The AHL club of Manitoba had their backs against the wall as they got set to face the Stars in game 2 of their best of three series in Texas. This team has played with desperation all season long so it isn’t a surprise that they were going to need that and more if they wanted their season to continue.
Lineup news:
Couple of swaps as Tyrel Bauer returned from injury as did Nicholas Jones which meant Dylan Anhorn and Mark Liwiski came out.
Moose lineup:
Malott – Lambert – AJF
Viel – Reichel – Ford
Suess – Toninato– Chibrikov
Torgersson-Nikkanen-Jones
Capobianco – Barteaux
Heinola –Lundmark
Sautner – Bauer
Milic
Notable:
Bit of a see-saw affair to start the game as Texas got started right out of the gate but the Moose quickly countered with both clubs generating some changes early in the opening period of play.
Right after Manitoba goalie Thomas Milic made a big save on the PK the Stars keep applying the pressure and they managed to fire one past him with a screen in front to give the home team a 1-0 lead over the visitors.
On a power play of their own the Moose came close to tying the game off the stick of Axel Jonsson-Fjallby but his shot went wide and the 1st ended with the Stars up 1-0 with the Moose holding a 13-6 shot edge.
Thomas Milic wasn’t tested as much as his Stars counterpart but he came up with a big series of saves and then got slashed for extra measure.
It wasn’t that Manitoba lacked chances but they just didn’t have the puck luck as evidenced by this play.
Another chance for the Moose to tie the game came early in the 3rd period as AJF created this shorthanded breakaway for himself but he was unable to finish it off.
Disaster early in the 3rd as Moose coverage in front of the net disappeared which was music to the ears of the Stars Fredrik Karlstrom who scored his second of the game to put Texas up 2-0.
Taking a page out of the Jets book the Moose got a bit fancy making one pass too many which ended up with a breakaway chance that resulted in a penalty shot for the Stars. So it was rookie Thomas Milic against Mavrik Bourque, who led the AHL in scoring this past season, and the Manitoba netminder outlasted him to keep it a two goal deficit for his team.
And the Moose season came to an end as the Stars took game 2 of their best of three play-in series by a final score of 2-0. Manitoba outshot Texas 41-22 and Stars netminder Remi Poirier was excellent in the win. Both teams shook hands which concludes the on ice portion of this season for the Moose.
Heck of a season for a Manitoba team that looked completely out of it not that long ago. Lots of great development for Jets prospects.
Multi-point game:
None
Highlights:
Post-game interviews:
Up next:
The season is over but the Moose content is not. We will have exit interviews still to come so stay tuned for that. As well our end of season Moose roundtable will be coming your way at some point which means you better subscribe to our YouTube channel.
