The Manitoba Moose are set for game one of a two-game, back-to-back series versus the Chicago Wolves at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Manitoba is recovering from dropping two games against the Abbotsford Canucks on the road, these next two games against Chicago have stronger playoff implications if the Moose wants to widen the gap over the Iowa Wild.
Did you miss the game? Don’t worry! We have you covered with this game recap exclusively at Inside The Rink.
Wolves Lead After 20, Extended Special Unit Time During First Frame
The first period of the game wasn’t all that exciting, to be honest. However, it did have a Wolves goal and a lot of stoppages. I don’t know if that’s a good thing, but the referees must’ve gotten new whistles or something because they sure liked using them in this period.
Cole Schneider found the back of the net as Thomas Milic stopped Rocco Grimaldi’s first shot, but the rebound was open for Schneider and he buried it to put the Wolves up by one. Not too long after, Kyle Marino would be assessed a double minor for high sticking. Feeling left out, Rocco Grimaldi wanted to join his Wolves teammate in the penalty box and was assessed a high-sticking penalty of his own just a minute later.
In what should’ve been an extended sequence where the Moose capitalized on a 5-on-3 power play turned into a nightmarish scenario. Dominic Toninato was assessed a penalty for interference while battling for position in front of the Wolves net. Toninato’s penalty was quite soft, while he smacked the stick out of a Chicago player’s hands, the call seemed as if it was to even out the playing field so the referee wasn’t getting too much flack from the Chicago bench.
Moose Strike Twice, but Chicago Keeps Pressure Tight
The second period had all the antics that fans hoped for. Extracurricular activity after the whistle, goals, penalties, you name it, this period had it.
Dominic Toninato yet again was battling for position in front of the Chicago net, however he wasn’t penalized this time around. While Wolves forward Dominic Franco got Toninato out of position, that was not enough as Toninato regrouped and scored the tying goal in the early going of the second period. An effective penalty kill by the Moose gave them more momentum and following an interference penalty to Isaac Ratcliffe, Brad Lambert struck and scored on the Moose power play to give his team a 2-1 lead.
However, in the final minute of play, Chris Terry swung momentum in his favour as the Moose would yet again get caught out of position and in another 2-on-1 situation. Milic was beat high blocker side as Terry ripped an absolute cannon past him to tie the game with 49.9 seconds left in the second period. While the Moose led the shot category 20-18, the weirder part of the stat sheet was the six penalties called in the game only being high-sticking or interference calls. Coincidental? I’m not sure, but funny to see nonetheless.
Moose Strike Twice Again, but Wolves Tie With Pair of Goals 16 Seconds Apart, Overtime Needed, Moose Win in Depths of Shootout
Out of the three periods, the third was certainly the most thrilling of them all. Manitoba took a 3-2 lead with a goal from Jeff Malott, Brad Lambert fought hard to keep the puck in the offensive zone and got it to Malott. Minutes later, Kristian Reichel and Jeffrey Viel got the puck at the blue line and barreled towards the Chicago net. Reichel buried the feed from Viel and the Moose seemed to have the lead in their favour, until they didn’t.
Chicago did what they do best in the game and torched the hopes of the Manitoba crowd as Cavan Fitzgerald scored 38 seconds after Reichel scored. 16 seconds after Fitzgerald’s goal, Hudson Elynuik tied the game up, and Manitoba’s lead evaporated.
While the game needed overtime, the extra five minutes didn’t seal the deal. Milic turned away the two shots he faced in overtime and Scheel turned away three. Finally, an eight round shootout was needed to determine the winner, and Henri Nikkanen pulled off the nifty move to secure Manitoba’s home victory.
