Recap: Moose 3 at Rockford 2

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Quick Hits

• Ville Heinola's game-winning goal was his first marker of the season
• Thomas Milic made 23 saves in his third win of the campaign
• Isaak Phillips scored his second career shorthanded goal

Game Story

The Manitoba Moose (5-6-2-0) took down the Rockford IceHogs (7-6-1-0) by a 3-2 score Wednesday night, coming back from down two goals for the second straight game. The Moose won their most recent game on Nov. 8, beating the Texas Stars 3-2 at H-E-B Center.

The opening frame on Friday was jam-packed with action. Gavin Hayes fed Marcel Marcel, sending him on a partial break 4:41 into the period, and after Thomas Milic made the initial save, Marcel banged home a rebound to open the scoring. Aidan Thompson expanded the lead to two moments later, letting go of a shot in the home plate area that beat Milic on the glove side. Manitoba grew into the game as the stanza wore on. Following a sweet pass from rookie forward Brayden Yager, Samuel Fagemo blasted his third of the season past Drew Commesso on the power play, cutting the Rockford advantage to 2-1. Mason Shaw appeared to tie the game moments later, but was robbed by a diving Commesso, who got his stick between the puck and a wide open cage to make the most dramatic of his 12 first period stops. Milic turned aside nine shots in the Moose goal.

Offence was tougher to come by in the second, and it took until the final minute for the Moose to find a tying goal. With just 12 seconds left to play, Jaret Anderson-Dolan found former IceHogs defender Isaak Phillips streaking down into the slot. Phillips let a shot rip over the blocker of Commesso and into the top corner, tying the game 2-2. Milic made all eight saves asked of him in the period, while Commesso made eight of his own in the Rockford crease.

Ville Heinola wasted little time scoring what stood up to be the game-winning goal in the third. Just 2:55 into the period, the Finnish defenceman fired a shot from the blueline through traffic, and it beat Commesso low for a 3-2 Moose edge. Rockford valiantly fought to get back even late in the contest, firing a series of good chances toward Milic. Still, he stood tall, turning away seven third-period shots as Manitoba skated away with a 3-2 win.

Quotable

Moose defenceman Dylan Anhorn (click for full interview)
"I think we've got a really resilient group. Obviously, we showed that tonight, and we were able to hang on."

Statbook

• Phil Di Giuseppe has four assists over his past two games
• Di Giuseppe also took over the team lead with nine points (3G, 6A)
• Brayden Yager has three helpers over his past two games
• The Moose have recorded points in five of Thomas Milic's seven starts