Moose Recap: Manitoba 3 at Milwaukee 5

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Quick Hits

• Jansen Harkins notched three points (1G, 2A) for Manitoba in the loss
• Both squads scored twice on the power play
• Keifer Sherwood posted two points (1G, 1A) in Milwaukee's win

Game Story

The Manitoba Moose (2-2) took on the Milwaukee Admirals (2-2) on Friday evening at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena for Game 4 of the Central Division Semifinals.

Manitoba opened the scoring at the 5:02 mark of the contest. Milwaukee attacked down the ice, but Jansen Harkins got a stick on the puck defensively and sent the disc to Greg Meireles. Meireles then blistered a shot past Yaroslav Askarov on the short side for the icebreaker. Milwaukee tied the contest at the 8:13 mark of the frame. With the Admirals on the power play, Zach Sanford accepted a Phil Tomasino pass, before depositing a backhand chance through the arm of Oskari Salminen. Milwaukee took a late 2-1 lead with time dwindling courtesy of a Moose own-goal during a delayed penalty. That tally was credited to Spencer Stastney. Manitoba was down 2-1 after the 20 minutes of play and outshot 11-5.

Milwaukee pushed further ahead in the second with a second goal on the power play. Joakim Kemell fired the shot past Salminen from the wing. The Admirals added to their lead with under five to go in the second. Kiefer Sherwood was sprung off the pass from Michael McCarron and deked past the sprawling stick of Salminen on a breakaway. Tempers boiled over as the period wore on, which led to 26 minutes of penalties between the two clubs. Manitoba was outshot 8-6 in the middle stanza and trailed 4-1.

Manitoba cut into the Milwaukee lead with a power play goal 2:37 into the third. Ville Heinola swung the puck to Jansen Harkins, who fired a laser past Askarov from distance. The Moose pulled within a goal two minutes later as Wyatt Bongiovanni banged home a rebound after Harkins sent the puck to the front of the net. With time ticking away and the Moose down a goal, Salminen was called to the bench in favour of the extra attacker. Milwaukee's Austin Rueschhoff knocked a pass free and sent the puck into the empty net. Salminen ended with the loss and 23 total stops, while Askarov captured the win and made 16 saves of his own.

Quotable

Moose Defenceman Ashton Sautner (Click for full interview)

“We talked about doing a better job of not getting dragged into the stuff they try to drag you into. Obviously, penalties and whatnot are part of the game and in the playoffs it’s more important to stay disciplined. We’ll be better and get ready for tomorrow."

Statbook

• Jansen Harkins has six points (3G, 3A) his past four games
• Greg Meireles has posted three points (1G, 2A) his past three contests
• Wyatt Bongiovanni has tallied three points (2G, 1A) his past two games
• Cole Maier has registered three points (1G, 2A) over his past three contests

What's Next?

The Moose head into Game 5 of the best-of-five series tied 2-2 with the winner advancing to the next round. Manitoba and Milwaukee face off Saturday, May 6 at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.

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