Game Story

The Manitoba Moose (6-2-0-0) used special teams to power themselves to a 4-3 victory over the Iowa Wild (3-4-1-1) at Casey’s Center on Friday night. They were coming off a 4-3 loss to Grand Rapids at Van Andel Arena on Wednesday.

The opening frame included a trio of power play goals. Noah Gregor scored first for the Moose, ripping a shot bar down at 10:36. Charlie Stramel tied the game under four minutes later, and Justin Kirkland made it 2-1 Iowa at 19:09, courtesy of a five-on-three power play. The Moose committed five penalties in the opening frame, while Iowa was charged with one. The Wild outshot the Moose 19-4 in the first, with Thomas Milic making 17 stops.

Manitoba scored another power play marker on its first opportunity of the second. Danny Zhilkin tied the game by cashing in a rebound at the side of the net. The lead was short-lived, however. Rasmus Kumpulainen knocked a puck home from the top of the blue paint to give the Wild a 3-2 lead. through 40 mintues. Milic made 10 more stops in the second, while William Rousseau made 11.

The Moose battled back to even the game early in the third. Parker Ford finished a massive check at centre ice to create a turnover. On the ensuing sequence in the offensive zone, Danny Zhilkin came up with the puck behind the Iowa goal, and fed Ford a pass out front to tie the game at 3-3. Ford came up huge again later in the frame. In the closing seconds of Manitoba’s sixth power play, Colby Barlow found Kevin He, who sent a pass cross-ice to Ford. The Wakefield, RI. native made no mistake and buried it past Rousseau for his second goal, and third point, of the night. Milic made his biggest save midway through the third with some spinning, backhand robbery on a wrap-around attempt. He made 15 stops in the period, helping the Moose secure a 4-3 victory.

Statbook

• Thomas Milic moves to 4-0-0 on the season with the win
• The Moose have claimed victory after each of their two losses this season
• Parker Ford increased his point streak to six games (3G, 6A)
• Henry Thrun recorded two assists, extending his point streak to five games (1G, 4A)
• Danny Zhilkin has back-to-back two-point games, and four on the season

Quotable

Moose forward Parker Ford (click for full interview)
“Lots of penalties on both sides, which is always tough with the flow of the game. That happens sometimes; that’s why you want your special teams to be good. We were clicking. Just a very resilient game.”

What’s Coming Up

Manitoba continues its six-game road trip on Saturday evening, when the Moose take on the Iowa Wild at Casey’s Center in Des Moines, Iowa. Coverage starts at 5:45 p.m. CDT on CJOB.com, the Winnipeg Jets App and AHLTV on FloHockey.

The Moose are back at Canada Life Centre on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. when they host the Toronto Marlies. The Friday Moosic Series is back, featuring the 12/21 performing as Green Day. Get your tickets and find promotion information at moosehockey.com/tickets.