Preview: Stopping in Stockton
By: Manitoba Moose Staff | Published: December 7th 2018
Dec. 7, 2018 at STOCKTON HEAT
The Manitoba Moose (10-12-1-0) are on to their final stop of the road trip, Stockton, for a back-to-back with the Heat (11-11-1-0). The first of the two games starts tonight at 9 p.m. CT. The matchup will be broadcast on moosehockey.com/listenlive, the Moose App, and streamed live on AHLTV.
The Moose dropped both games in Bakersfield, falling 4-0 (Dec 1) and 4-3 (Dec 5). Manitoba found itself in early holes against the Condors, trailing 2-0 after 20 minutes in both games. The difference between the two matchups was how the Moose reacted to the deficit.
On Wednesday night the team battled back, nearly forcing overtime. Forward Emile Poirier liked his teams compete level, but knows how big of a factor the slow start was.
“We didn’t quit. We came out in the third and wanted to win. If we played like we played in the third for the whole game, we’ve just got to play sixty minutes and that’s what’s stopping us.”
The game was the first appearance in antlers for forward Austin Carroll, and defenceman Dajon Mingo’s first AHL game. Luke Green and Kristian Reichel returned from injury, but the team lost Seth Griffith and Ryan White who returned to Winnipeg early to deal with their ailments.
The roster turnover has been dramatic lately between callups to the Jets and injuries. The most recent lineup shares only 9 of 20 names with the unit that took the ice for the Moose home opener on Oct 12.
That has meant opportunity for many players, but none have taken advantage to the extent of Logan Shaw. The forward scored all three Manitoba goals in the 4-3 loss to the Condors, his second hat trick in four games. Shaw now leads the team in goals (11), and is tied for most points (18) with Mason Appleton.
Since joining the Moose 10 games ago, Shaw has registered nine goals and four assists which he credits to sticking to the team’s systems.
“It feels pretty good to score goals. I [didn’t] get to do it much in the past, when I was up top. It’s nice to be called up to get those chances. Some of them are lucky goals and lucky bounces, but it happens if you keep going the right way”
While there are certainly positives in seeing the depth players step in an compete for the Moose, Shaw says the club is still focussed on winning.
“I think we need to get points in the next two games. If we finish this trip .500 it’d be a great trip for us. It’s been a long trip, but we have a tough task coming up ahead of us in Stockton. It’s possible, we just have to believe in ourselves, believe in our team, play the right way, and I think we’ll be fine.”
Manitoba and Stockton finish up the series tomorrow (Dec 8) at 8 p.m. CT, before heading home. The reigning Calder Cup Champion Toronto Marlies come into Bell MTS Place next weekend (Dec 14/15), to make sure you don’t miss the action, head to moosehockey.com/tickets.
