PREVIEW: The Heat Turned Up
By: Manitoba Moose Staff | Published: March 22nd 2018
The Manitoba Moose (38-19-4-4) are back home after their longest road trip of the season. Tonight, at Bell MTS Place, they’ll take on the Stockton Heat (29-22-2-4). The last time these two met was at the start of November when the Moose played six straight games in California. Manitoba took both matchups against Stockton by a score of 4-1. Tickets are still available for tonight’s game at moosehockey.com/tickets/.
THE LONG ROAD HOME
The Moose are coming off a season-long seven-game road trip. Manitoba returns home with a 3-3-0-1 record from the swing which brings them to 23-8-2-2 in away games this season. The Moose have three road games remaining. Winning two of those games would tie the franchise record of 25 road wins (2008-09).
APPLES BY THE TON
Rookie Mason Appleton has already set a new franchise record for points by a rookie this season, topping Sean Tallaire’s former mark of 50. With an assist on Michael Spacek’s goal on Tuesday against San Antonio, the Green Bay, WI native tied Brendan Kichton’s franchise record for assists by a rookie at 38. Appleton is leading all AHL first-year players in points this season and is fourth in overall scoring.
HITTING 50
Forward Nic Petan reached the 50-point plateau for the first time in his AHL career with an assist on Tuesday. Petan sits second on the Moose and sits 17th in league scoring. His 36 assists are tied for ninth in the AHL. The Detla, B.C. celebrates his 23rd birthday today.
MORE MILESTONES FOR THE CAPTAIN
Patrice Cormier’s season of milestones continued with his 100th career AHL assist on Tuesday in San Antonio. Cormier recently played his 400th game on March 3 against Iowa. The Moncton, NB native currently has 97 goals, and 197 points in his career, so it may not be long before Cormier hits a couple more milestones.
DIENES REASSIGNED
The Moose announced today the team has reassigned defenceman Chris Dienes to the Jacksonville Icemen. Dienes has played one game with the Moose this season. The Traverse City, Mich. native has also appeared in 55 ECHL games with Jacksonville, posting 28 points (5G, 23A) and a plus-two rating. Dienes participated in the 2018 CCM/ECHL All-Star Classic earlier in the campaign.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Moose will finish off the season series with the Heat on Saturday (March 24) at 7 p.m. (CT). Make sure you’re one of the first 3,000 fans in the building, as it’s also the night of the JC Lipon Mini Bobblehead giveaway. Get your tickets at rmoosehockey.com/tickets/.
