Fast Facts: Moose vs. Chicago – April 7

The Manitoba Moose host the Chicago Wolves this afternoon (2 p.m.) at Canada Life Centre in a rematch of yesterday's shootout thriller. The Moose built up a 4-2 lead in the third, only to have Chicago fire back for a 4-4 tie through regulation. Henri Nikkanen scored the winner in the eighth round of the shootout as Manitoba took a 5-4 win. The victory moved the Moose eight points ahead of Chicago for the final playoff spot in the Central Division. It also cut down Manitoba's "magic number" to seven points to clinch a playoff spot.

It's Brad Lambert Bobblehead Day at Canada Life Centre. The first 3,000 fans through the doors will receive a mini bobblehead of the team's current leading scorer. Tickets for the 2 p.m. game are available at MooseHockey.com/TICKETS. Doors open at 1 p.m.

Driving Play

Brad Lambert recorded two points (1G, 1A) in Manitoba’s win yesterday afternoon. The forward is now up to 51 points (20G, 31A) through 59 contests. The pivot is the first Moose skater this season to break the 50-point barrier and the second Moose to reach the 20-goal mark. In the home victory, Lambert produced his 11th multi-point outing of the season, which paces the team. The Lahti, Finland product’s goal was his seventh power play marker of the season, which ties him for first on the club. Lambert’s 51 points place him in sole possession of third in Manitoba’s all-time rookie points leaders.

Making History

Jeff Malott posted a pair of points (1G, 1A) against the Wolves on Saturday. The forward’s goal stood as the 81st of his Moose career, which leaps him over JC Lipon and Lee Goren, and places him in sole possession of fifth overall in Moose franchise history. The
Waterdown, Ont. product ranks second on the Moose in scoring and has tallied 48 points (21G, 27A) in 65 contests. The winger has set new career-high marks in assists and points and is two goals shy of matching his previous career-high output of 23, which he achieved in both 2021-22 and 2022-23. Malott has produced 153 points
(81G, 72A) in 232 career contests.

Extra Shots

The Moose won their AHL-leading fifth shootout game of the season last night. Manitoba has only lost once in extra shots, and is one of six teams to lose one or less games in the shootout. In their six shootout appearances, the Moose have scored 10 goals on 33 attempts for a 33.3 percent success rate. Meanwhile, the team’s goaltenders are a key part of the shootout record stopping 29 of 34 opposition attempts for a league-best .853 save percentage. Nikita Chibrikov leads Manitoba with three shootout goals, scoring 50 percent of his chances.

Collecting Points

Dawson Barteaux notched an assist on Saturday against Chicago. The defenceman has posted three assists over his past five contests and is up to 13 points (5G, 8A) and a plus-eight rating in 39 games. The Foxwarren, Man. native has set new career-high marks this season in games played, goals, assists, points, plus-minus and game-winning tallies. When Barteaux registers at least one point in a game this season, the Moose have a collective record of 8-0-0-1. The defenceman, who is chasing down his 100th career AHL game, has posted 18 points (7G, 11A) in 96 contests between Texas and Manitoba.

Who's Trending?

Henri Nikkanen scored the shootout winner on his first AHL shootout attempt yesterday against Chicago. The forward has tallied 10 points (6G, 4A) in 51 games this season. The Mikkeli, Finland product has reached double-digit points in consecutive seasons and has registered 26 points (11G, 15A) in 121 career AHL contests, all with Manitoba.