Preview: A Dish Served Cold
By: Manitoba Moose Staff | Published: October 28th 2018
Oct. 28, 2018 at ROCKFORD ICEHOGS
The Manitoba Moose (3-4-0-0) are in Rockford today, taking on the team that eliminated them from the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs, the IceHogs (4-3-1-0). You can catch the 4 p.m. CT puck drop on moosehockey.com/listenlive/ or the Moose App.
Both teams come into today’s action trying to forget about divisional losses last night. The Moose were in Milwaukee where they fell 4-1 to the Admirals, while Rockford lost 2-1 to the Cleveland Monsters.
The bright spots for Manitoba in last night’s game were Skyler McKenzie notching his first professional regular season goal, and Ken Appleby stopping 37 of 41 shots. In the contest, Appleby crossed the threshold of 4,000 minutes played in the AHL.
In preparation for tonight’s game, we looked back to what made the IceHogs such a challenge for Manitoba in the playoffs when they swept the Moose in four games. Head Coach Pascal Vincent’s description of Manitoba's opponents moments after his squad was eliminated still ring true this season.
“I thought the effort was there. I thought the guys gave their best shot, but we got beat by a very good team. They can play any style. They can play physical, their special teams are pretty good. Their penalty kill was outstanding and blocking shots. Their goalie was good. That’s a pretty good team.”
Playing at the BMO Harris Bank Center could be just what the Moose need to get their first road win of the campaign. They took on the IceHogs four times last season, with the away team winning all four contests. In their last ten visits to Rockford, the Moose are 7-3-0-0, and hold a 19-9-0-4 record all-time against the IceHogs.
Sami Niku could be a key figure for Manitoba. He’s been held off the score sheet in his last two games, but registered five assists against the IceHogs last season.
The Moose will have to be mindful of the Sikura brothers. Dylan (2G, 5A) and Tyler (4G, 2A) have combined for 13 points in Rockford’s first eight games
The Moose wrap up their three-game road trip back in Milwaukee on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. CT. That game will be broadcast on TSN 1290, moosehockey.com/listenlive/, and the Moose App. You can also stream all the games on AHLTV.
