The Moose and Admirals are set to do battle in a big Central Division tilt. Milwaukee sits in 2nd place with 64 points while Manitoba trails them with 60 points. Both teams came into the game riding hot streaks of seven games.
Manitoba was without leading scorer Alex Limoges and alternate captain Cole Maier in the last game (for Maier it was the last two games). One expected lineup change will be Axel Jonsson-Fjallby who went up to the Jets on emergency loan and has not yet been returned.
Lineup news:
They got back Cole Maier to the lineup but remain without Alex Limoges. Additionally they didn’t dress Jimmy Oligny or Simon Lundmark. And Arvid Holm got the net.
Moose lineup:
Malott – Toninato – Harkins
Bongiovanni – Maier – Reichel
Polei – Meireles – Boland
Jones – Nikkanen – Torgersson
Chisholm – Gawanke
Heinola – Stewart
Sautner – Bauer
Holm
Salminen
Notable:
The Moose came out of the gate flying and Tyrel Bauer gave them a 1-0 lead as his second pro goal was hammered past Askarov.
Just as a Manitoba power play ended the Moose made it 2-0 with Wyatt Bongiovanni getting his first of the game as he wired home this Ville Heinola pass to make it 2-0. Shots were 11-1 in favour of the home team at that point and it wouldn’t stop there. The 1st period would end with a 14-2 edge for Moose.
They continued that momentum to start the 2nd period with a 10-2 shot run with a mirror image goal to make it 3-0 with Wyatt Bongiovanni getting his second of the game (his first multi goal game as a pro) as he wired home another pass from Ville Heinola. Shots were now 24-4 for the home team.
Moose goalie Arvid Holm wasn’t tested much in the first half of this game but he had to be sharp on this chance for Milwaukee.
The home team likely could have put an end to this one in the middle frame had they scored on this shorthanded chance which resulted in a disallowed goal.
With the Admirals scoring late in the 2nd it was up to Moose goalie Arvid Holm to shut the door early in the 3rd to not allow the visitors to gain any momentum.
When your 4 on 3 configuration includes three defencemen it means a D man takes the faceoff if the one forward gets tossed. Leon Gawanke is 1/1 in his faceoff career.
The Admirals made a game of it scoring a second goal with 1:29 left in the 3rd but the Moose points streak hits eight games as they hold on for the 3-2 win and close the gap to two points in the Central Division between 2nd and 3rd.
Manitoba improves to 28-16-3-3 on the season.
Player media availability:
Coach media availability:
Highlights:
To follow.
Up Next:
The Moose are scheduled to practice tomorrow morning as they prepare for the re-match with the Admirals on Saturday afternoon.
