The Manitoba Moose (8-6-2) were in action at the Canada Life Centre on Saturday afternoon as they hosted their division rivals, the Chicago Wolves (7-5-3) for the second half of a two game set. The Moose pulled out a 2-1 victory over the Wolves on Thursday night, improving their record versus the Carolina Hurricanes minor league affiliate to 1-0-1 on the season.
Manitoba has been hot of late, picking up 2 points in each of their last 5 contests, while Chicago has ended up on the wrong side of the scoreboard in their last 2 games. The recent addition of higher end talent like Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov, & Parker Ford made the club much more of a threat offensively, as they were able to control the puck for long stretches of time…until Thomas Milic had to weather a storm in a less than ideal 3rd period.
Coach Mark Morrison would have been happy with what he saw in the opening 2 periods and will be stressing the importance of the Moose delivering that for a full 60 minutes. Chicago & Manitoba are still in a tight battle in the AHL’s Central, so both teams will be hungry on Saturday afternoon. Here were the standings coming into the match (via theahl.com):
Since Milic was called up by the Winnipeg Jets to fill in during Connor Hellebuyck’s absence, that means the Dominic DiVincentiis (.903%) will get the start in net. Isaac Poulter (.915%) was recalled from the ECHL’s Norfolk Admirals to be Manitoba’s back up.
On defense, young Elias Salomonsson is paired with Isaak Phillips on the top pairing, while Ville Heinola & Kyle Clague fill out the Moose’s top 4. Manitoba-born Ashton Sautner & Ethan Frisch will be the 3rd pairing today. Here is how the forwards will be lining up:
Alright, lets find out how the mini-Jets did this afternoon…..
1ST
For the second straight game, the Moose were ready to play when the opening puck drop hit the ice. The improved forward lines seemed to have unleashed a tenacious forecheck that comes in wave after wave, as each unit is more than capable of creating havoc. Manitoba used this to their advantage in the 1st period, out shooting Chicago 11 to 6 while getting the majority of quality scoring chances. The forecheck also provided the Moose the opportunity to open the scoring when Danny Zhilkin’s hard work below the goal line resulted in him getting the puck behind the Wolves’ net. The Russian quickly spotted Jaret Anderson-Dolan in the low left face-off circle and hit him with a pass. Rather than unleash a shot that Chicago’s Cayden Primeau was expecting, JAD quickly slid the puck across the slot to an uncovered Colby Barlow for a 1 timer. MB 1-0
2ND
The 2nd period saw Manitoba keep the pressure on early and they were rewarded for more forechecking in the opening 2 minutes. After a dump into the offensive zone by the Moose, Walker Duehr flew after the puck, forcing the defenseman to attempt a behind the net pass to his teammate. But the 2nd layer, this time in the form of Mason Shaw, was anticipating that and beat the Wolves’ player to the puck in the left corner. The veteran AHLer quickly threw the puck towards the net, even though he was below the goal line, and got the second best possible outcome when the biscuit bounced off the goalie’s pads into the low slot. Waiting there was the 3rd Moose forward, David Gustafsson, who wasted no time in blasting the puck by the tender. MB 2-0. Manitoba took their second penalty of the game shortly after, but ended up with the better scoring chances after Isaak Phillips & Duehr were sprung on separate uncontested breakaways. Perhaps not unsurprisingly, the defenseman failed to beat Primeau, but a nice move to the backhand by Duehr padded the Moose’s lead. MB 3-0. Chicago gained some momentum a few minutes later, when Brad Lambert tried to get fancy at the opponent’s blueline, resulting in a 2 on 1 Wolves’ rush the other way. Fortunately, Elias Salomonsson played it excellently to deny the chance, but Manitoba remained hemmed in their own end until a pass found a Wolf for a backside tap in goal. MB 3-1. The play evened up after this (shots 10-9 CHI in period), with both clubs getting offensive looks. Dominic DiVincentiis made a couple big stops on another long cycle shift by Chicago, but Manitoba probably should have extended their lead on breakaways by Duehr & Samuel Fagemo. The Swedish goal scorer did manage to beat the goalie only to ring the crossbar, but he was very lucky not to be called for a hold on the defender he out-raced to get the opportunity.
3RD
After Manitoba went into the final frame with a lead against Chicago last game, they ended up defending so much they couldn’t manage a shot on net. Fortunately their efforts were better on Saturday and they had multiple looks to add to their lead early on (Salomonsson 1 timer from the slot, Gustafsson having a rebound hop over his stick, and Phillip DiGuiseppe missing on a breakaway). The Wolves also had their chances in the 3rd, especially their dangerous top line of Bradley Nadeau, Ryan Suzuki, & Justin Robidas. Moose goalie DiVincentiis was up to the task, making a few denials on good scoring looks, until with over 3 minutes left Chicago’s coach opted to pull the tender. His timing was good and it saw the Parker Ford line get caught in their own end for an extended period. Despite Dom making another great save, the Wolves broke through when the goalie stopped a point shot, only to see it bounce off the back of a defender in front. MB 3-2. With just over 2 minutes remaining, Manitoba was able to contest possession enough to kill 45 seconds before Chicago could once again pull their tender for the extra attacker. This time, the Moose were quick to pressure the puck, resulting in a quick clear of the defensive end and enough pressure in the neutral zone to stop the Wolves from setting up in the offensive zone.
SHOTS: Manitoba 28 Chicago 27
PP: Manitoba 0 of 3 Chicago 0 for 2
*****
THREE STARS
BOJA’s Post-Game Thoughts
An impressive performance by the Manitoba Moose during the Saturday matinee, stretching their winning streak to 6 games as they continue to claw their way up the AHL’s Central Division standings after a poor start to the 2025-26 campaign. The victory over the Canes’ farm team puts them in a temporary tie for 2nd place with the Milwaukee Admirals, though those guys have 4 games in hand. Not sure I’ve seen that many breakaways for one team in a game though…with the mini-Jets getting 5 or 6 in this one, yet only slipped one behind the keeper.
It is amazing how having a good forward corps can ease the pressure on a club’s defensive units. The Moose have been able to spend large chunks of time in the offensive zone on their winning streak, but that has been enhanced by the arrival of the Lambert, Chibrikov, & Ford. The coaching staff is able to roll out 4 lines that can not only create offense on a consistent basis, but also assist in their own end of the ice, allowing Manitoba to mask the weakest part of their team better. In today’s game, all four units had their looks yet it was the Shaw-Gustafsson-Duehr and Barlow-Zhilkin-Anderson-Dolan lines that were the toughest for Chicago to contain. The Yager trio were solid at both ends of the ice, but the Chibrikov-Ford-Lambert unit made a few mistakes in the neutral zone that ended up costing them shifts in the defensive zone.
Manitoba played solidly enough in front of DiVincentiis that he wasn’t called on to make any ridiculous robberies, but the tender had solid positioning all afternoon. A few times Dom shocked some Wolves’ snipers by reading where the play was going to go and being in place to make the stop look almost routine. Great for the tender’s confidence now that he has to step into the sole starting role with Milic promoted to the NHL. DiVincentiis has now picked up wins 3 of his last 4 starts with save percentages ranging from .906 to .962….though he had to settle for a .926% today.
If you haven’t already done it, you can click the Play button in this article’s photo to watch a video recap of the game.
