Moose Recap: Manitoba 4 vs. Rockford 0
By: Anthony Fusco | Published: October 16th 2022
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Quick Hits
- Oskari Salminen recorded his first AHL shutout and win
- Winnipeg Jets 2022 first round pick Brad Lambert tallied his first AHL goal in the victory
- Jansen Harkins recorded the shorthanded game-winner in the second period
Game Story
The Manitoba Moose (1-0-1-0) clashed with the Rockford IceHogs (1-1-0-0) Sunday afternoon at Canada Life Centre in the teams' second meeting of the weekend.
Manitoba and Rockford duelled to a 0-0 score after the first 20 minutes of play. Both sides had a pair of chances on the power play, but neither squad was able to find twine and break the deadlock. Both Kristian Reichel and Leon Gawanke led the way with two shots apiece for the Moose. Oskari Salminen was solid for Manitoba and stopped all 15 shots he faced. Arvid Soderblom, who was making his second consecutive start, vacuumed up nine pucks of his own after the first 20 ran its course.
The scoreless contest continued for most of the middle stanza. With just under two minutes to go, the Moose found themselves on the penalty kill. Evan Polei intercepted the puck and sent it up the ice to a streaking Jansen Harkins. The forward made no mistake and wired a wicked shot bar-down to give the Moose a 1-0 lead. Manitoba outshout Rockford 10-7 in the second period, but trailed 22-19 on the shot count after 40 minutes.
The Moose penalty kill turned aside two Rockford power plays and the Declan Chisholm sprung Brad Lambert out of the penalty box and the rookie forward snapped his first AHL goal past Soderblom for a 2-0 Moose lead. The Moose struck again a couple minutes later. Kevin Stenlund walked into the zone, toe-dragged around a defender and wristed a shot that found twine and put the Moose ahead 3-0. With time dwindling, Rockford pulled Soderblom in favour of the extra attacker. Evan Polei snatched the puck, skated down the ice and deposited it into the empty net to seal the Moose victory on home ice. Salminen, who was making his first AHL start, recorded the shutout on the back of 32 saves.
Quotable
Moose Forward Jansen Harkins (Click for full interview)
"I think we were very solid. It starts kinda with the goalie and works back through our defence. I think the defence were on top of it and getting us the puck all night. We were pretty solid through the lineup through the game and every period. Just building on that late spree of goals."
Statbook
- Goaltender Oskari Salminen made his AHL and North American debut and recorded his first AHL win and shutout
- Brad Lambert scored his first AHL goal
- Kevin Stenlund has two points (1G, 1A) his past two games
- Evan Polei registered two points (1G, 1A) in the victory
What's Next?
The Moose hit the road and will meet the Chicago Wolves on Friday, Oct. 21. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT at Allstate Arena. You can also catch the game on CJOB.com/sports, the new Winnipeg Jets App, and AHLTV.
Tickets to all upcoming Moose home games are available at MooseHockey.com/TICKETS.
