WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- The Grand Rapids Griffins fell behind the Manitoba Moose 23 seconds into the game and failed to overcome the deficit, suffering a 5-2 loss on Tuesday at the Canada Life Centre. 

Rookie Shai Buium scored his first professional goal in the outing while Cross Hanas netted his eighth of the year. Carter Mazur earned an assist, extending his point streak to a team-high six games (4-3—7). Antti Tuomisto skated in his 100th contest as a Griffin. 

Just 23 seconds into the game, Mason Shaw picked off a pass along the Grand Rapids end boards and sent the puck out in front to Axel Jonsson-Fjallby who scored. The rest of the frame was all Griffins, as they outshot the Moose 16-4, yet they failed to find the back of the net. The closest chance for Grand Rapids came on a strike from Tuomisto at the blue line at 17:45. The puck beat netminder Domenic DiVincentiis but deflected off the post. The rebound bounced to Amadeus Lombardi in the right circle with an empty net, but he fanned on the shot and the Griffins exited the first period down by one.

With 8:33 left in the second, Manitoba extended their lead to two when a scrum out in front saw Mark Liwiski dump a rebound chance past Jack Campbell. The Moose then drew a penalty against Grand Rapids at 13:20 and took advantage, as Dominic Toninato scored 11 seconds into the power play when he tipped in a shot from the blue line. The Griffins earned a man-advantage of their own with 2:56 left but came up empty-handed, leaving them down 3-0 through the first 40 minutes. 

The Griffins received another power play with 14:51 left, followed by a tripping call against Manitoba, granting Grand Rapids 49 seconds of a 5-on-3 at 6:20. On the advantage, the Griffins tallied their first point when Buium ripped a one-timer past DiVincentiis for his first professional goal at 6:47. Grand Rapids remained on the power play but allowed a Manitoba 2-on-1 breakaway the other way and Jonsson-Fjallby scored his second of the game short-handed with 12:07 to play.  The Moose continued to add to their lead at 10:39, as Tyson Empey lit the lamp. However, the Griffins got back on the board with 4:54 remaining when Hanas weaved through Manitoba defenders and buried a strike from the left circle. Grand Rapids had a final power-play chance with 36 seconds left but failed to add more tallies, as they fell 5-2. 

Notes

• The Griffins dropped to 5-20-4-1 when scoring less than three goals.
• Grand Rapids has outshot its opponents in eight of its last 12 games.

Box Score

Grand Rapids 0 0 2 - 2
Manitoba 1 2 2 - 5

1st Period-1, Manitoba, Jonsson-Fjällby 8 (Shaw), 0:23. Penalties-Sautner Mb (hooking), 1:38; Tuomisto Gr (closing hand on puck), 14:56.

2nd Period-2, Manitoba, Liwiski 3 (Chyzowski, Zhilkin), 11:27. 3, Manitoba, Toninato 13 (Shaw, Salomonsson), 13:31 (PP). Penalties-Tuomisto Gr (high-sticking), 13:20; Bauer Mb (holding the stick), 17:04; Doucet Gr (fighting, game misconduct - jersey), 19:59; Shaw Mb (fighting), 19:59.

3rd Period-4, Grand Rapids, Buium 1 (Snively, Mazur), 6:47 (PP). 5, Manitoba, Jonsson-Fjällby 9 (Anderson-Dolan), 7:53 (SH). 6, Manitoba, Empey 6 (Anderson-Dolan, Wagner), 10:39. 7, Grand Rapids, Hanas 8 (Wallinder), 15:06. Penalties-Anhorn Mb (tripping), 5:09; Shaw Mb (tripping), 6:20; Shine Gr (high-sticking), 11:59; Snively Gr (high-sticking), 16:31; Lombardi Gr (roughing), 19:24; Bauer Mb (roughing, misconduct - continuing altercation), 19:24; Suess Mb (roughing), 19:24; Salomonsson Mb (roughing), 19:54.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 16-11-10-37. Manitoba 4-8-11-23.
Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 1 / 6; Manitoba 1 / 4.
Goalies-Grand Rapids, Campbell 2-6-1 (23 shots-18 saves). Manitoba, DiVincentiis 8-6-1 (37 shots-35 saves).
A-6,392

Three Stars

1. MB DiVincentiis (W, 35 saves); 2. MB Anderson-Dolan (two assists); 3. MB Jonsson-Fjallby (two goals)

Record/Next Game: 

Grand Rapids: 28-21-4-2 (62 pts.) / Wed., March 5 at Manitoba 8 p.m. EST

Manitoba: 19-30-1-2 (41 pts.) / Wed., March 5 vs. Grand Rapids 7 p.m. CST

Photo by Manitoba Moose