Moose close home stand vs. Admirals

The Manitoba Moose (24-33-4-5) wrap up their season high eight-game home stand at 7 p.m. CT as they host the Milwaukee Admirals (38-21-3-3) on Autism Awareness Night.

Last Game
After Milwaukee jumped out to a 2-0 lead, Manitoba’s Kyle Connor potted his team leading 22nd goal of the season to put the Moose down by one heading into the second. Milwaukee broke out for three goals in the middle frame as the Admirals went onto win 6-2. Darren Kramer netted Manitoba’s second marker in the third period.

Flash Back
The Moose enter tonight’s contest with a 1-1-1-0 record vs. Milwaukee. Prior to last night’s contest, Manitoba took the first meeting 4-3 in OT on Nov. 26 and then fell in their second matchup 3-2 in OT on Mar. 4 at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. Dan DeSalvo has four points (1G, 3A) in three games against the Admirals this season.

Sustained Production
Kyle Connor added another goal to his season total on Thursday night, tallying his 22nd in 45 games. The marker gives Connor 14 goals in his last 13 games and is now only five goals back of the league lead. The Shelby Township, MI product has picked up eight points (4G, 4A) through seven games of this eight-game home stand. Despite playing in 12 fewer games, Connor is only two points back of Jack Roslovic (41 pts) for the team lead.

New Faces
Manitoba’s lineup had a different look after a few players joined the team the earlier this week. Forwards Francis Beauvillier and Kale Kessy drew into the lineup along with blueliners Jake Baker and Jake Kulevich. Thursday’s game was Beauvillier’s first with Manitoba, while Kessy (13) Baker (14) and Kulevich (2) have a combined 29 games played for Manitoba this season. In addition to the four who played on Thursday, the Moose also added defence man Luke Green and forward Rob Flick to their roster.

Milwaukee’s Story
The Admirals find themselves in third in the Central Division, just three points behind Chicago and Grand Rapids. Milwaukee is 6-3-0-1 in their last 10 games and is coming off a 6-3 win over the top seeded Griffins. Milwaukee has made a habit of taking penalties with the third most PIM’s in the AHL (1029). The Admirals score by committee as nine players over the 20-point mark. Leading the charge is Pontus Aberg with 45 (26G, 19A) points in 49 games. Marek Mazanec is Milwaukee’s main man between the posts with 22 wins on the season. He carries a 2.79 GAA and a .906 save percentage.

Autism Awareness Night
The Moose host the Admirals on Autism Awareness Night, presented by Red River Co-op in support of St.Amant’s autism program. In the game, the Moose will be wearing special edition Autism Awareness jerseys involving a puzzle piece design.  Select player jerseys will be auctioned off at the game with the rest available online in the days following the game.  Net proceeds from the Autism Awareness jersey auction will be donated to St.Amant.

What’s Next?
The Moose head west for a trio of games against California clubs. Game one comes on Tuesday night as the Moose invade Bakersfield for a tilt with the Condors at 9 p.m. CT. You can listen to all Manitoba Moose road games on moosehockey.com/listenlive. Make sure to tune in 15 minutes before to hear the pre-game show for all your latest Moose news.