The Manitoba Moose welcomes the Toronto Marlies to the Canada Life Centre on Wednesday, March 27th for game one of a two-game series. The Moose will finish their current homestand on Friday, March 29th versus Toronto as they continue their push for the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs.
Did you miss the game? Don’t worry! We have you covered with this game recap!
Hard Hitting First Period Gives No Clear Advantage After 20
The first period was a hard-hitting period. While Manitoba led 9-8 in the shots category, Toronto’s Tate Singleton scored the lone goal of the first to put the Marlies up 1-0. Singleton’s first of the season to put it past Thomas Milic showed what the rookie Marlie is capable of and he kept delivering throughout the remainder of the period.
Marlies netminder Dennis Hildeby turned away a Moose power play and many high-danger scoring chances. The Moose would also get some favourable offensive zone time as they were rolling as an entire group.
Lots of separate scrums would ensue, but separate runs at Ville Heinola and Nicholas Jones gave Tyrel Bauer a lot of reason to show some pushback toward the Marlies. In the dying seconds of the first period, Tyrel Bauer stepped up on Topi Neimela and Tate Singleton would earn his first career AHL fight to defend his teammate. However, this would not be Singleton’s best decision as Tyrel Bauer fed the Marlies rookies with a round of rabid punches. Bauer was fired up and so was the crowd. Heading into the second period, Manitoba had more momentum in their favour, but nothing decisive.
Moose Play Stronger and More Physical Second Frame
The Moose did multiple things better than the Marlies. the first was being the lone team to put the pucks in the back of the net. There were smaller things like puck control and zone advantage that stood out, but the physicality and intensity that Manitoba played with was far above the Marlies. This makes me wonder how the third period was going to play out and if the Marlies chose to play Kyle Clifford on Friday’s game.
Tyrel Bauer spent just under five minutes in the penalty box to open the second period and the Marlies chose to keep chirping him throughout the entire second period. Lengthy chats between both teams gave reasons to the fans that there was going to be more than just one fight in this game.
Jeffrey Viel would score the lone goal in the second period as the identity line pounded three shots on goal before Viel picked up the rebound to score on the open net. This would spark a scrum at the next stoppage as the Marlies were not happy, and this is something that stuck throughout the entire game.
Near the end of the third period, there would be a lot of rough stuff as both teams got into it, Jeffrey Viel seemed extra irritated about something and he was not having it. The referees ordered Viel and Dylan Gambrell off the ice to ensure no further conflict between the teams. The chirping continued toward Malott, Viel and Bauer when the final buzzer sounded. A long talk between the referees and select players from both teams calmed things down enough, but the seeds were planted for a rather interesting third period.
No Clear Edge, Extra Time Needed, Marlies Waste No Time with Goal 51 Seconds into Overtime
An absolute heartwrenching third period as both Manitoba and Toronto got plenty of opportunity, but nobody had that distinct advantage in the third period. While Nick Abruzzese was able to stay out of the penalty box, the Marlies weren’t able to score in the third period.
Some extracurricular activities after the play were blown dead only added to the level of physicality this game saw. While the Moose generated some late-game high-danger scoring chances, nothing materialized as Marlies goaltender Dennis Hildeby stopped everything coming his way.
Heading into overtime, the Moose started with Parker Ford, Kristian Reichel and Ville Heinola. The Marlies countered with Logan Shaw, Alex Steeves and Topi Niemela. Right out of the gate, the Moose got a shot off on Hildeby, but Toronto grabbed the rebound and applied pressure themselves.
The Moose got caught in a sticky situation- they didn’t effectively cover Logan Shaw. This gave Toronto four shots on goal, Milic stopped three, but Logan Shaw rifled the fourth just high enough over Milic’s blocker. Just 51 seconds into overtime, the Marlies pulled off a heartbreaker in Winnipeg as they stole the extra point in overtime.
