WINNIPEG - Michael Grabner scored in his return to the Moose on Sunday and Manitoba got three goals in the second to beat the Abbotsford Heat 4-1 in American Hockey League action.
Up 1-0 after the first, Grabner doubled the lead early in the second when he flipped the puck over Abbotsford goalie Matt Keetley off a pass from Sergei Shirokov at 2:08.
Grabner was called up by the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 14 after scoring four goals and adding two assists in five games with the Moose. On Nov. 1, he broke his ankle playing soccer while warming up before a Canucks game and was reassigned to Manitoba on Dec. 19.
Shirokov also set up the goal that gave Manitoba at 3-0 lead when he went behind Abbotsford's net and fed a pass to defenceman Nathan McIver, who scored his first goal of the season at 6:38 of the second.
Moose defenceman Evan Oberg made it 4-0 less than two minutes later, also with his first of the season.
Oberg's goal saw Keetley replaced by Leland Irving.
Kris Chucko broke Moose goalie Cory Schneider's shutout bid off a rebound on the power play at 16:18 of the third period.
The Moose scored the only goal in the first period six seconds after Heat defenceman Keith Seabrook was sent to the penalty box for holding.
Brian Salcido scored at 2:05 with a low shot that beat Keetley.
The victory bumped Manitoba's record to 18-14-4 while Abbotsford dropped to 16-15-4.
The Heat were coming off a win against Peoria, but now have only two wins in their last six games. The Moose have won four of their last six and host the Heat again Monday night.
Manitoba went into the game with the dubious distinction of being the lowest scoring team in the league, recording only 80 goals through 35 games.
Manitoba outshot Abbotsford 32-25 on the night.
Abbotsford, the farm club of the Calgary Flames, is 0-11-0 this season when trailing after two periods.
