PREVIEW: Moose Meet the Marlies

The Manitoba Moose (19-5-1-2) and Toronto Marlies (21-5-0-0) are the top teams in the AHL so today’s matchup should be a doozy. Both teams are coming in off wins last night, the Moose were in Belleville (7-3) and the Marlies were in Rochester (3-2). The two teams will play each other again on Sunday, but the opportunity to draw first blood at 3.p.m. CT today won’t be taken lightly by either franchise. Catch today’s action on moosehockey.com/listenlive/ starting at 2:45 p.m. CT.

CLASH OF THE TITANS 
The Moose and Marlies own two of the best goal differentials in the league with Manitoba at +46 and Toronto at +37. Both teams have been nearly unstoppable over their last 16 games with the Moose owning a 14-1-0-1 record and the Marlies with a 14-2-0-0 mark. Manitoba owns an eight-point lead over Texas in the West while Toronto holds a six-point edge over Providence and Rochester in the East.

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE CAPTAIN 
Moose Captain Patrice Cormier has had the hot stick the past two games, racking up four goals and adding an assist. The veteran of 370 AHL games is second on the Moose with 11 goals on the season. In his career with the Moose/IceCaps, Cormier has 85 goals to his name, good for fourth on the franchise's all-time list, trailing Jason King (100), Jimmy Roy (102) and Jason Jaffray (158). Cormier also sits 10th on the franchise's all-time points list with 168 during his time with the organization.

BEATING UP HIS BUDDIES
Buddy Robinson had a huge night against one of his previous organizations yesterday. The former Senator racked up five points (1G, 4A), all at even strength, for a new single-game career high. The five-point performance was the ninth in franchise history. The previous occurrence was JC Lipon's one goal, four assist game against Toronto on Feb. 6, 2016. Robinson’s riding a two game total of seven points (1G, 6A) heading into today’s action.

FINDING TWINE
Leading the league with 106 goals in 27 games, the Moose have enjoyed plenty of offensive success in the early stages of the 2017-18 season. In the first 27 games of the campaign, Manitoba has scored five or more goals on eight occasions. They're already closing in on their tally from the past two seasons with the team scoring five goals 10 times in 2015-16 and 11 times in 2016-17. In last night's game, Cormier, Robinson, and Mason Appleton scored their 10th goals of the season to join Jack Roslovic in double-digits.

GREEN LIGHT
Moose defencemen have had plenty of opportunity to add offence this season and it shows on the AHL's leader board. Manitoba has three players who rank among the top-10 defenders when it comes to point production. Cameron Schilling (3rd) has 21 points (4G, 17A), rookie Sami Niku (5th) has 18 points (3G, 15A) and Peter Stoykewych (T-10th) has 16 points (4G, 12A). In total, Manitoba has 15 goals from its backend and a combined 73 points.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Sunday is game two between the Moose and Marlies, again at 3 p.m. CT. Afterwards, Manitoba will head back home for a four-game home stand with a series against San Antonio (Dec. 21/22) and San Jose (Dec. 30/31). The holidays are coming up quickly, so don’t forget to grab your tickets at moosehockey.com/tickets/.