Fast Facts: Moose at Rockford – Nov 15

The Manitoba Moose (6-6-2-0) meet the Rockford IceHogs (7-6-1-0) for the second time in four nights on Saturday evening. The Moose fought their way to a 3-1 win over the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday evening, their third win in a row. Domenic DiVincentiis made 25 stops. Rockford’s previous game was against Manitoba on Wednesday, when they fell 3-2. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. CT on cjob.com, the Winnipeg Jets App or AHLTV on FloHockey. Action at BMO Center begins at 7 p.m. CT.

That’s a Win Streak

The Moose are on a roll of late, winning their past three games, and earning at least a single point in seven of their past nine games. Manitoba’s current win streak is the first of its season, and has pulled the team into fourth place in the Central Division with 14 points, one behind the Rockford IceHogs in third, and two behind the second-place Milwaukee Admirals. The Moose have outscored their opposition 9-5 on their run, and outshot them 86-75, holding an edge on the shot clock in each contest.

The Rookie and the Vet

Brayden Yager and Phil Di Giuseppe have been paired together on Manitoba’s top line each of the past three games, and it has been a mutually beneficial partnership. Both are currently riding three-game point streaks, with Yager having four helpers and Di Giuseppe a goal and four assists. On Friday night in Milwaukee, Yager set up Di Giuseppe for his fourth goal of the season, tied with Walker Duehr for the most on the team. Both Yager and Di Giuseppe have scored half of their total points in the past three games, and have teamed up with assists on the same goal three times, each of which has Yager as the primary. When Di Giuseppe played his first AHL game on April 4/14, Yager was just nine years old.

Team Defence

The Moose have allowed 40 goals this season, tied for 17th in the AHL. Recently, the antlered ones have been tough to crack at the defensive end of the rink. In their three-game win streak, Manitoba has allowed just 1.67 goals per game, holding their opposition to two or fewer goals in each contest. The Moose have done that six times in their 14 games this season, winning all but one of them. Their one loss came on
Nov. 2, when they fell to the Texas Stars 2-1 in overtime. Domenic DiVincentiis and Thomas Milic have a combined .933 save percentage over the three-game winning streak.

The Road is Long

The Moose wrap up their five-game road trip on Saturday in Rockford. In their first 15 games of the season, 11 of them have come on the road. Manitoba holds a 5-4-1-0 record on the road in the early going. Following their meeting with the IceHogs, the Moose return home to Winnipeg, where they’ll spend the next six games, not leaving another game away from Canada Life Centre until Dec. 3, when they’ll meet the Chicago Wolves. Manitoba will play 12 of its next 15 games at home.

Who's Trending?

Samuel Fagemo is on a two-game point streak (1G, 1A). The sniper scored a power play goal on Wednesday night in Rockford that cut the lead to 2-1, opening the gates for what became a Moose come-from-behind victory. He assisted on Phil Di Giuseppe’s game-winner in Milwaukee on Friday evening. He now has six points (3G, 3A) in 14 games.