The Moose were heading into the final set of games this weekend in Iowa with a chance to catch the Stars for 3rd spot in the Central, which would allow them to bypass the first round with the 5th place Admirals (and if they win that a second round date with the juggernaut Griffins). They entered action trailing Texas by one point and up on Milwaukee by four.
Lineup news:
They got veteran centre David Gustafsson back after he missed just over a month of the season with an injury. While he didn’t play according to play-by-play voice Daniel Fink defenceman Tyrel Bauer took warm-up skate. Not surprisingly none of the guys who are with the Jets (Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov and Brayden Yager) have joined the team as they were back in Winnipeg participating in the end of season exit interviews.
Moose lineup:
Shaw-D.Gustasson-Duehr
JAD-Zhilkin-Fagemo
Barlow-Ford-PDG
Yoder-Julien-Wahlin
Phillips-Clague
Sautner-Barteaux
Anhorn-L.Gustafsson
Milic
Notable:
Jets prospect Danny Zhilkin opened the scoring for the Moose as he gets the legs going, goes around the D man and buried his own rebound. He’s up to 12 goals.
Defenceman Dylan Anhorn had the secondary assist on the goal which gives him a new career high for assists (14) and points (17).
Late in the 2nd the pair almost connected again to give the Moose a lead but no dice as Anhorn rang it off the post.
The pride of Foxwarren, Manitoba Dawson Barteaux gave the Moose a late 2-1 lead with his first goal of the season. That was a timely one.
But 22 seconds later the Wild tie the game 2-2 with an extra attacker on the ice.
Anhorn that close to ending the game with seconds remaining in the 3rd.
The Moose would need extra time for the fourth straight game which had just a wild sequence seeing the Moose get a 2 on 1, followed by a Wild 3 on 1, followed by a Moose 1 on 0.
No dice for either team which meant they’d need a shootout. Iowa goalie Riley Mercer made one of the most incredible saves I’ve seen. Has to be a ‘Save of the Year’ candidate.
Wild scored twice in the shootout while the Moose were stymied both times meaning that Iowa took it 3-2 in a shootout over Manitoba.
Looking around the Central the Stars won big, the Admirals lost big and as you know the Moose lost in a shootout which means things are as follows ahead of the games tomorrow:
3. Texas 78 (1)
4. Manitoba 76 (1)
5. Milwaukee 71 (2)
With a Moose victory coupled with a Stars loss, it would mean Manitoba moves into 3rd place. That would allow them to bypass the first round best of three series with Milwaukee where the “winner” gets to face 1st place Grand Rapids.
Multi-point game:
Danny Zhilkin 1G 1A
Highlights:
Players & Coach post-game media:
To follow
Up next:
The team will conclude their regular season in a re-match with the Wild tomorrow evening. Puck drop is at 6 PM CT.
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