The Manitoba moose (8-6-2) were in action Saturday afternoon at the Canada Life Center as they took on their division rivals, the Chicago Wolves (7-5-3) for the second half of a two-game set. The Moose earned a 2-1 victory over the Wolves on Thursday night, improving their record against the Carolina Hurricanes minor league club to 1-0-1 on the season.
Manitoba has been very popular of late, picking up two points in each of the last five games, while Chicago has finished on the wrong side of the scoreboard in the last two games. The recent addition of high-end talent such as Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov& Parker Ford made the club much more of a threat offensively, as they were able to control the puck for longer periods of time… until Thomas Milic had to weather a storm in a less than ideal third period.
Coach Mark Morrison would have been happy with what he saw in the first two periods and will emphasize the importance of the Moose delivering that for a full 60 minutes. Chicago and Manitoba are still locked in a tight battle in the AHL’s Central, so both teams will be hungry on Saturday afternoon. Here was the standings coming into the match (via theahl.com):
Since Milic was called up by the Winnipeg Jets to fill in during Connor Hellebuyck absence, that means the Dominic DiVincentiis (0.903%) gets the start in the net. Isaac Poulter (0.915%) was recalled by the Norfolk Admirals of the ECHL to be Manitoba’s backup.
On the defensive, young one Elias Salomonsson is paired with Isaac Philips on the top link, while Ville Heinola & Kyle Clague fill in the top 4 of the moose. Born in Manitoba Ashton Sautner & Ethan Frisch today will be the 3rd coupling. Here’s how the attackers line up:
Okay, let’s see how the mini-Jets did this afternoon…
1ST
For the second straight game, the Moose were ready to play when the opening puck hit the ice. The improved forward lines seemed to have unleashed a tenacious forecheck that comes wave after wave, as each unit is more than capable of wreaking havoc. Manitoba used this to their advantage in the first period, outscoring Chicago 11 to 6 while getting most of the good scoring opportunities. The forecheck also provided the Moose with an opportunity to open the scoring Danny Zhilkin hard work below the goal line saw him get the puck behind the Wolves net. The Russian quickly noticed Jarton-Dalan in the lower left face-off circle and hit him with a pass. Instead of unleashing a shot like Chicago’s Cayden Primeau expected, JAD quickly moved the puck across the slot to an exposed position Colby Barlow for a 1-timer. MB1-0
2nd
In the second period, Manitoba kept up the pressure early and were rewarded for more forecheck in the opening two minutes. After a dump in the offensive zone by the Moose, Walker Duehr flew after the puck, forcing the defenseman to attempt a pass behind the net to his teammate. But the 2nd layer, this time in the form of Mason Shawanticipated this and beat the Wolves player with the puck in the left corner. The veteran AHLer quickly threw the puck towards the net, even though it was below the goal line, and got the next best possible result when the cookie bounced off the goalie’s pads and into the low slot. There the 3rd moose waited ahead, David Gustafsonwho wasted no time in firing the puck past the tender. MB2-0. Manitoba took the second penalty of the match shortly afterwards, but then had the better scoring opportunities Isaac Philips & Duehr emerged in separate, uncontested breakaways. It’s perhaps not entirely surprising that the defender failed to beat Primeau, but a nice move to Duehr’s backhand solidified the Moose’s lead. MB3-0. Chicago gained some momentum a few minutes later, then Brad Lambert tried to get fancy on the opponent’s blueline, resulting in a 2 on 1 Wolves rush the other way. Happy, Elias Salomonsson played well to deny the chance, but Manitoba remained boxed in their own goal until a pass found a Wolf for a back-end tap into the goal. MB3-1. After this the piece became more equal (shots 10-9 CHI in period), with both clubs getting attacking looks. Dominic DiVincentiis made a few big stops on another long cycle shift through Chicago, but Manitoba probably should have increased their lead on breakaways by Duehr & Samuel Fagemo. The Swedish goalscorer managed to beat the goalkeeper by reaching the crossbar alone, but he was fortunate not to be called upon to hold the defender he outwitted to get the chance.
3rd
After Manitoba entered the final frame with a lead against Chicago, they defended so much that they couldn’t get a shot on net. Fortunately, their efforts were better on Saturday and they had several looks early to extend their lead (Salomonsson 1 timer from the slot, Gustafsson with a rebound jump over his stick, and Phillip DiGuiseppe missing during an escape). The Wolves also had their chances in the 3rd, especially their dangerous top line Bradley Nadeau, Ryan Suzuki& Justin Robidas. Moose goalie DiVincentiis was equal to the task, denying a few good scoring looks until Chicago’s coach opted to rescind the tender with more than 3 minutes remaining. His timing was good and it saw the Parker Ford stuck at their own end for an extended period of time. Despite Dom making another great save, Wolves broke through when the goalkeeper stopped a point shot only to see it bounce off the back of a defender in front. MB3-2. With just over two minutes remaining, Manitoba was able to contest enough possession to kill 45 seconds before Chicago could once again pull their bid for the extra attacker. This time, the Moose were quick to pressure the puck, resulting in a quick release from the defensive end and enough pressure in the neutral zone to prevent the Wolves from setting up in the offensive zone.
SHOTS: Manitoba 28 Chicago 27
P.P.: Manitoba 0 of 3 Chicago 0 for 2
*****
THREE STARS
BOJA’s thoughts after the game
An impressive performance from the Manitoba Moose in Saturday’s matinee, extending their winning streak to six games as they continue to climb the AHL’s Central Division standings after a poor start to the 2025-26 season. The win over the Canes farm team temporarily puts them in a tie for second place with the Milwaukee Admirals, although these guys still have four games remaining. However, I’m not sure I’ve seen that many breakaways for one team in a game… with the mini-Jets getting 5 or 6 in this game but only sliding one behind the goalie.
It’s amazing how having a good attacking corps can ease the pressure on a club’s defensive units. The Moose have been able to spend large amounts of time in the offensive zone on their winning streak, but that has been amplified by the additions of Lambert, Chibrikov and Ford. The coaching staff is able to roll out four lines that can not only create offense on a consistent basis, but also assist on their own end of the ice, allowing Manitoba to better mask the weakest part of their team. In today’s game, all four units had their looks, but it was the Shaw-Gustafsson-Duehr and Barlow-Zhilkin-Anderson-Dolan lines that were the most difficult for Chicago to contain. The Yager trio was solid on both ends of the ice, but the Chibrikov-Ford-Lambert unit made a few mistakes in the neutral zone, which ultimately cost them shifts in the defensive zone.
Manitoba played so solidly for DiVincentiis that he wasn’t called upon to pull off any ridiculous robberies, but the tender had solid positioning all afternoon. A few times Dom shocked some Wolves’ snipers by reading where the play would go and being in place to make the stop look almost routine. Good for the tender’s confidence now that he has to step into the sole starting role with Milic promoted to the NHL. DiVincentiis has now collected three wins from his last four starts with save percentages ranging from .906 to .962… although he had to settle for a .926% today.
If you haven’t already done so, you can click the Play button in the photo of this article to watch a video overview of the game.
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