Fast Facts: Moose at Iowa – March 11

The Manitoba Moose hit the second leg of their road trip when they face the Iowa Wild in Des Moines tonight. The Moose come in after a 3-2 overtime loss in Abbotsford, but have points in three straight games. The Wild, meanwhile, won each of their past three outings. Manitoba holds a 5-1-0-0 record against Iowa this season. It marks first time since returning to Winnipeg in 2015 the Moose will have a record above .500 against the Wild in a season series. Coverage of tonight's 6 p.m. CT matchup on CJOB.com/sports, the Winnipeg Jets App and AHLTV begins at 5:45 p.m. CT.

Offence from Defence

Leon Gawanke scored a power play goal in Manitoba’s overtime loss on Wednesday. The tally was the defenceman’s 14th of the season, which places him in a three-way tie for second among Moose skaters. The Berlin, Germany products 14 goals also put the defenceman in a tie for second amongst all AHL defenders. Gawanke also leads all defencemen with seven power play goals on the campaign. Gawanke, a fifth round pick of Winnipeg in 2017, has notched 97 points (29G, 68A) in 191 career AHL games, all with Manitoba. His 29 goals rank fifth among the franchise’s all-time defencemen, while his 97 points are seventh among rear-guards.

Reaching New Heights

In Manitoba’s most recent game, both Jansen Harkins and Ville Heinola hit new career milestones. Harkins, Winnipeg’s second round pick in 2015, notched an assist to bring his season total to a career-high 32 points (14G, 18A). The forward, who has six points (1G, 5A) over his past three contests, now moves up to third on the Moose scoring list this season, despite playing just 27 games. Ville Heinola also achieved a new career-high mark, as the defenceman racked up an assist to push his total to 27 points (3G, 24A). Heinola, a Winnipeg first round pick in 2019, paces the Moose with a plus-20 rating and has accumulated 65 points (12G, 53A) in 95 career AHL contests.

40-Point Mark

Declan Chisholm picked up an assist on Wednesday evening. The assist represented the 40th point of the season for Chisholm, making him the second Moose skater, after Alex Limoges, to hit that mark on the campaign. The last time a Moose defenceman hit the 40-point plateau came during the 2017-18 season, when Sami Niku racked up 54 points (16G, 38A). In addition to breaching the 40-point barrier, the defenceman is in the midst of a career-year. The Bowmanville, Ont. product leads the Moose with 35 assists and has set a new career-high in points, power play markers and game-winning tallies.

Leading the Yearlings

Wyatt Bongiovanni’s third period goal forced overtime Wednesday’s game. The forward, who inked a two-year entry-level contract with Winnipeg in 2022, snapped home his 12th goal of the campaign, which leads all Moose rookies. In addition, the Birmingham, Mich. product ranks top among Moose first-year skaters with 16 points (12G, 4A) in 49 games and paces the rookies with five markers on the power play. Bongiovanni’s power play total also put the forward in a two-way tie for 13th in the league among all first-year skaters.

Who's Trending?

Evan Polei picked up an assist on Wednesday evening. The forward has totaled 17 points (8G, 9A) in 41 games this season and sits six points back of the career-high of 23 that he hit in 2021-22 with Manitoba. The winger is closing in on 50 career assists and has tallied 79 points (36G, 43A) in 223 AHL contests.