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Preview: Chasing the Wolves - Manitoba Moose

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Preview: Chasing the Wolves

By: Manitoba Moose Staff | Published: February 13th 2019

Feb. 13, 2019 vs CHICAGO WOLVES

The Manitoba Moose (22-21-3-2) take on their oldest rivals, the Chicago Wolves (27-15-5-1) tonight at Bell MTS Place. Tickets for the 7 p.m. CT puck drop are still available at moosehockey.com/tickets/.

Tonight’s meeting is be the fifth of the season between the Moose and Wolves. Manitoba picked up a 5-4 victory the first time these clubs faced off, but since then it’s been three straight wins for Chicago.

Brooks Macek (3G, 2A) and Daniel Carr (2G, 3A) have led the charge for the Wolves, while Seth Griffith (2G, 4A) has been Manitoba’s most effective player in the season series.

Moose defenceman Nelson Nogier described the test his team will face in the two games this week.

“They’re a big strong team. They play kind of a run and gun style where they get pucks deep and they finish their hits too. It’s going to be a good challenge for us to match their speed and their size, and just try to stick to our game plan as well.”

For the Moose the biggest challenge against the Wolves might be surviving the first period. In 2018-19, the Wolves have scored 61 times in the opening 20 minutes, while only allowing 35 goals for a plus-26 differential. To put that in perspective, the next closest teams in the AHL are San Diego and San Jose at plus-12 goals in period one. Beyond that, Chicago has a record of 20-2-2-1 when leading after the first.

The Wolves are the only Central Division team with a winning road record this season (16-7-1-0), but that will be challenged at Bell MTS Place, where the Moose are 9-0-0-1 in their last ten home games. That record includes three consecutive home sweeps against divisional opponents (Milwaukee, San Antonio, Texas). The Moose have also recorded three shutouts, while outscoring opponents 37-16 during their dominant stretch in downtown Winnipeg.

The Moose made a few roster moves yesterday, recalling Cam Maclise from Jacksonville while releasing Chris Collins and Logan Roe. Maclise has spent time with the Moose twice already this season and was a member of the playoff roster from 2017-18.

The Lacombe, Alta. Native comes in with aspirations of helping to drive the club back to the postseason.

“I looked last night, five points out of a playoff spot. It’s right there for us. It’s exciting. Spring’s around the corner, and we’re having fun. Hopefully we can make a push, and we’ll see what happens.”

Manitoba plays three games in four days on the long weekend, starting with a rematch against the Wolves on Friday at 7 p.m. CT. Tickets for those games are still available at moosehockey.com/tickets/. The games will also be broadcast on TSN 1290, moosehockey.com/listenlive/, the Moose App, and streaming live on AHLTV.