Manitoba Moose give up late lead and get swept to conclude 2023 as Texas Stars win 3-2

The Moose aren’t happy with the trend of losing the first game of a two-game set (2-10) but winning the second game (9-2) so they were probably hoping heading into this afternoon’s final game of 2023 it would continue against the Stars.

Lineup news:

Still no Chaz Lucius who is dealing with an illness. On Saturday the Moose announced the recall of Carson Golder from the ECHL. We learned why on Sunday morning as the Jets had recalled Jeffrey Viel on an emergency basis.

Moose lineup:

Malott – Lambert – Ford
Bongiovanni – Zhilkin – Chibrikov
Golder – Reichel – Jones
Torgersson – Nikkanen – Suess

Capobianco – Barteaux
Sautner – Lundmark
Kuzmin – Bauer

Salminen
Delia

Notable:

It was the first sellout for Manitoba this season as there were 7669 fans in attendance for the final game of 2023.

The Moose and Stars traded late power play goals in the opening frame as Kyle McDonald got his squad on the board which was followed 1:15 later by a Brad Lambert slapper which tied the game as Manitoba showed good movement on their man advantage. That was the team leading 11th goal of the season for the Jets 2022 1st rounder.

There was no scoring in the middle frame as both teams had chances but neither could solve the opposing netminder.

Only one goal needed in the 3rd period by the Moose to win a sold out Canada Life free pancakes.

Tyrel Bauer came this close to giving the Moose a lead (and winning fans pancakes) but Stars goalie Remi Poirier makes an incredible stop (or four).

Took me until the 3rd period to realize Stars backup goalie is former Jets 2018 6th round draft pick Jared Moe. Last I checked he was in the Coyotes organization. But he’s played for the Stars ECHL affiliate in Idaho this season where he’s gone 6-2-0.

Manitoban Ashton Sautner won all 7669 Manitobans free pancakes as he gave the Moose a 2-1 lead just past midpoint of 3rd period with this snipe. That set a career high in goals (5) for the defenceman.

A few minutes later we saw some game management from the officials as they missed a pretty blatant boarding by Alex Petrovic on Wyatt Bongiovanni who was in quite a bit of discomfort after the hit.

Defending the lead Brad Lambert had an unintentional block and then a big one for his club.

Penalty trouble late in the game allowed the Stars to tie it at the 18:18 mark of the 3rd and then take the lead for good 37 seconds later.

The fans did win pancakes and they did get indoor fireworks after the game however the Moose got swept by the Stars as they fall to 12-15-0 on the season. They conclude the 2023 calendar year with a weekend sweep by their division rivals.

Multi-point game:

Brad Lambert 1G 1A

Coach media availability:

Highlights:

Up next:

The Moose are off tomorrow and will return to the ice on Tuesday for practice as they start to prepare for their two-game set next weekend when they host Belleville.