Moose bounce back to earn a split with a 4-1 win over defending Calder Cup champion Canucks

The Moose ended 2025 with a loss to the defending Calder Cup champion Canucks and were looking to bounce back in the first game of 2026 as they concluded six straight games at home.

Lineup news:

The captain Mason Shaw returned up front after his Spengler Cup appearance. He came in for Tyson Empey. On the backend it was Kale Clague who returned which meant Dylan Anhorn came out. And between the pipes it was Thomas Milic who got the call in net for Domenic DiVincentiis.

Moose lineup:

Shaw – Gustafsson- Duehr
JAD– Zhilkin – Ford
Barlow – Lambert – Chibrikov
Di Giuseppe – Yager – Fagemo

Phillips – Salomonsson
Heinola – Clague
Sautner – Bauer

Milic

Notable:

I feel like Jets prospect Elias Salomonsson is bucking the trend of players playing in their bobblehead game. Don’t quote me on that as I’ve got no data to back it up and I’m too lazy to crunch the numbers.

Moose captain Mason Shaw made it 1-0 for Manitoba as he puts this one home. He dug the puck out of the corner to Elias Salomonsson and then redirected the shot home.

Parker Ford took a pass from Jets prospect Colby Barlow which gave the Moose a 2-0 lead on the breakaway.

First AHL goal for Anri Ravinskis who gets the wraparound past Thomas Milic and puts the Canucks on the board. Suspect the Jets goalie prospect would want this one back.

After getting the first couple of power plays in this game the Moose have now killed five straight penalties.

Big save by Milic, who kicks out the leg to make the first stop and then disrupts the second chance to preserve a one goal lead for the Moose in the 3rd.

The Gus Bus buried this perfect pass from Walker Duehr to give the Moose some 3rd period insurance as David Gustafsson’s seventh of the season makes it 3-1. Great play in the neutral zone by Isaak Phillips to get the play started.

Phil Di Giuseppe made it a 4-1 game as he puts the puck into the empty net to seal the deal against his former hockey team.

Good bounce back effort by the Moose as they earn a split in this two-game set defeating the defending Calder Cup champion Canucks by a final score of 4-1.

With the win they improve to 16-12-2-0 which maintains their spot in 3rd in the Central and just two points back of 2nd spot

Multi-point game:

None.

Highlights:

Player media:

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Up next:

The Moose are scheduled to practice for the next couple of days before they head out on the road for six games.