The Manitoba Moose (2-0-0-0) hit the road for the first time this season, taking on the Grand Rapids Griffins (1-0-1-0) on Friday.

Coverage of today’s matchup gets going at 5:45 p.m. CDT on CJOB.com, the Winnipeg Jets App and AHLTV on FloHockey. Action at Van Andel Arena begins at 6 p.m. CDT.

Filling the Net

The Moose scored 11 goals in their two-game sweep of the Chicago Wolves to open the season. Manitoba reached the same mark six games into the 2025-26 season. Noah Gregor, Kevin He, and Brayden Yager all have a pair of goals, while five other Moose recorded one. The last time the Moose recorded eight goals in one game was April 19/24 at Texas. Four Moose rookies (He, Lucas Wahlin, Alfons Freij, and Davis Burnside) have a goal thus far, the most among any team going into Friday’s action. The power play is responsible for three of Manitoba’s goals through two games, clicking at a 49.9% rate in the early going. The Moose are currently fourth in the AHL with 67 shots on goal.

Check Off The Milestones

Moose players checked off a pile of milestones over the weekend. Saturday’s game saw both defenceman Alfons Freij and forward Davis Burnside each racked their first AHL tallies. Freij, a second round pick of the Winnipeg Jets in 2024, checked the milestone in his seventh career AHL outing. Burnside collected his first pro goal and point in his fourth career game. Fellow rookie Lucas Wahlin already nabbed his first AHL goal in the final game of the 2025-26 regular season, but notched a pair of points (1G, 1A) in Sunday’s matchup for his first multi- point game as a professional.

Gus Plus

Defenceman Lukas Gustafsson recorded an impressive plus-four rating in Sunday’s 8-3 win over Chicago. Gustafsson also added an assist and two shots to his stat line. Three forwards posted plus- four ratings in games during the 2025-26 campaign. The previous defenceman to reach the mark was Elias Salomonsson during the 2024-25 season, during a 5-2 win over Grand Rapids on March 4/24. Gustafsson signed a one-year AHL contract with the Moose following four seasons at Boston College.

Increased Output

Forward Brayden Yager struck for two goals and added an assist on Sunday. The outburst accounted for two single-game career highs. The two goals marked Yager’s first professional two-goal outing, and the three points were also a new single-game career high. The Saskatoon, Sask. native tallied multiple points on four occasions during the 2025-26 campaign. Yager notched 30 points (10G, 20A) in 68 games during his rookie season. The centreman was Pittsburgh’s 14th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

Who’s Trending?

Forward Jacob Julien picked up assists in each of Manitoba’s first two games of the campaign. Julien has points in three straight regular season outings going back to 2025-26 with three points (1G, 2A) in those games. The London, Ont. product picked up an assist on the power play on Saturday for the first power play point of his AHL career.