The Moose had a bit of a setback this past week on the road as they lost both games in Abbotsford which, had they gotten some points, would have given their hold on the 5th and final playoff spot in the Central a little more cushion. Instead they still were in a good spot up seven points on both Iowa and Chicago which were the two teams they would be facing on this four-game homestand. First up were their arch-rival Wolves in a two-game set this weekend.
Lineup news:
There were some movement amongst the forwards and D but for the most part all stayed the same in terms of personnel with the exception of Mark Liwiski coming in for Daniel Torgersson and Thomas Milic getting the net back from Collin Delia.
Moose lineup:
Malott – Lambert – AJF
Suess – Toninato – Chibrikov
Viel – Reichel – Ford
Golder – Nikkanen – Liwiski
Capobianco – Barteaux
Heinola –Lundmark
Stewart – Bauer
Milic
Notable:
After finding themselves down 1-0 after 20 the Moose got back into the game with Dominic Toninato ensuring a Nikita Chibrikov shot got over the line to tie the game. Toninato earned it since he took about three hard checks before he found himself in a position to score.
Almost nine minutes later the Moose had their first lead of the game courtesy of a Brad Lambert shot as the Jets prospect scored his 20th of the season which was also his 50th point of the year. Deceptive pass by Ville Heinola to set up the chance. Getting to the 50 point mark for Lambert tied him for 3rd on the All-Time points list for Moose rookies. And he wasn’t done.
With the game tied 2-2 after 40, a nice play by Lambert set up Jeff Malott for his 21st of the season to help the home team regain the lead. With that assist Lambert was in sole possession of 3rd and just three points back of his countryman Sami Niku who had 54 in 76 games for Manitoba. (Worth noting the Moose used to play 76 games per season and now play 72).
Some insurance (or so they thought) courtesy of the Identity Line as Jeffrey Viel chipped the puck out of the Moose end and then made a phenomenal pass to Kristian Reichel who fired home his 18th of the year to make it 4-2.
However Chicago needed points if they want to catch Manitoba and they scored twice in 16 seconds to force OT less than a minute after the Moose had made it 4-2.
There wasn’t one whistle in OT and while there were some good chances the game would require a shootout.
In total eight guys shot but this shootout winner by Henri Nikkanen was phenomenal.
Moose now have an eight point lead on the Wolves for the 5th and final playoff spot in the Central and they are just five back of the Stars for 4th with both teams having six games left (and the final two games of the year will be against each other in Texas).
Multi-point game:
Brad Lambert 1G 1A
Jeff Malott 1G 1A
Highlights:
Post-game interviews:
Up next:
These two teams will have a re-match on Sunday afternoon at 2 PM CDT. It is Brad Lambert bobblehead night.
