Preview: Moose vs. Colorado – Jan. 3
By: Daniel Fink | Published: January 3rd 2020
Moose vs. Colorado – Bell MTS Place – 7 p.m. CT
Broadcast: TSN 1290, moosehockey.com/listenlive, AHLTV
Tickets: moosehockey.com/tickets
After finishing 2019 on a winning note, the Moose look to carry that tune into 2020. The primary affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets hosts the Colorado Eagles, affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, for a pair of games at Bell MTS Place this weekend. The set rounds out the season series for the two teams who faced off on Dec. 17 and 18 in a pair of Colorado wins.
The two games showed just how much can change from season-to-season. In 2018-19, the Moose held the Eagles to just three goals over four clashes. A couple weeks ago in Colorado, the Eagles scored three goals in a period four times over two games. So it will be on the Moose to find a way to slow down a Colorado offence that has scored at least four goals in six straight games. The Eagles come into the contest on a nine-game point streak with a 7-0-1-1 record during their run.
Manitoba has been heating up recently, winning three of the first four games of its current six-game home stand. That included two crucial victories over the Rockford IceHogs to close out 2019. The Moose scored four times in a span of 4:16 in the second period on New Year's Eve to power a 4-3 victory. Kristian Vesalainen led the way with three points in the win, including a goal and an assist on the power play.
The team's power play has been cruising of late, recording goals in six straight games. Over that span, the Moose are 9/30 for a 30 per cent success rate. C.J. Suess has three power play tallies in those contests and is now third on the team with four power play goals. Seth Griffith leads the way with six tallies up a man, while Vesalainen is second on the club with five power play goals. The Finnish forward feels the Moose drew from their two power play goals on Dec. 31.
"When you score on the power play you get a lot of confidence for the whole team," Vesalainen said after the win. "So I think we got a little extra boost from there, so we kept going."
The Moose roster has been changing almost daily over the past week. The club reassigned Charles-David Beaudoin, Griffen Outhouse and Hayden Shaw to the ECHL. Meanwhile, the Moose recalled defenceman Jacob Cederholm from Jacksonville. To round things out, the Winnipeg Jets reassigned forward Joona Luoto to the Moose, but also recalled defenceman Sami Niku.
The Moose and Eagles drop the puck at 7 p.m. CT. Tickets for this evening's tilt are available at moosehockey.com/tickets. Coverage of tonight's contest on TSN 1290, moosehockey.com/listenlive and AHLTV gets going at 6 p.m. with Moose Weekly hosted by Austin Siragusa.
