Moose Recap: Manitoba 4 at Iowa 1

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Quick Hits

• Jeff Malott notched the game-winning tally in the third period
• Kristian Reichel recorded two points (1G, 1A) in the win
• Thomas Milic made 22 saves in the Manitoba road victory

Game Story

The Manitoba Moose (23-28-1-1) clashed with the Central Division's Iowa Wild (19-31-3-2) on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena. Manitoba was coming off a 5-4 victory over Milwaukee on Wednesday.

Neither side was able to find the back of the net through the first 20 minutes of play. Nikita Chibrikov paced the Moose with a pair of shots in the frame, while Iowa was led by Joel Teasdale's four shots on goal. Both goaltenders were up to task, with Manitoba’s Thomas Milic making nine saves, while Jesper Wallstedt countered with eight of his own.

For the second straight period neither club was able to find twine. Both sides were granted multiple power play chances, but Milic and Wallstedt continued to smother every chance they faced. Brad Lambert led the visiting Moose with three shots through 40 minutes, while Teasdale paced the home side with five. Manitoba was outshot 8-7 in the middle stanza and 17-15 over the course of 40 minutes of play.

Iowa opened the scoring 1:44 into the third frame with a goal from Caedan Bankier. Luke Toporowski kept the puck alive and threw it to Bankier, who beat Milic with a shot through traffic from the high slot. The Moose tied the contest on the power play off the stick of Kristian Reichel at 13:22 of the period. Jeffrey Viel broke into the zone and sent the pass over to Reichel, who overpowered Wallstedt with a hard shot through the five-hole. Manitoba took the lead a couple minutes later with a tally from Jeff Malott. The puck got bumped free by Axel Jonsson-Fjallby behind the net and was picked up by Brad Lambert. The forward quickly snapped a pass to Malott in front, who found twine from point blank range. With time ticking down and Wild down a goal, Wallstedt was called to the bench in favour of the extra attacker. The gambit was unsuccessful and the Moose took advantage. Kristian Reichel won a defensive zone draw and Simon Lundmark hit the empty net from his own corner. The Wild emptied the net once again and the Moose added extra insurance with a second empty net tally as Ville Heinola poked the puck across the line. Milic picked up the win and ended the contest with 22 stops, while Wallstedt was hit with the loss and made 27 saves of his own.

Quotable

Moose Forward Dominic Toninato (Click for full interview)

“They played well today. They didn’t give us a whole lot of room. They were structured and clogged things up. We stuck with our process and didn’t get frustrated and kept at it."

Statbook

• Reichel registered his 100th career AHL point in the win
• Ashton Sautner skated in his 400th AHL contest
• Axel Jonsson-Fjallby has 11 points (5G, 6A) over his past five games
• Jeff Malott has tallied eight points (5G, 3A) over his past four games
• Brad Lambert has registered six points (3G, 3A) over his past four contests
• Ville Heinola has points in two straight games with two points (1G, 1A)
• Kristian Reichel has points in two straight games with three points (1G, 2A)

What's Next?

The Moose rematch with the Iowa Wild at Wells Fargo Arena on Sunday, March 10. Puck drop is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT.

You can catch the game on 680 CJOB, CJOB.com/sports the Winnipeg Jets App or AHLTV.

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