Moose Recap: Manitoba 4 vs. Rockford 5 OT
By: Anthony Fusco | Published: October 15th 2022
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Quick Hits
- Daniel Torgersson (1G, 1A) and Mikey Eyssimont (2A) each had multi-point efforts in the loss
- Brett Seney recorded the overtime winner
- Winnipeg Jets 2021 first round pick Chaz Lucius scored his first professional goal
Game Story
The Manitoba Moose (0-0-1-0) clashed with the Rockford IceHogs (1-0-0-0) Saturday afternoon at Canada Life Centre from their 2022-23 season and home opener.
Manitoba opened the scoring prior to the game being three minutes old. Mikey Eyssimont dug the puck free along the boards and threw it back to the waiting Leon Gawanke at the blue line. The defenceman turned and fired a bullet that eluded Arvid Soderblom for a 1-0 Moose lead. Neither side was be able to find any more offence in the opening frame despite the Moose receiving a late chance on the power play. Manitoba outshot Rockford by a count of 15-6 after the first 20 minutes.
Manitoba struck again in the middle frame and increased the lead. Daniel Torgersson swept up the puck and carried it into the attacking zone. The forward took a moment before firing his shot past Soderblom to push the Moose ahead 2-0 halfway through the contest. The Moose found the twine again under two minutes later. With the home side on the power play, Kevin Stenlund took a pass from Eyssimont and snapped the puck into the slot. The disc was deflected by Chaz Lucius past Soderblom to push the Manitoba lead to 3-0. Manitoba carried its lead into the second intermission and was ahead 29-25 in the shot count after 40 minutes.
Rockford cut into the Moose lead early in the third with a goal off the stick of Luke Philip. The forward’s first of the season slashed the Manitoba lead to 3-1. The IceHogs kept the pressure on and knotted up the game 3-3 with goals from David Gust and Lukas Reichel under a minute apart. Manitoba fought back and reclaimed the lead with Kristian Reichel’s first of the season. Rockford kept fighting and tied the contest once again, this time with two minutes left on the clock and Soderblom on the bench. The game went to overtime tied 4-4.
Manitoba early chances in the overtime, but Rockford came up with the win. Brett Seney scored the winner as the IceHogs captured the 5-4 victory. Soderblom ended the night with the win and had 38 stops. Arvid Holm was tagged with the loss and put up 35 saves of his own.
Quotable
Moose Head Coach Mark Morrison (Click for full interview)
"I thought we had a strong first period. We played how we were supposed to play. We put pucks in behind and I thought we got on the forecheck. I thought we had controlled much of the game in the first period. I thought we had puck control in the offensive zone for most of it. I didn't like the second period as much. Just weren't really sharp with the puck and it carried over into the third. But it's the first game, a new group with new lines. We're going to be patient with them."
Statbook
- Defenceman Tyrel Bauer and forward Brad Lambert each made their AHL debuts.
- Henri Nikkanen recored an assist for his first AHL point.
- Daniel Torgersson has five points (3G, 2A) in his first five AHL regular season games dating back to last season.
- Alex Limoges and Kevin Stenlund each recorded their first points (assists) with the Moose
What's Next?
The Moose rematch against the Rockford IceHogs on Sunday, October 16. Puck drop is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CT at Canada Life Centre. Tickets to all upcoming Moose home games are available at MooseHockey.com/TICKETS.
You can also catch the game on CJOB.com/sports, the new Winnipeg Jets App, and AHLTV.
