Game two of the two-game weekend series played out between the Chicago Wolves and the Manitoba Moose. The matchup was the third-last home game for the Moose’s 2023-24 regular season. The Canada Life Centre crowd was far larger than the Saturday matchup the previous night, but the Wolves still battled just as hard.
Did you miss the game? Don’t worry! We got you covered with this game recap!
Chippy First Period Gives Moose the Extra Edge
Both special team units for the Manitoba Moose and the Chicago Wolves got a significant workout in the first period. Both sides going on the penalty kill and seeing extended four-on-four action. This was a different tone compared to Saturday’s matchup.
The lone goal scorer of the first period was Kyle Capobianco who rifled a seemingly harmless wrist shot that beat Antti Raanta high glove side. The power-play goal was certainly a strong way to get the game momentum swung in their favour.
The remainder of the first period was marked by scrums and dust-ups between players, but no fights. There were two separate instances where there was four-on-four action, but also a five-on-three situation in which the Moose killed off near the end of the first.
As the buzzer sounded for both teams to head to the locker rooms, there were lengthy words exchanged by multiple players on each team. The referees were able to get it under control quickly, but it certainly set the physical tone heading into the second period.
Solid Defensive Period as Moose Keep Their Lead Intact
The second period was far more quiet for the Moose and Wolves. Lots of big hits and scrums throughout the second, but it was Chicago who failed to capitalize on some turnovers and odd-man rushes. Literal presents were gifted to their sticks and Milic made sure to spoil Chicago’s momentum they attempted to build to tie the game.
While Chicago left the second down a goal, they led the shots on goal category 20-15, but Milic’s confidence was seemingly too much for the Chicago offence. Heading into the third period, Manitoba needed an insurance marker which they didn’t get in the second. Thomas Milic making some massive saves helped swing momentum in their favour, but the Wolves were continuously nipping away for anything to get past the Moose netminder.
Chaotic Third Period Marked, Overtime Needed, Heinola Scores Winning Goal
In yet another chaos-filled period, the Manitoba Moose managed to flip the script on Chicago. They played bruising and pushed the Wolves to their absolute limits, but didn’t play the tightest defensive game.
53 seconds into the third period, Hudson Elynuik scored the equalizer to tilt the momentum in Chicago’s favour. While the Moose would get a power play opportunity to tie the game just two minutes later, Chicago’s penalty kill proved strong in this particular case. Ville Heinola would get called for tripping and Nikita Chibrikov found himself being called for slashing in an otherworldly phantom slashing penalty. However, the Manitoba Moose proved strong and killed the penalty as they attempted to shift the momentum back into their favour.
Later on in the third period, Jeffrey Viel and Matt Donovan would mix it up with 6:47 left in the game. In an egregious miscue by the officials, both Viel and Donovan were allowed to continue punching each other with their gloves on for an extended period with no whistle. Finally, a referee would step in and attempted to separate the two men, Viel was held by the referee as Donovan continued to hit Viel.
However, with no whistle for the following 30 seconds between Viel and Donovan’s skirmish, the puck was carried by a Wolves attacker into the Moose zone. While the dust settled in the melee, both Viel and Donovan were assessed a two-minute minor for roughing and a ten-minute misconduct for continuing the altercation. Additionally, Chicago was awarded a penalty shot in the same play where there was no whistle to separate Viel and Donovan. While it isn’t clear as to what happened or why a penalty shot was awarded to Chicago, Hudson Elynuik scored his second of the game to put Chicago up 2-1 in incredibly controversial fashion.
With Jeffrey Viel not available for the remainder of the game for the Moose, Manitoba needed to play smart if they wanted to tie the game up. With 2:41 left in the game, Domenick Fensore would be assessed a tripping minor and Manitoba made sure to keep extended possession to run down the clock. Finally, Chicago got possession of the puck and Fensore headed to the penalty box.
Having the man advantage in the dying minutes of the game proved crucial for the Moose, but the coaching decision not to pull goaltender Thomas Milic to make it six-on-four was a great decision. Battling for the puck were Axel Jonsson-Fjallby and CJ Suess, both Moose forwards scrambled to jump on the loose puck. Finally, Suess found the back of the net as he scored the equalizer on the power play with 57 seconds remaining. If the tension wasn’t enough in this game, game two of the two-game series needed additional time yet again, but not too long.
An incredible shift by Ville Heinola was marked by a great effort by teammate Nikita Chibrikov to keep the momentum in Manitoba’s favour. Chibrikov patiently held the puck in the defensive end as Ville Heinola took the puck and skated into Chicago’s zone. Heinola wouldn’t shoot right away, instead, he would make a nifty move to regroup and recircle around the point. This gave Heinola enough open ice to beat Raanta high glove side and secured Manitoba’s second win of the weekend.
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