**FYI: the video link in the article’s photo is from Game 2, so you might not want to watch it until later. It is also posted below.**
The Manitoba Moose will continue their long homestand when they host the Chicago Wolves for games at the Canada Life Centre on Saturday & Sunday afternoon (2 pm Central). Both clubs will be entering action on a 1 game winning streak after blowing out the opposition in their latest match (Moose 5-1 vs Senators & Wolves 8-4 over IceDogs).
The Moose (10-7-2) opened up this homestand with a pair of 1 goal victories over the Wolves (8-6-3) and those tightly contested affairs mirror the closeness of the franchises in the AHL Central Division standings. Manitoba enters in the 3rd place spot with a 3 point lead on 4th place Chicago, but the Carolina Hurricanes’ farm team have a couple games in hand (.579 MB to .559 CHI winning percentages). The two AHL squads don’t have a point per game player on their roster and have relied on depth scoring for their offense (8 Moose players with at least 9 pts to 7 from the Wolves).
Manitoba goalie Dominic DiVincentiis has been thrust back into the starter’s role with the promotion of Thomas Milic…and the kid has played well, with 6 quality starts in his last 7 outings. The veterans have led the way for the Moose this year so far, with guys like Mason Shaw (12 pts), Walker Duehr & David Gustafsson (11), and Phillip Di Giuseppe & Jaret Anderson-Dolan (10) at the top of the points leaders.
When it comes to Winnipeg Jets’ prospects, so far it has been rookie Brayden Yager & 3 yr AHL veteran Danny Zhilkin (9 pts) that have found the most success. Fellow rookie Colby Barlow (5) struggled out of the gate in his debut campaign, but he has recently heated up with 3 pts in the last 5 contests. The prospects recently returned from the Jets have found varying levels of success, with Parker Ford (3 in 4) transitioning smoothly, while Nikita Chibrikov (1 in 4) and Brad Lambert (2 in 6) are still looking to warm up offensively.
Enough of the prelim stuff….lets get to the action.
GAME 1 RECAP
Manitoba started out on the wrong foot when they got caught for a hold in the opening minute of play, but their penalty killers have been excellent this season (tied for 6th at 84.1%) and they were able to save the day. Not only that, but as Kyle Clague stepped out of the box he was sent in on a breakaway by Isaak Phillips that ended with the Moose up 1-0. Chicago plays very much like their NHL affiliate, Carolina Hurricanes, with a great gaps & speedy forecheckers causing all sorts of problems for the opposition. Manitoba withstood it better than the Winnipeg Jets did, though the Wolves did have the better of the flow of play in the 1st period (shots 9-5 CHI). After Nikita Chibrikov took a high & late bodycheck, Moose tough guy tried to force the Chicago player to fight on the next shift, but a denial left the defenseman in the box by himself. The Wolves were finally able to solve Dominic DiVincentiis with the man-advantage, sending the clubs to the dressing rooms knotted at 1-1.
Manitoba was able to even out play in the middle frame….and likely had the better scoring chances as they outshot Chicago 10-9 in the 2nd. Unfortunately a string of posts or crossbars kept the Moose from taking advantage of their high quality scoring looks…with Parker Ford squarely ringing a post from the slot & the Danny Zhilkin did the impossible by hitting the right post, deflecting off the crossbar, and then going on to peg the left post before bouncing out into the slot. Those weren’t the only good scoring chances for the home team, as Zhilkin and Mason Shaw failed to capitalize on slot opportunities. The Wolves also tested DiVincentiis a few times, but the tender made a great stop on a 1 timer shot and then another on a mid-slot deflection.
A great push by the Moose to open up the 3rd saw Walker Duehr ring yet another post and Chibrikov get absolutely stoned from the low slot. Unfortunately, a failed zone exit by Manitoba resulted in a Chicago cycle and a shot from the point. Heading to the far left of DiVincentiis, he slid over to make the save, only for a covered yet not tied up Bradley Nadeau to deflect it to the opposite side of the net. The home team tried to respond, but the defensive coverage and tenacious forecheck kept the attack at bay for the most part. A late goal against as Manitoba pushed for the equalizer and an empty netter was all that was left to see.
Here are the stats from theAHL.com:
*****
THREE STARS
The loss in the opener of the series allowed Chicago to pull within 1 point of Manitoba in the battle for the 3rd place spot in the AHL’s Central. The back-to-back nature of the games left the Moose going with Winnipeg-born Isaac Poulter (2.85 GAA/.915% in ECHL) for the first time since his recall from the Norfolk Admirals.
