The Manitoba Moose and Grand Rapids Griffins clash in Game 4 of their best-of-five Central Division Semifinals series this evening at Van Andel Arena. Grand Rapids leads the series 2-1 after grabbing its second consecutive victory on Wednesday. The Griffins came away with a 4-2 win in their first home game of the post-season. The teams split the first two games of the series in Winnipeg.

Coverage of today’s matchup gets going at 5:45 p.m. CT on CJOB.com, the Winnipeg Jets App and AHLTV on FloHockey. Puck drop is slated for 6 p.m. CT.

Yager Swagger

Brayden Yager moved into a tie for second on the Moose with three points (3A) during the post-season, drawing level with Walker Duehr. The forward’s three helpers are tied for seventh among rookies in the Calder Cup Playoffs, while his 13 shots on goal during the playoff run have him tied for fourth among rookies. Yager has alternated games with a point. The Saskatoon, Sask. native posted 30 points (10G, 20A) in his first season of professional hockey, skating in 68 games in antlers. He earned a late-season call-up to the Winnipeg Jets, playing three games, averaging 10:59 of ice time. Yager was Pittsburgh’s first round pick in 2023 before being acquired by Winnipeg on Aug. 22/24.

The Fuss About Gus

David Gustafsson took the clubhouse lead with four points (1G, 3A) during Manitoba’s post-season run, recording an assist on Wednesday night. The Tingsryd, Sweden native has all four of his points in the past five games, including a two-point effort on April 26 vs Milwaukee, two days after he scored the game winning goal in Game 2 of the series. Gustafsson finished the regular season with 32 points (10G, 22A) in 48 games, leading the team with a plus-12 rating. He is now up to 11 games of Calder Cup Playoffs experience, previously skating in five games with the Moose during the 2021-22 season.. 

The Captain is Clutch

Mason Shaw has his fingerprints all over the Central Division Semifinals, scoring a pair of goals during the series. He scored the game-winner in Game 1 with a power play marker at 17:34 of the third period, before adding another marker late in the second period of Game 3. Shaw recorded 10 shots on goal through the first two games of the series against Grand Rapids, adding one more in Game 3. His post-season total is 15, five times more than the three he tallied in his previous three games of playoff experience with the Iowa Wild in 2019. Shaw led the Moose with 44 points (15G, 29A) during the regular season. 

Stayin’ Alive

Since their return to Winnipeg in 2015, the Moose hold a 5-4 record in Calder Cup Playoffs elimination games. Manitoba has won consecutive elimination games within a series on two occasions in that time frame. The first came in 2022 when the Moose won Games 3 and 4 to force a deciding Game 5 against the Milwaukee Admirals in the Central Division Semifinals. The Moose already faced elimination in the First Round against Milwaukee this year, winning Games 2 and 3 to battle back and clinch the series. When David Gustafsson is in the lineup, the Moose hold a 4-1 record in elimination games and the centreman has four points (1G, 3A) in those games. 

Who’s Trending?

Manitoba defenceman Dylan Anhorn picked up his second assist of the post-season in Wednesday’s loss. Since tallying his first point of the regular season on Jan. 16, Anhorn has 19 points (3G, 16A) in 40 games between the regular season and playoffs. The Calgary, Alta. product set career highs in assists (14) and points (17) during the regular campaign.