The Manitoba Moose wrapped up their first home series of the season, splitting their two-game set with the Rockford IceHogs. The Moose opened their home section of the American Hockey League (AHL) schedule with two games that went a long way to show how the team could find success this season, while also exposing some aspects that need to be addressed going forward.
Home Opener Struggles Improved for Game 2 Win
Game 1, Oct. 26, 2024: RFD 5 – 3 MB
The Moose dropped game one of the two-game set to the IceHogs by a score of 5-3 on Saturday, Oct. 26 in the home opener. After a strong first period, they were unable to finish the job after giving up three in the second period, and two more in the third.
C.J. Suess, Mason Shaw, and Nikita Chibrikov came up with the goals for the Moose. Chibrikov continued his strong start to 2024-25, recording his second goal and fifth point through five games. Brad Lambert is also off to a hot start, tallying two assists in the contest, also bringing his season total to five points in five games.
Thomas Milic took the loss after allowing five goals on 27 shots. After making some outstanding saves in the first period, some defensive breakdowns and a few mistakes made life hard on the 21-year-old netminder. He fell to 1-2 on the season with his save percentage (SV%) now sitting at .865 through three starts.
Gavin Hayes, Cavan Fitzgerald, Cole Guttman, Colton Dach, and Ryder Rolston registered the goals for the IceHogs. Also of note, 2024 second-overall selection Artyom Levshunov recorded his first career AHL point, assisting on Fitzgerald’s goal. Mitchell Weeks got the win in net, stopping 29 of 32 shots.
Game 2, Oct. 27, 2024: RFD 1 – 3 MB
After the disappointing home opener, the Moose responded well in the second game, winning 3-1. They did well to remedy a lot of the issues that plagued them in the first game, cleaning up some of the unforced errors and being more aggressive on the forecheck.
Dylan Anhorn opened the scoring for the Moose, finding some space at the top of the circles and ripping one top-shelf for a shorthanded goal. The 25-year-old defender was beaming when he was asked about his goal after the game.
“It was awesome,” Anhorn beamed. “[Henri Nikkanen] did a good job of pushing them back and then dropping to me, and I tried to use the defenceman as a screen and it was…
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