Coach Mark Morrison also fiddled around with his forward lines, opting to center rookie Brayden Yager with speedy Brad Lambert and sniper Samuel Fagemo on one unit. Lets find out if the tinkering worked…
GAME 2 RECAP
The first period of these two evenly matched clubs started out the same as the others have this season, with both Chicago & Manitoba playing fast & trying to force the other team’s defenders to make a mistake. Despite the Wolves outshooting the Moose 11-8 in the frame, the first breakthrough came when Brad Lambert started a rush up the ice before dishing the puck off to Samuel Fagemo in the neutral zone. As the Swede entered the zone, the young Finn drove the net & drew the defenseman back towards his goaltender. This opened up a lane to the third member of Manitoba’s line and Brayden Yager received the pass in the slot with plenty of space, allowing him to pick his target and beat the goalie to give the hometown club a lead.
The 2nd period continued to be fairly evenly contested, though Chicago once again won the shot battle 13 to 11. A noteworthy first scrap of the season for Tyrel Bauer, who had a heavy weight battle with Yanick Turcotte and got the better of his opponent in the end, despite the resulting bloody knuckles. Unfortunately for those of you that enjoy fisticuffs, the bout was not included in the game recap video below…but I went and found it. It takes a bit to get started and also lasts a while. Enjoy.
With some good stops by each goalie, the score remained the same until a failed zone exit by Manitoba resulted in the puck working its way to an uncovered Wolf player, who needed a couple shots to squeak the puck into the net to knot things up. Things got worse for the Moose when they took a late period penalty and their vaunted PK allowed a goal with 2 seconds left (pass to net bounced off skate in front).
Manitoba entered the final frame down 2-1 and they showed right from the beginning that they were not in a mood for a series sweep. The Moose outshot the Wolves 15 to 6 but still couldn’t beat Cayden Primeau in the first half of the 3rd. Keeping up the pressure, the hometown boys finally found the equalizer when Kyle Clague threw the puck towards the net, allowing Phillip DiGiuseppe the chance to bang home a rebound. That same line provided the go ahead goal 6 minutes later when Nikita Chibrikov rushed up the ice, dangled the puck between his legs as he drove the net, before lifting the puck over the goalie to give his team a chance to pick up a win. Unfortunately, Isaac Poulter misplayed a shot from the right face-off circle less than a minute later, allowing Chicago to tie the match up with a five hole goal.
Overtime provided a good look for both clubs, with the Moose missing the chance to bang home a rebound and then Chicago ringing the post on a 2 on 1 rush. That left it up to the shootout to decide things and Poulter came up big on the first shooter, shutting the pads and keeping the puck out of his net. That is when the Winnipeg Jets’ prospects took over, as Chibrikov slowly drifted in stick handling side to side before slipping the puck 5 hole. Then it came to Brayden Yager, who chose the same technique as his Russian teammate, slowly drifting in before he found an opening on the top glove hand side. The Wolves kept scoring after their first miss, so it was up to Danny Zhilkin, who opted to use his speed as he raced towards Primeau, then made a sweet head fake that sent the tender to the ice, allowing the forward to outwait him and slide the puck in the yawning cage for the win.
Here are the stats from theAHL.com:
*****
THREE STARS
It was certainly nice to watch 3 Winnipeg Jets prospects score in the shootout to seal the win. Best game of the season for all three of them, in my opinion. Danny Zhilkin had a nice dangle to wait out the sprawling goalie to tuck the puck home for the victory…well deserved after all the missed chances he had over the past couple matches.
Probably was the best I’ve seen Brad Lambert play since his demotion, as his line combined for 7 shots on net and were a consistent threat throughout the game. Brayden Yager’s vision is excellent and the two prospects seemed adept at setting up Samuel Fagemo for shots on net (4). And that wasn’t the only Manitoba forward unit to create offensive scoring chances, as each line had plenty of trigger men unleashing rubber on the goaltender:
Walker Duehr – 5
Nikita Chibrikov – 4
David Gustafsson, Phillip DiGiuseppe, & Colby Barlow – 3
Quite the tightly fought pair of games between Manitoba & Chicago….I’ll bet the clubs will be glad to see the end of each other. Yet….they aren’t quite done yet as the teams will have another rematch on Wednesday south of the border. To date, the two Central Division rivals have clashed a total of 5 games (MB 3-1-1) and they have 3 more to go before the AHL’s regular season comes to an end.
Since the Wolves picked up a “loser point” in their loss, the series split allowed them to close the gap on the race for 3rd in the Central, with the Moose holding a 2 point lead. Both franchises are starting to pull away from the teams in the Central’s non-playoff spots (6th & 7th), giving their post-season hopes a boost early in the year.
That is about all the time I have….hope you enjoyed this look at the Manitoba Moose’s weekend action. Feel free to ask any questions in the Comment section and I will do my best to give you an answer.
