Post-season overtime continues to bring nothing but misery for the Manitoba Moose.
The Moose fell 3-2 in overtime Sunday night to the Hamilton Bulldogs on what can only be described as an unfortunate bounce before a crowd of 2,791 at Copps Coliseum.
It was the ninth consecutive playoff overtime defeat for the Moose, dating back to a 2008 first-round series against the Syracuse Crunch.
The Bulldogs closed out the series in six games and advance to the North Division final.
Grant Stevenson scored the series winner when he fanned on a pass in the slot from Ryan Russell and watched the puck go off his right skate and through the pads of goalie Cory Schneider at 8:49 of the first extra session.
Schneider was brilliant in what figures to be his final Moose game, finishing with 46 saves.
“Unbelievable performance the whole back half of this series,” Moose assistant coach Keith McCambridge said during the post-game show. “He was really the difference-maker for us. The guys in front of him gained confidence from the way he was playing in there.
“The result is unfortunate. We felt we deserved better.”
The Moose took the first penalty of the game, but also managed to produce the first goal of the contest as they connected while short-handed.
Yan Stastny sprung Guillaume Desbiens on a 2-on-1 rush and then buried the rebound after Desbiens’ low shot went off the pad of Cedrick Desjardins and onto the skate of Stastny.
Stastny calmly kicked the puck up to his stick and scored his second goal of the series.
The Bulldogs power play struck at 18:56 as David Desharnais blasted home a one-timer to even the score.
For the second time of the contest, the Moose went back on top as Marco Rosa fed Peter Olvecky for his third goal in the past two games, 33 seconds into the second period.
Hamilton thought they had tied the contest at 11:10, but referee Ghislain Hebert was quick to wave off the potential goal.
At full speed, it looked like Andrew Conboy knocked in a rebound with a high stick but on replay it appeared as though the puck went off either off the right glove or skate of Conboy.
Schneider also had two Bulldog players in his crease when the goal was scored.
Before the period came to a close, the Bulldogs got another power play marker to tie the contest 2-2.
This time a pair of Brandon products connected as Ryan White tipped home a slap-pass from Brock Trotter.
Defenceman P.K. Subban assisted on both power play goals for the Bulldogs and had nine points in six games this series.
“Character, there’s a lot of it on this team,” Bulldogs defenceman P.K. Subban said in a post-game interview that aired on SHAW Cable.
In the other North Division semi, the Abbotsford Heat forced a seventh and deciding game with a 5-1 victory over the Rochester Americans on Sunday at Blue Cross Arena.
Game 7 set for Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m.
HOOF PRINTS: Winnipegger Kevin Clark suffered a “lower-body” injury in the second period, leaving the Moose to finish the contest with 11 forwards. Losing D Lawrence Nycholat was a blow to the Moose, but to compound matters, the veteran didn’t even suit up for the parent Vancouver Canucks in either Game 5 or 6 against the Los Angeles Kings.
