Fast Facts: Moose at Grand Rapids – Oct. 18

The Manitoba Moose (2-0-0-0) are back on the road this weekend to face the Grand Rapids Griffins (1-1-0-0). The Moose picked up wins in their first two outings for the first time since 2011. Manitoba claimed 6-4 and 3-2 victories in Iowa, and never trailed throughout the weekend. Meanwhile, the Griffins split their opening games with a win over Milwaukee and a loss to Rockford. Coverage of tonight's divisional clash gets going at 5:45 p.m. CT on CJOB.com/sports, the Winnipeg Jets App and AHLTV on FloHockey.

Hot Start

The Moose started off their season 2-0-0-0 for the first time since the franchise’s return to Manitoba in 2015. When known as the St. John’s IceCaps, the team went 2-0-0 to begin the 2011-12 season, before suffering a shutout loss to the Hamilton Bulldogs in their third outing of the campaign. After a successful opening weekend, the Moose look to extend their season opening streak to 3-0-0-0 tonight against the Grand Rapids Griffins. The last time the Moose went 3-0-0-0 to start the schedule was in the 2004-05 season. The youngest member of the current roster, defenceman Elias Salomonsson, was 47 days old when Manitoba won its third straight on Oct. 16/04. The 2002-23 edition of the club also won four in a row to begin the season. The Moose have never opened the season with four consecutive victories.

Road Warriors

Manitoba’s season-opening pair of wins came on the road in Iowa. This isn’t the first time the Moose started the season with a strong away record. The Moose went undefeated on the road in the month of October the past two seasons. Manitoba picked up two road wins against Texas to at the beginning of the 2023-24 season, and a trio of wins in hostile territory before Halloween the season prior. Manitoba finished both of the past two seasons with a winning road record, capping off the 2023-24 campaign 20-15-0-1 when away, tied for the seventh-most road wins in the AHL.

Dominating Debut

Domenic DiVincentiis started off his professional career on a high-note. The 2023 OHL Goaltender of the Year registered 37 saves off 39 Iowa Wild shots, picking up the win in his AHL debut. He was one of six rookie netminders to get a start on opening weekend. DiVincentiis spent the past three seasons in the OHL with the North Bay Battalion, where he started in a total of 117 games and posted a career average .907 save percentage. DiVincentiis recorded the most shutouts of any OHL goaltender in the 2022-23 season, and was named to both the OHL First All-Star team and the CHL Second All-Star Team.

Back-to-Back

Dominic Toninato scored a goal in each of Manitoba’s matchups against Iowa. Toninato recorded seven goals for the Moose in a 37-game stint during the 2023-24 season, and set an AHL career high of 19 goals in the 2022-23 season. The American forward scored Saturday night to snag the first opening night goal of his AHL career, and is one of four Moose players since 2015 to score in both games of an opening weekend. He joins the likes of Brad Lambert, Mikey Eyssimont and Quinton Howden.

Who's Trending?

Mark Liwiski scored his first goal of the season, capping off a brilliant rush from Danny Zhilkin in Sunday’s win. Liwiski appeared in seven games with the Moose in 2023-24, scoring his first AHL tally and adding an assist. The Dauphin, Man. product also tallied 25 points (11G, 14A) in 54 games with the Norfolk Admirals, and led the ECHL with 310 penalty minutes.