Game Story

The Manitoba Moose (5-2-0-0) fell to the Grand Rapids Griffins (6-1-1-0) by a 4-3 scoreline at Van Andel Arena on Wednesday evening. Manitoba was coming off a 4-3 overtime victory over the Texas Stars at Canada Life Centre on Sunday afternoon.

Grand Rapids started the scoring just under five minutes into the opening period. William Lagesson fired a shot past Domenic DiVincentiis to make it 1-0 for the Griffins. Danny Zhilkin levelled the score under four minutes later, when a Grand Rapids defender deflected his centring pass into the twine. Chase Yoder gave Manitoba a 2-1 lead at 14:56, capitalizing on an Isaak Phillips rebound. Ondřej Becher made it 2-2 on the power play with two minutes to play in the stanza. DiVincentiis made 15 stops in the Moose goal, while Trey Augustine stopped 10 Moose offerings.

Despite some good chances both ways, neither side could crack the scoresheet in the second. DiVincentiis had the highlight of the period, going side to side to steal an otherwise sure goal away from the Griffins. It was one of his eight stops in the period. Augustine made 11 saves in the stanza, as the 2-2 scoreline held into the second intermission.

The shots slowed down in the third, but the scoring resumed. Grand Rapids struck at 8:42 courtesy of Shai Buium, and grew its lead to 4-2 at 14:39 with Cameron Butler deflecting a shot past DiVincentiis. Henry Thrun cut the Griffins’ lead to 4-3 with a shorthanded goal at 16:47. The Moose pushed for a tying tally, but couldn’t beat Augustine, as Grand Rapids held on for a 4-3 victory.

Statbook

• Both of Manitoba’s losses this season have been by a single goal
• Isaak Phillips has an assist in each of his past four games
• Danny Zhilkin’s two-point effort was his third multi-point game of the season

Quotable

Moose defenceman Henry Thrun (click for full interview)
“The penalty killers did a good job up until that point to kind of limit their chances, and then ultimately I was able to get up there. Danny made a great pass, and (I) was able to find the back of the net.”

What’s Coming Up

Manitoba continues its six-game road trip on Friday evening, when the Moose take on the Iowa Wild at Casey’s Center in Des Moines, Iowa. Coverage starts at 6:45 p.m. CDT on CJOB.com, the Winnipeg Jets App and AHLTV on FloHockey.

The Moose are back at Canada Life Centre Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. when they host the Toronto Marlies. The Friday Moosic Series is back. Get your tickets and find promotion information at moosehockey.com/tickets.