Game Story

The Manitoba Moose (34-29-5-2) fell 3-2 in the shootout to the Chicago Wolves (34-21-8-7) on Wednesday night at Allstate Arena. They were coming off a 4-3 overtime win over the Texas Stars on Sunday.

The opening 20 minutes were unconventional, with the Moose leading the shot clock 11-6. Chicago opened the scoring 4:39 into the contest, with Viktor Neuchev deflecting a shot past Thomas Milic. The Moose didn’t trail for long. Colby Barlow drew them level under four minutes later. Alfons Freij drifted a shot toward goal, where Barlow tipped it past Cayden Primeau. Barlow thought he had put the Moose up 2-1 moments later, but was denied his second marker of the evening due to a goaltender interference call. Felix Unger Sörum instead gave Chicago the 2-1 lead at 16:41, with the puck deflecting a trio of times before beating Milic. Walker Duehr scored a surprising goal of his own, banking a shot from below the goal line off the skate of Primeau and into the cage with 20 seconds left to play, sending the clubs to the locker rooms deadlocked at 2-2.

Manitoba again led on the shot clock in the second, owning a 10-6 edge, but neither side could claim the lead in the stanza. The Moose had multiple chances early in the period, but Primeau was there to slam the door shut. Chicago was denied a third goal by the crossbar late in the frame, as the teams headed back to their respective rooms still tied at 2-2.

The teams settled into a defensive posture in the third frame with not many offensive opportunities to be found. The Wolves thought they had a go-ahead goal late in the third, but the officials ruled Milic had been interfered with on the play. The game needed overtime, but it solved nothing on five shots between the teams. Noel Gunler and Noah Philp scored for the hosts in the shootout, while Primeau stopped both shooters he faced, as the Moose collected an important point, but fell 3-2 to the Wolves.

Quotable

Moose forward Colby Barlow (click for full interview)
“We battled hard. I liked our second and third. We did a lot of good things, we had our chance, it’s just unfortunate. We got a big point out of that, and we just got to regroup and get ready for Iowa.”

Statbook

• Walker Duehr led all skaters with seven shots on goal
• Alfons Freij recorded his first point in the AHL with an assist
• Colby Barlow scored his second goal in as many games
• The Moose lowered their ‘magic number’ to at least clinch home ice in the First Round to two points
• Isaak Phillips has four points (1G, 3A) over his past five games