Moose Recap: Manitoba 3 vs. Abbotsford 2

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Quick Hits

• Jeffrey Viel posted two points (1G, 1A) in the victory
• Kyle Capobianco tallied two points (1G, 1A) in the Moose win
• Nikita Tolopilo made 42 saves in the Abbotsford loss

Game Story

The Manitoba Moose (28-30-1-1) grappled with the Pacific's Division's Abbotsford Canucks (31-24-4-2) on Saturday afternoon at Canada Life Centre. Manitoba was coming off a 4-1 loss against Grand Rapids on Wednesday evening.

Manitoba opened the scoring at the 13:25 mark of the frame courtesy of a gorgeous goal from Kyle Capobianco. Dawson Barteaux found Capobianco with a pass along the line. Capobianco stunned an Abbotsford defender and swung wide with a brilliant move before skating in roofing a shot past Nikita Tolopilo. The goal was the lone scoring play of the opening frame. Manitoba’s Thomas Milic, making his sixth consecutive start, ended the frame with two saves, while Abbotsford’s Tolopilo countered with 12 of his own.

Manitoba grabbed a 2-0 lead five minutes into the second period with a power play tally from Kristian Reichel. Jeffrey Viel grabbed the puck down low and sent the feed to Reichel in the slot where the forward blistered a shot past Tolopilo. Abbotsford got on the board 31 seconds later with a tally from Max Sasson. The centre forced a turnover and grabbed the puck before beating Milic from the high slot. The Canucks struck again and tied the contest off the stick of Linus Karlsson. The forward made a move in front and the puck popped off the pad of Milic. Karlsson tracked the disc and roofed the rebound. Manitoba outshot Abbotsford 21-6 in the second period and took a 2-2 tie into the final 20 minutes of play.

Manitoba pulled ahead nine minutes into the third on a Jeffrey Viel strike. Dominic Toninato sauced the puck to Viel, who was waiting by the side of the net. The forward waited a moment and then beat Tolopilo with a low shot through the five-hole. With time ticking down and the Canucks trailing by a marker, the call was made to pull Tolopilo in favour of the extra attacker. The Moose pulled together defensively and shut down all further opportunities to preserve the 3-2 win. Milic picked up the home victory and made 10 saves, while Tolopilo was hit with the road loss and made 42 stops of his own.

Quotable

Moose Defenceman Kyle Capobianco (Click for full interview)

“I thought we just played a well-rounded game. I think we put a lot of puck towards their net and eventually they just went in. They're a hard team to play against. They play a hard-nosed game, an honest game. They're going to be hard tomorrow."

Statbook

• Axel Jonsson-Fjallby notched his 100th career AHL point
• Nikita Chibrikov has points in four straight games with four points (1G, 3A)
• Chibrikov reached 40 points on the season with his assist
• Jeffrey Viel matched his previous career-high with his 31st point of the campaign
• Dawson Barteaux reached double-digit points for the first time in his AHL career

What's Next?

The Moose rematch with the Abbotsford Canucks at Canada Life Centre on Sunday, March 24. Puck drop is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT. One lucky fan will win a grand prize $1,500 travel voucher courtesy of CAA Manitoba.

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

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