The Moose clinched a playoff spot last week and have spent this past week taking time to recover and practice. They also added a pair of Jets prospects to the fold in Henri Nikkanen (2019 4th) and Daniel Torgersson (2020 2nd), who have joined the Moose on PTOs, although neither player is expected to play for a bit as they get acclimatized to the city and team.
Lineup changes:
They got some familiar faces back as David Gustafsson returned after being in covid protocol, Declan Chisholm and Greg Meireles both back from injury.
Moose lineup:
Malott – Gustafsson – Suess
Polei – Maier – Jones
Vesalainen – Johnson – Hutchinson
Lynch – Meireles – Poganski
Heinola – Kovacevic
Chisholm – Gawanke
Oligny – Lundmark
Berdin
Cormier
Notable:
Evan Polei opened the scoring for the Moose as the trio of Polei, Jones and Maier showed off that chemistry we’ve seen all season long. It was his 10th goal of the season which is a new career high for the fifth year pro.
Ville Heinola was doing some things including making moves (see here) and then coming from Transcona to wire a shot which sailed a bit wide (see here).
The Moose came out on fire to start the 2nd period. They held a 6-0 shot edge over the IceHogs just 4:27 into the middle frame. They were this David Gustafsson shot (see here) away from having a two goal lead in the middle frame. They kept that rolling all period long which would end 18-2 in favour of Manitoba.
An anemic power play by Manitoba allowed Rockford to gain some moment and they tied the game early in the 3rd.
Seemed to spark the home side as they started to push back. Eventually Nicholas Jones batted this Cole Maier rebound (see here) and it was originally called no goal but the refs reviewed and reversed the call to give Manitoba a 2-1 lead.
Less than 30 seconds after taking the lead Jeff Malott added to his team goal scoring lead with his 23rd as he buried his own rebound (see here) to make it 3-1.
The Moose dominated for most of the game and win it 3-2 over the IceHogs as they improve to 38-21-5-2 on the season and an impressive 23-7-0-2 at home.
Player media availability:
Coach media availability:
Game Highlights:
Up Next:
The Moose and IceHogs do battle again tomorrow afternoon at 2 PM.
