Special teams sink Manitoba Moose in 5-2 loss to Laval Rocket

The Moose were looking to build on an impressive 4-1 win over the Rocket on Friday which saw them open the AHL season with a big victory against the team that led the entire AHL in points. With news that Jets defenceman Haydn Fleury had been injured in the game on Saturday against the Kings it was expected that if he wasn’t ready to go at practice this morning that Winnipeg would make a recall. Sure enough before puck drop we learned that Kale Clague had been recalled up to the NHL club and they loaned prospect Brad Lambert (in order to stay roster compliant).

Lineup news:

A few moves by the Moose as they got David Gustafsson into the lineup after he cleared waivers and was assigned on Friday. They also added Brad Lambert to the mix. Additionally Chase Yoder made his pro debut and Ethan Frisch his Moose debut.

Moose lineup:

Di Giuseppe – JAD – Duehr
Fagemo – Gustafsson – Wagner
Barlow – Yager – Lambert
Yoder – Zhilkin –Shaw

Heinola – Salomonsson
Phillips – Frisch
Sautner – Bauer

DiVincentiis

Notable:

Looking at this Moose forward lines I have to think it is the most talented one I’ve seen in the 11 years I’ve covered this team. They went with an All-Swedish second line and an all-1st round picks 3rd line.

This game would be defined by special teams. Manitoba scored once on six opportunities while Laval found the back of the net once on four attempts. The difference was the Rocket also scored twice on Moose power plays.

The Gus Bus was back in business as David Gustafsson got a friendly bounce to get the Moose on the board. It was his first goal in antlers since April 24th, 2022. With the primary assist on the goal it gave Chase Yoder his first ever point in his first ever game.

And Gustafsson wasn’t done there as he would add a second tally courtesy of a nice pass by Jaret Anderson-Dolan with the Moose on a 6 on 4.

Multi-point game:

David Gustafsson 2G

Highlights:

Player post-game interviews:

Coach post-game interviews:

Up next:

The Moose are off on Monday.