The Moose fought back in last night’s game tying it in the 3rd and then winning it in a shootout as they increased their buffer on the fifth and final playoff spot to four points over the Wolves who they faced this evening to conclude six games on the road.
Lineup news:
Two changes to the lineup: On D: Tyrel Bauer came back in replacing Dmitry Kuzmin. At F: Carson Golder came in for Daniel Torgersson.
Moose lineup:
Malott – Lambert – AJF
Suess – Toninato – Chibrikov
Viel – Reichel – Ford
Golder – Nikkanen – Jones
Capobianco – Barteaux
Heinola – Lundmark
Sautner – Bauer
Milic
Delia
Notable:
No surprise but it was the Identity line who got things started for the Moose in Chicago as Parker Ford got his 12th goal of the season to give Manitoba a 1-0 lead.
Back in the lineup for his first game didn’t hamper Tyrel Bauer from answering the bell when challenged to a tilt. And he didn’t just answer it. He rang it.
After the Wolves tied the game in the 1st, the miracle run for Henri Nikkanen continued in the 2nd as he rips this shorthanded shot home to give the Moose a 2-1 lead.
Parker Ford got his second of the game to put the Moose up 3-1 late in the 2nd period on the power play. Really nice tip of the Ville Heinola point shot. Brad Lambert with the secondary assist.
Quite a sequence as Jeffrey Viel gets a shorthanded chance and then the Wolves spring Rocco Grimaldi but he’s out waited by Thomas Milic to maintain the two goal lead for the Moose.
After giving up a power play goal to the Wolves in the 3rd, Nikita Chibrikov gives the Moose a two goal cushion with a power play goal. That’s the 16th goal of the season for the Jets prospect who gives the cheeky shhhh to the crowd in Chicago.
With the two assists Jets prospect Brad Lambert moves into 2nd in AHL rookie scoring. He’s got 43 points (18G 25A) in 51 games for Manitoba which has him on the edge of the Top 10 for All-Time Moose rookie points. He’s currently one back of a guy you may have heard of: Kyle Connor who had 44 points (25G 19A) in 52 games during 2016-17 season.
Moose head coach Mark Morrison spoke before the game about the ‘will and determination’ from his club. Dominic Toninato shows that as he stretched to get puck out of zone and C.J. Suess gets to the puck in neutral zone to make it a 5-2 game.
‘What is going on?’ is likely what Henri Nikkanen is thinking. The Jets 2019 4th rounder scores his second of the game to make it 6-2 for the Moose. He’s got 5G 4A in seven games. He had 0 in first 35 of season. What a run for the Jets 2019 4th rounder.
Five of Parker Ford‘s 13 goals have been game-winners. That ties him for 2nd on the Moose All-Time list for game-winning goals by a rookie. He trails just Mason Appleton who had 6 back in the 2017-18 season.
Another win for rookie goalie Thomas Milic who made 31 saves on 33 shots. He’s won his last six games and he won all five games he played during this critical, six-game road trip.
Multi-point game:
Henri Nikkanen 2G
Parker Ford 2G
Brad Lambert 2A
Nicholas Jones 2A
Highlights:
Post-game interview:
Up next:
The Moose return to Manitoba after almost two weeks on the road but it was successful as they went five wins and one loss and are up six points over the Wolves for the fifth and final playoff spot. They will play six straight in Winnipeg starting with a school day game on Tuesday morning.
