From the stands to the crease: Isaac Poulter backstops Moose to win in hometown debut

Goaltender Isaac Poulter has played AHL games before, but Sunday afternoon felt different.

It marked his first start for the team he grew up watching — the Manitoba Moose — and he delivered, backstopping them to a 4–3 shootout win over the Chicago Wolves at Canada Life Centre.

The Winnipeg-born goaltender comes from a family of goalies and carries notable lineage as the great-great nephew of Vezina Trophy winner Charlie Gardiner. Poulter spent most of his minor hockey career in the city with the Winnipeg Monarchs and the RINK Hockey Academy, and he watched the Moose long before he ever imagined playing for them.

“I had season tickets for the Manitoba Moose for most of my childhood until the Jets came back,” Poulter said earlier this season.

After three years split between the Utica Comets, Adirondack Thunder, and brief call-ups with the New Jersey Devils, Poulter signed with the Winnipeg Jets last offseason. He began the year in Norfolk, but an injury to Connor Hellebuyck pushed Thomas Milic up to the NHL and opened a spot for Poulter with the Moose.

Domenic DiVincentiis had started three straight, but Sunday’s homestand finale was Poulter’s turn.

The Game

Brayden Yager opened the scoring in the first period, finishing a rush to give the Moose a 1–0 lead. Poulter faced 11 shots in the frame, settling in gradually after more than 10 days without game action.

“Our team did a fantastic job in the first two periods making it easy for me… guys are blocking shots, making plays,” Poulter said. “When I see them putting in that effort it puts me at ease a little bit that they’ll have my back all night.”

The second period tilted toward the Wolves, who built momentum after a heavyweight fight between Tyrel Bauer and Yanick Turcotte. Chicago capitalized with two goals on 13 shots to take a 2–1 lead.

The Moose pushed back in the third. Phillip Di Giuseppe tied it with a tap-in, and Nikita Chibrikov appeared to score the winner with under four minutes left. But the Wolves responded on the next shift, forcing overtime.

A scoreless OT sent the game to a shootout, where Poulter stopped one of three attempts — enough to secure the win as Cayden Primeau couldn’t stop Chibrikov, Yager, or Danny Zhilkin.

Poulter finished with 28 saves and earned second-star honours. His best moment came late in the first period, when he lunged across the crease to shut down a point-blank chance from Bradly Nadeau.

“I’ve been dreaming of this since I was seven or eight years old watching the Moose play back then,” Poulter said.

Moose assistant coach Morgan Klimchuk praised his composure.

“He made a lot of big saves at a lot of key moments,” Klimchuk said. “There’s going to be times where things break down and you need your goalie, and he gave us exactly that — and another big save in the shootout that ultimately was the difference.”

The Moose now move on to Chicago, and Poulter does so having finally lived the hometown moment he spent years imagining.