The Moose know they need to keep playing with desperation after turning things around this season from a stretch that saw them go 0-10-1 to coming into today’s afternoon contest against the Canucks at 9-2-0 which has allowed them to get back into the playoff mix. In fact their run of late has been good enough to have them within striking distance of 4th spot. They began this six-game homestand splitting a two-game set with the Grand Rapids Griffins which concluded 10 straight games against divisional opponents.
Today they welcomed the Canucks farm club to Winnipeg for the first meeting of the season between these two clubs.
Lineup news:
No changes to the Moose lineup. Goalie Thomas Milic would get the start which was his eighth game of the last nine contests for Manitoba.
Moose lineup:
Malott – Lambert – AJF
Suess – Toninato – Chibrikov
Viel – Reichel – Ford
Golder – Nikkanen – Jones
Capobianco – Barteaux
Heinola – Lundmark
Sautner – Bauer
Milic
Delia
Notable:
Unlike their parent club the farm team in Manitoba got off to a strong start in this contest outshooting the Canucks 6-2 before Kyle Capobianco ripped home this shot to give the home team a 1-0 lead. They held a 14-2 shot edge after 20 minutes.
This theme continued into the middle frame which saw the Moose outshoot the Canucks 21-6 and all appeared in order when Kristian Reichel scored his 17th goal of the season on the power play to give them a 2-0 lead. His 17 goals in 59 games almost matches his previous three seasons which saw him score 20 goals in 120 games.
Bad news for the home team however is that the Canucks were able to beat Thomas Milic twice in the 2nd on just six of those shots which made it a 2-2 game after 40 minutes of play.
Just as a power play expired Jeffrey Viel gave the Moose a 3-2 lead courtesy of his 13th of the campaign.
While the score was close the Moose would outshoot the Canucks 45-12 which means Abbotsford goalie Nikita Tolopilo, who was named 2nd Star, deserves a ton of credit after making 42 saves.
With the assist on the GWG, Moose defenceman Kyle Capobianco is up to 45 points on the season (9G 36A) in his 58th game. That ties him for 1st among all AHL DMen in points.
Jeffrey Viel matched his career high for points set last season. He’s got 13G 18A for 31 points in 57 games. The Moose forward had the game-winning goal and an assist in today’s 3-2 win. Last year with the Barracuda he had 15G 16A for 31 points in 60 games.
With the victory the Moose now have an eight point cushion on the 5th and final playoff spot in the Central (Wolves have a game in hand and play tonight) and they trail the Stars who hold the 4th playoff spot by six points (Manitoba has a game in hand).
Multi-point game:
Kyle Capobianco 1G 1A
Jeffrey Viel 1G 1A
Highlights:
Post-game interview:
Up next:
The Moose have a re-match with these same Abbotsford Canucks tomorrow at 12 noon CDT.
