Moose open road trip in Texas

The Manitoba Moose (15-17-3-2) begin a six-game road trip tonight (7:30 p.m. CT) in Cedar Park, Texas when they do battle with the Texas Stars (18-15-1-2) for the third time this season.

Last Game
Manitoba heads into this stretch coming off a solid performance at the MTS Centre on Sunday Jan. 15 against the Chicago Wolves. Manitoba was down one after the first frame but they stormed back scoring four unanswered goals picking up a 4-1 victory. Dan DeSalvo, Ryan Olsen, Scott Kosmachuk and Jimmy Lodge had the markers for Manitoba while Ondrej Pavelec, who was recently recalled by the Winnipeg Jets, had a 43-save performance.

Flash Back
The Moose enter tonight’s game with Texas sporting a 1-1-0-0 record versus the Stars. After falling 6-1 to the Stars on Dec. 3, Manitoba rebounded two days later with a 5-4 win. The win was a see-saw affair and the game ultimately came down to a later Moose powerplay where Jack Roslovic setup Dan DeSalvo who buried the game winner with less than two minutes to play.

Welcome Back
Moose forward Scott Glennie plays his first game back at H-E-B Center tonight since he was a member of the Texas Stars. That previous contest came April 25, 2015 when the Stars hosted Rockford in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Glennie played 230 games with Texas, posting 46 goals and 72 assists. He also hoisted the Calder Cup in 2014 with the club. In 28 games with the Moose this season, Glennie has 15 points (5G, 10A) with one assist coming on Sunday versus Chicago.

First to 10
Dan DeSalvo became the first member of the Moose to hit 10 goals over the weekend. After a stretch over which DeSalvo had two points in 10 games, the Rolling Meadows, IL native is back on the scoresheet with consistency, picking up four points (2G, 2A) in his last six games. DeSalvo is second on the Moose with 19 points (10G, 9A).

Texas’ Story
Texas welcomes Manitoba to the H-E-B Center after a four-game road trip. January has been an up and down month for the Stars, going 4-4-0-0. Texas is in a similar spot to Manitoba – sitting sixth in their respective division. Although, it’s a much tighter race in the Pacific where the Stars only sit five points behind the first-place Ontario Reign. Manitoba’s defensive play will need to be sharp tonight as Texas leads their division in goals with 120.  The Moose will hope to capitalize on the man advantage tonight as Texas comes into tonight’s tilt with the league’s worst penalty kill at 75.7 per cent. The Stars are led by Travis Morin with 30 points (11G, 19A) in 36 games. Maxime Lagace has been the go to man between the pipes making 26 starts featuring a 3.29 GAA and 0.894 SV percentage – numbers the Moose will hope to take advantage of if Lagace makes the start.

What’s Next?
Manitoba continues their road-trip on Friday night when they head down the road to San Antonio to take on the Rampage in a 7:30 p.m. CT puck drop. You can listen to all Manitoba Moose home games live on moosehockey.com/listenlive. Make sure to tune in 15 mins before the game to hear the pre-game show with Mitch Peacock where he will break down the matchup and have all the latest in Moose news.

Jersey Auction
The Manitoba Moose are pleased to be auctioning off 26 of the game worn and game issued Firefighter Appreciation Day jerseys, with the proceeds going to the Manitoba Fallen Firefighter Memorial Foundation. The auction is open and ready to take your bids. To place your bid, please visit the True North ebay Shop!