The Moose had a successful road trip winning two of three last week and having pushed hard in the game they lost on Wednesday in Laval. They are back in Winnipeg for a pair of games.
Lineup news:
After having a consistent lineup for some time the Moose found themselves without a pair of Jets 1st rounder with Cole Perfetti (2020) off to Team Canada selection camp and Ville Heinola (2019) called up to the big club.
With Perfetti gone Haralds Egle gets a chance to jump into his spot. Captain Jimmy Oligny didn’t dress for the game which meant that Nelson Nogier, who has been a healthy scratch got back in as did Jets 2019 2nd rounder Simon Lundmark.
Moose lineup:
Egle-Gustafsson-Poganski
Malott-Suess-Reichel
Eyssimont-Maier-Burgess
Polei-Meireles-Caron
Chisholm – Gawanke
Samberg – Kovacevic
Nogier – Lundmark
Holm
Berdin
Noteworthy:
The Moose D are all Jets draft picks this evening:
2018 5th – 2017 5th
2017 2nd – 2017 3rd
2014 4th – 2019 2nd
The 1st period was incredibly slow by both clubs.
The Moose woke up in the 2nd period but Winnipegger Calvin Pickard who was in net for Grand Rapids stopped 20 shots in the middle frame alone while his Grand Rapids team scored twice on six shots.
Manitoba didn’t deviate from the game plan and they continued to fire shots at Pickard which eventually gave them some life as they started the final frame on an 8-1 shot advantage.
They needed something greasy and alternate captain Cole Maier delivered with a fortuitous bounce tap in to cut the lead in half.
Five minutes later Mikey Eyssimont tied the game as he got a puck that a Griffins defender couldn’t stop Maier from shooting and then Eyssimont buried the rebound.
As time ticked away in the 3rd period the tide continued to turn in Manitoba’s favour as David Gustafsson got a puck back on his stick at the side of the net and he gave the Moose a 3-2 lead with 3:27 left in the period.
The game would be put away with hard-working Kristian Reichel putting a puck into the empty net to make it 4-2.
Cole Maier & David Gustafsson are tied for the team lead in goals with 7.
The Moose improve to 14-7-1 on the season which puts them 2nd in the Central as they have now won eight of their last 10 games.
Health news:
Moose captain Jimmy Oligny missed his first game and assistant coach Eric Dubois said he is day-to-day.
Players media interview:
Coach media availability:
Game Highlights:
Up Next:
The Moose will be back in action tomorrow in a re-match with the Griffins at Canada Life Centre with a 6 PM puck drop.
