The Moose came into tonight’s game feeling good about where things stood through four games. They had received solid goaltending, enjoyed balanced scoring throughout the lineup and seen their defensive pairings develop chemistry despite having played just a handful of games together. Manitoba had also been finding the back of the net at a rate we haven’t seen from this club in quite some time. However, with much of that offensive production coming against the Wolves, who accounted for three of their first four games, the question was whether the Moose could maintain that pace against a Stars team that entered the evening with a 1-2-0-1 record.
Lineup news:
For the fifth straight game, the Moose rolled out the exact same forward lines and defensive pairings. It’s been remarkable how consistent their lineup has remained, although with three wins in their first four games, there really hasn’t been much reason to make any changes. The only switch came between the pipes, where Domenic DiVincentiis got the start, continuing the early-season trend of him getting the first game of a two-game weekend set.
Moose lineup:
Wahlin – Yager – Chibrikov
Gregor – Zhilkin – Ford
He – Julien – Barlow
Empey – Yoder – Burnside
Phillips – Freij
Sautner – Mayo
Gustafsson – Thrun
DiVincentiis
Milic
Notable:
The Stars were able to strike first courtesy of a turnover and a great shot by Artem Shlaine to make it a 1-0 game. They’d follow that up on the PP as Shlaine found Dylan Hryckowian who was given way too much time and space to make it 2-0 for the visitors. That’s how it would end after 20 minutes.
In the middle frame the home team went to work. It began with Jets prospect Brayden Yager dropping his shoulder with a drive to the net which was finished off by Lucas Wahlin who would have a career game.
About seven minutes later Wahlin showed some serious oomph in his legs as he drove the net hard for the Moose. No goal but Jets prospect Nikita ‘on the spot’ Chibrikov deposited it with the no-look spin-o-rama which tied the game.
Less than a minute later Manitoba took their first lead of the game when Jets D prospect Alfons Freij scored an absolute beauty of a snipe, which was his second goal of the season. That’s how the second period would end with the Moose up 3-2.
However, the Stars wouldn’t go away scoring early in the 3rd to tie the game.
With the Moose on the power play, we saw quite the rip by Yager which helped his club regain the lead just over a minute later.
And it didn’t stop there which had me thinking these Moose don’t resemble any Moose I recognize. The OHL line struck as Jets prospect Colby Barlow made it a 5-3 game with his second of the season. Kevin He did some good work but didn’t pick up an assist. Jacob Julien got the primary assist. Henry Thrun also got an apple.
As mentioned it was a career night for Wahlin who got his fourth point of the game as he recovered a puck in the Stars end and fed it in front to Yager for his second of the game to make it 6-3.
It’s been 3,113 days since Mike Sgarbossa last scored a goal in Winnipeg (April 8, 2018) but he got one tonight. Of course last time was for Manitoba whereas this time it was against them.
Jets prospect Danny Zhilkin with the exclamation point on this one firing home this empty netter from long-distance to make it 7-4 for the Moose.
Credit the visitors for not quitting even at the end of the game but Jets goalie prospect Domenic DiVincentiis shut the door with his 30th save of the game with seconds left in this game.
Down 2-0 after 20 minutes, the Moose scored three in the 2nd and four in the 3rd to beat the Stars 7-4 and improve to 4-1-0. They’ve scored 25 goals in five games, averaging 5.0 per game after 2.57 last season.
Multi-point game:
Lucas Wahlin (1G 3A)
Brayden Yager (2G 1A)
Nikita Chibrikov (1G 2A)
Parker Ford (2A)
Highlights:
Players & Coach post-game media:
Up next:
The Moose are scheduled to practice tomorrow at 11:30 AM CT as they prepare for the matinee on Sunday against the Stars.
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