Moose Recap: Manitoba 3 at Chicago 2 SO

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Quick Hits

• Nicholas Jones (1G, 1A) and Henri Nikkanen (2A) each tallied two points in the Moose win
• Thomas Milic made 21 saves, and stopped all five in the shootout
• Adam Scheel posted 35 stops in the Chicago loss

Game Story

The Manitoba Moose (25-29-1-1) battled with the Central Division's Chicago Wolves (21-28-3-3) on Friday night at Allstate Arena. Manitoba was coming off a 6-0 win against Milwaukee on Wednesday morning.

Neither side was able to find the back of the net through the first 20 minutes of play. Both clubs were granted a single chance on the power play, but Thomas Milic and Adam Scheel, who were each making their second consecutive appearances, held the line and finished with eight stops apiece. Dmitry Kuzmin and Henri Nikkanen fired two shots on goal for Manitoba, while Chicago was led by Cory Conacher and Matt Donovan, who posted two of their own in the frame.

Chicago opened the scoring with nine minutes left in the second period off a shorthanded goal from Max Comtois. The Wolves pressured and forced a turnover at the line and Rocco Grimaldi took off down the ice. The forward opened up space and slid the puck back across the seam to Max Comtois, who hit the open net. Manitoba tied the contest just over a minute later with a shorthanded marker from Ville Heinola. The defenceman cruised in and snuck a shot from the circle past Scheel. Chicago reclaimed the lead 19 seconds later with a power play goal from Comtois. The forward took the pass at the line from Domenick Fensore and blistered a shot to the top corner. Manitoba outshot Chicago 12-6 in the middle stanza, but trailed 2-1 heading into the final 20 minutes of play.

Manitoba tied the contest 2:48 into the third with a goal off the stick of Nicholas Jones. Henri Nikkanen burned into the offensive zone and fired a shot off the post. The rebound popped off the iron and Jones displayed great patience before walking the puck around Scheel on the backhand. The goal was the lone scoring play of the third frame. Manitoba outshot Chicago 14-4 in the third period, but with the two sides tied, overtime was required to decide a winner.

The overtime period was a frantic back-and-forth battle that saw eight total shots exchanged between the two clubs. Milic kept the Manitoba in the game with a brilliant glove save early in overtime. The Moose were granted a chance on a late power play, but despite tons of pressure, were unable to find the winner as the contest shifted into a shootout. The shootout ended in the fifth round with a goal from Jeff Malott, as he went bardown to give Manitoba the 3-2 victory. Milic stopped all five shootout attempts, and ended with 21 saves for his 10th win of the season. Scheel was hit with the loss and posted 35 stops of his own.

Quotable

Moose Forward Jeff Malott (Click for full interview)

“Lately, I think we’ve been going into these third periods knowing that we’re down or in tight games. We kind of revert back to what’s given us success this season and that’s simple hockey. It’s predictable. Managing blue lines, getting pucks deep and establishing our forecheck. I feel like I kind of say that a lot in these post games, but that’s exactly what it is."

Statbook

• Ville Heinola has tallied five points (3G, 2A) over his past five games
• Heinola's sixth goal of the season is a new career-high
• Henri Nikkanen has three points (1G, 2A) his past two contests
• Nicholas Jones (1G, 1A) recorded his third multi-point game of the campaign
• The Moose have outscored their opponents 20-8 in the third period of play over the past eight games

What's Next?

The Moose rematch with the Chicago Wolves at Allstate Arena on Saturday, March 16. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.

You can catch the game on CJOB.com/sports the Winnipeg Jets App or AHLTV.

Tickets to all upcoming Moose home games are available at MooseHockey.com/TICKETS.