The Manitoba Moose saw their perfect start come to an end Friday night, falling 2-1 to the Grand Rapids Griffins at Van Andel Arena.
Noah Gregor supplied Manitoba’s lone goal, his third of the season and fifth point overall, but the Moose couldn’t finish the push after digging into a two-goal hole. Michal Postava stood tall for Grand Rapids with 36 saves, and William Lagesson’s second-period marker held up as the game-winner.
Grand Rapids grabbed the first lead late in the opening period when Cameron Butler finished a feed from Kienan Draper after nearly 16 minutes of scoreless hockey. The Griffins then killed off a penalty before the intermission and carried a 1-0 advantage into the dressing room. Postava stopped nine shots in the first, while Domenic DiVincentiis turned aside 12 at the other end.
The Griffins doubled the margin just two minutes into the second. Lagesson broke in wide and slipped the puck between DiVincentiis and the post for a 2-0 lead.
That’s when Manitoba took over the shot clock. The Moose outshot Grand Rapids 16-5 the rest of the period, but Postava kept the door shut with a string of key saves, preserving the two-goal cushion heading into the third.
Manitoba kept pressing and trimmed the deficit at 4:17 of the final period. Gregor worked around a defender, waited out Postava, and lifted a backhand into the empty net to make it 2-1.
The Moose finished with a 12-11 shot edge in the third, but Grand Rapids killed another penalty inside the final seven minutes and Manitoba never found the equalizer before the horn. Postava’s 36-save performance sealed the win for the Griffins, who improved to 1-1-1-0. The Moose dropped to 2-1-0-0 after coming in off an 8-3 win over the Chicago Wolves on Sunday.
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