Moose have plenty of fight to start but drop season opener 4-2 to the Wranglers

Hope springs eternal for every NHL or AHL or ECHL team as they kick off their regular season.

The Manitoba Moose are no different as they prepared for their home opener this evening against the Calgary Wranglers, a team that has the reigning AHL Goalie of the Year (back-to-back winner in fact) in Dustin Wolf between the pipes. The home team was hoping that the injection of youth in the form of Nikita Chibrikov (2021 2nd), Danny Zhilkin (2022 3rd), Chaz Lucius (2021 1st) and Brad Lambert (2022 1st) would provide a spark.

Lineup news:

Everyone was present and accounted for at morning skate and the lines looked like so.

Moose lineup:

Malott-Lambert-AJF
Toninato – Lucius – Chibrikov
Torgersson – Zhilkin – Ford
Viel – Suess – Reichel

Capobianco – Lundmark
Oligny – Bauer
Sautner – Stewart

Salminen
Delia

Notable:

It’s not just Brad Lambert (13) and Chaz Lucius (16) who have new numbers this season. Axel Jonsson-Fjallby is wearing 41 (he wore 49 in his four games last season). Also C.J. Suess is out of his customary 25 choosing 27 in his return to Manitoba after spending last season in San Jose.

Pair of Jets prospects (who were teammates growing up from ages 4-9) making their AHL debuts in Danny Zhilkin and Nikita Chibrikov.

Just 1:07 into the 1st period and Nikita Chibrikov had his first AHL goal on his first AHL shot which came from centre ice and I’m sure is exactly how he envisioned his first goal here in North America.

The Moose hot start continued with Brad Lambert sniping this shot on the power play to make it 2-0 in the opening period which was all Manitoba.

This tilt between Jeffrey Viel and Alex Gallant was absolutely a Rock Em’ Sock Em’ old school battle.

It was as good a 1st period to start a season as the Moose could have drawn up. Manitoba lead Calgary 2-0 after 20 minutes which a shot edge of 13-5 for the home side.

The middle frame went to the visitors who were a team that finished with over 100 points last season as they edged the Moose in shots but more importantly also scored two goals, including one with 4.5 seconds left to go in the 2nd on a power play to tie the game 2-2 after 40.

The visitors added two more goals in the 3rd to make it a 4-2 game which is exactly how it ended.

Player/coach media availability:

Following the season opener we heard from Jeffrey Viel who had a big tilt, captain Jimmy Oligny and coach Mark Morrison after a great 1st period (Moose up 2-0) saw the home side fall 4-2 in the first game of the year.

Interview with Jeffrey Viel runs from the start to 1:22
Interview with Jimmy Oligny runs from 1:22 to 3:43
Interview with coach Mark Morrison runs from 3:43 until the end.

Highlights:

Up next:

The Moose will practice tomorrow at 11 AM as they prepare for their afternoon re-match with Calgary on Sunday.