Of Moose and Men: Cue Rocky theme song... with disco beats

OMG. You are such a big studly winner. KO in the final round. Did I call you big? Have I given you your championship belt yet? Did I remind you that you were Studly? Were you planning on studding with anyone? No really, I totally meant it when I said that you were studly; even with Bernard, Boland, Pelletier and MacDonald out of the lineup and Corbeil riding the pine like a pine riding cowboy...still, totally studly!!!

The Halifax Mooseheads have defeated the Victoriaville Tigre 5-4 in the shootout. The Moose had a dull first period which finished off with them down by two. They rallied back in the second to get three unanswered goals and chase Mastropietro from nets. Victoriaville tied it up within the first minute of the third on a power play goal. Tomas Knotek had some lovely chances and when he finally did make a shot at the net, instead of passing, he brought the Moose back into the lead with five minutes remaining. Unfortunately Victoriaville, with their goalie on the bench, forced overtime when they slipped one past Yetman with only 45 seconds remaining on the clock.

Goal summary (I think...I may have messed up the details):

1st
1) Victoriaville - Tulupov (from Nestrasil and Hinse). This goal should be credited to our own Scott McDonald. It was going wide until he deflected it into the Moose net with his own stick.
2) Victoriaville - Bonneau (from Hynes and MacIssac) a two on one rush???

2nd
3) Halifax - Gerrad Grant. A low shot from the slot that went between the legs of Mastropietro.
4) Halifax PP - Knotek (from Stransky and Amyot)
5) Halifax PP - Cheremetiev (from Randell and MacAskill). A one timer from the low circle.

3rd
6) Victoriaville PP - Tanguay (from Earle and Chouinard). A power play rebound goal from close to the net which went just over the pad???
7) Halifax - Knotek (from Stransky and Bona). I was in the kitchen...had given up on life, began scavenging for comfort food.
8) Victoriaville - Labonte ( from Tanguay and Robichaud). 6 on 5.

The Moose ended regulation in a tie despite winning less faceoffs, laying less hits, having fewer power plays, and less shots overall - only 22 shots (~8 dangerous) compared to the Tigres 38 (~20 dangerous).

Items of note:

Bona's shot blocking was beautiful again. He even took a shot to the leg, hobbled around a bit and was back on the ice shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, to offset his defensive play, Bona sometimes has a tendency to try to carry the puck too deep into the offensive zone from time to time, and if it gets nabbed, the Moose end up weak on the back end. I only mention it because it happened again today.
O'Connor was the strong silent type. Totally studly!!!
Penalties went to Bety, Bahm, Pender and Piette. Once again it was Piette's penalty on the forecheck that led to a power play goal for the opposition. Was he benched for the early part of the third... because I did not see him again until the end of the game. I am also not so fond of his backwards passing. It looks nice but this team is not a fancy team... when they try fancy things it rarely works.
Grant can bop and weave around the opposition like this is a dance party, which it is...

Just Dance

Knotek had two goals, and five shots on net, but he could possibly have had more. He is too fond of passing when on the break-away or an odd man rush. Did you hear that every other goalie in the league - I SAID TOMAS PASSES ON THE TWO ON ONE RUSH. There...*whispers* now it is safe to shoot.
Just in case you did not notice, 7 D were dressed tonight. Pender was playing forward.
Dunn was playing. I heard John Moore say his name...once.

Shoot out:
Yetman stopped both Nestrasil and Tanguay. Boivin was able to stop Tomas Knotek but both Stransky and Cheremetiev were able to slip one past him.

Game Stars:

News links:
Matthew Wuest - Lineups Mooseheads at Tigres
Matthew Wuest - Yetman shines as Mooseheads close out rough road trip with a win
Willy Palov - Moose win shootout; secure two key points
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*All these guys want in a band...except maybe Yeti, but he is there because the picture dictates it. Gerrad Grant gets to wear the cape because he is has the body of a model and capes are the hot new accessory for spring 2009. That does not explain why he looks like a girl, however. Gerrad also gets to wear the cape because I totally called dibs on the orange dress.

**party image modified from the origional artwork by Megan Whitmarsh. You can learn more about Whitmarsh at her website http://www.meganwhitmarsh.com/.