Manitoba Moose third period comeback falls short as Wild take regular season home finale 4-3

The Moose picked up two big points on Saturday afternoon but had to wait until Saturday evening when the Wolves lost to official know that their ticket to the post-season had been punched. As a result it made this concluding game of the two-game set with the Wild a little less important although there is still home ice advantage to play for if Manitoba can catch Texas.

Lineup news:

Couple of pro debuts today in Winnipeg as Jets 2023 1st rounder Colby Barlow will play for the Moose as will college free agent signee Dylan Anhorn. To accommodate these additions Barlow replaced Carson Golder and Anhorn replaced Dean Stewart. As well Daniel Torgersson replaced Mark Liwiski.

Moose lineup:

Malott – Lambert – AJF
Suess – Toninato – Chibrikov
Viel – Reichel – Ford
Barlow – Nikkanen – Torgersson

Capobianco – Barteaux
Anhorn –Heinola
Sautner –Lundmark

Delia

Moose End of Season Awards:

Most Valuable Player Award – Kristian Reichel
Best Defenceman Award – Kyle Capobianco
Rookie of the Year Award – Brad Lambert & Nikita Chibrikov
Community Service Award – Jimmy Oligny
Fan Favourite Award – Brad Lambert

Here is a link to all the descriptions from the Moose.

Notable:

Making your pro debut is a big deal and Colby Barlow took to the ice in downtown Winnipeg for the first time today, but certainly not the last.

Despite the Moose holding a slight shot edge in the opening period of play (9-7) it was the Wild who had a 1-0 lead courtesy of a power play goal. The shot disparity would only grow for the home team in the middle frame as Manitoba outshot Iowa 15-6 but it was the visitors who added to their goal total scoring twice on six shots to lead 3-0 after 40.

After Moose goalie Collin Delia gave up a goal on just the second shot of the 3rd period the Moose found themselves down 4-0. But this team has shown that they are never really out of games.

Jets prospect Colby Barlow had one shot in his pro debut as he tipped this puck put on net by Kyle Capobianco.

The top defenceman in the AHL in terms of points, Kyle Capobianco continued to produce this afternoon as he got Manitoba on the board with this nice chip pass to himself which he wired home for his 12th of the season.

Ville Heinola matched his goal totals from his previous two seasons when he scored his 9th of the year this afternoon to narrow the Moose deficit to 4-2. In 89 games with Manitoba in the two prior seasons he had nine. This year he got to nine in 38 games.

On the second Moose goal Jets prospect Brad Lambert picked up an assist. He’s got 20G 32A for 52 points in 62 games. He’s two back of Sami Niku for 2nd on All-Time Moose rookie points list. His 32  ties him for 5th on the Assist list for rookies with JC Lipon.

Last goal at home for the regular season goes to C.J. Suess who brought the Moose within one with 1:53 left in the 3rd as they pushed for the comeback.

They would outshoot the Wild 15-2 in the final frame.

The path to 4th place (ie home ice) got a little more difficult with Moose not securing any points as they do not take advantage of their games in hand on Stars.

4. Texas 72 (2)
5. Manitoba 67 (3)

Moose play in Milwaukee and then end with two against Texas.

Multi-point game:

Kyle Capobianco 1G 1A

Highlights:

Post-game interviews:

Up next:

The Moose are scheduled to practice tomorrow and then travel to Wisconsin on Tuesday. They begin their last three regular season road trip in Milwaukee on Wednesday.