp in 13 games (he remains tied for the team lead with 12) and Brendan Lemieux has gone 11 without a goal (he remains stuck at eight).
Manitoba raced out to an 11-8-2 start to the season, scoring 62 goals in those first 21 games for an average of just under three per game. But in the 33 games since, the Moose have gone 9-19-5 and scored just 69 goals, or barely two per game.
That’s put a lot of pressure on the team to be defensively sound if they wish to remain competitive.
The Moose were anything but to start Saturday’s game as they were under siege in the first period. Goalie Eric Comrie faced 23 shots in the opening frame and may have been looking for the nearest police station to file a missing persons report for his teammates. Although the Moose trailed 2-1 after 20 minutes, it would have been a lot worse if not for Comrie.
“Your team comes out a little slow sometimes, you have to be the best player on the ice who’s gotta make the saves. But we came back and battled through it. It’s a team game. Sometimes you gotta pick up your teammates. Sometimes they’ll pick up you,” said Comrie, who would end up stopping 37 of the 39 shots he faced.
It was a baffling start to the game for the Moose, considering they were playing a San Antonio squad which had dropped seven consecutive games entering play and sit 27th overall in the American Hockey League. Of course, the Moose had lost five straight games themselves in sinking to 29th overall in the league.
A battle of AHL titans this wasn’t.
The Moose woke up to start the second period, with Connor getting his second of the game and JC Lipon scoring just over a minute later early in the middle frame. Connor would then seal the deal with a late-game empty-net goal.
“(Comrie) is the reason we were in the game after the first period. We couldn’t get the puck out, we were losing races, we were losing battles, we didn’t block enough shots. We need to, as a group, find a way to start on time,” said Moose head coach Pascal Vincent.
The coach also had high praise for Connor, who he feels has been playing some of his best hockey of late even if he wasn’t being rewarded.
“He keeps progressing, he’s getting stronger on the puck, he’s finding his rhythm,” said Vincent. “He’s a smart player and studies the game. He knows what he needs to work on and what he’s good at.”
The Moose won’t have much time to savour the victory, as they close out their homestand with a rematch against the Rampage at 2 p.m. today.
mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca
Mike McIntyre
Sports reporter
Mike McIntyre grew up wanting to be a professional wrestler. But when that dream fizzled, he put all his brawn into becoming a professional writer.