Moose Weekly Recap: Moose hands Griffins their first road rules loss

After winning a weekend series against the Laval Rocket last week, the competition intensified for the Manitoba Moose as they took on the league-leading Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday and Sunday at the Canada Life Center. The Griffins entered the weekend without being defeated on the road in regulation this season.

Friday, January 23 – Grand Rapids 2, Manitoba 1

The first goal of the game didn’t come until the second period, when Sheldon Dries tipped home a point shot to give the Griffins a 1-0 lead with his 13th of the season.

In the final minutes of the middle frame, Moose captain Mason Shaw tied the game with 1:08 to go, his 11th of the year, tying Samuel Fagemo and Walker Duehr for the team lead.

Grand Rapids regained the lead in uncharacteristic fashion at the 12:04 mark of the third period. Gabriel Seger drove hard to the net and fired the puck past Thomas Milic for a shorthanded goal, his third of the campaign, making it 2-1.

Manitoba managed to beat Sebastian Cossa just once as the Griffins managed to win the weekend series opener 2-1.

Milic was sharp in goal, turning away 26 shots as the Moose fell to 19-15-3.

Sunday, January 25 – Manitoba 3, Grand Rapids 2

Some notes on the lineup ahead of the matinee: Walker Duehr was unavailable, Phillips played right side next to Ville Heinola for the first time and Jets 2023 fifth-round pick Jacob Julien reentered the lineup. It was Julien’s first game in antlers at the Canada Life Center after making his AHL debut Jan. 16 in Laval.

The Moose opened the scoring at 15:55 of the first period on Kale Clague’s seventh of the season. Phillips’ point shot was blocked by Shaw, and Clague pounced on the loose puck at the top of the crease and slid it into the open net for a 1-0 lead.

With just 29 seconds left, Dries tied the game with his second goal in as many games. His one-timer flew off Ashton Sautner’s stick through the legs of Domenic DiVincentiis to make it 1-1.

Grand Rapids took its first lead of the afternoon just 55 seconds into the third period. John Leonard forced a turnover on his own blueline, broke in alone and after initially being stopped by DiVincentiis, put in his 26th of the season.

Zhilkin tied the game midway through the period. In his second game back for the Jets, he took a pass from Dylan Anhorn and, spinning, fired a backhand that beat Michal Postava cleanly under the pads.

Late heroics followed from Brad Lambert, who put the Moose ahead with just 27 seconds left. During a battle up front, Lambert poked a loose puck past Postava for his fifth goal of the year, which was the game-winner and handed the Griffins their first regular season road loss of the season.

DiVincentiis was calm and collected in goal, stopping 26 shots as Manitoba picked up its 20th win and improved to 20-15-3.

The Moose will stay home next weekend and host the Rockford IceHogs at the Canada Life Center on Saturday and Sunday. Both games will feature CST puck drops at 2:00 PM and can be viewed on AHLTV.