Fast Facts: Moose at Iowa – March 15

The Manitoba Moose (20-32-1-3) roll into Des Moines for a weekend set against the Iowa Wild (20-32-3-1) at Wells Fargo Arena. Puck drop is slated for 6 p.m. CT. The Moose have lost two in a row following a 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Wolves on Thursday. The Wild have also dropped two straight after they fell 4-1 to the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday. Coverage of tonight's contest gets rolling at 5:45 p.m. CT on cjob.com, the Winnipeg Jets App and AHLTV on FloHockey. Tune in on 680 CJOB starting at 6 p.m. CT.

He is Inevitable

Fabian Wagner continues to tear through netminders since scoring his first AHL goal on March 5. The forward has goals in four consecutive games, marking the longest goal streak by a Moose skater this season. Wagner struck twice in Thursday’s contest for his first professional multi-goal game. The pair of tallies gives Wagner five goals during his streak, which places places him in a tie for second in the AHL for the month of March. The Nykoping, Sweden product also co-leads AHL rookies in goals  during the month. Furthermore, Wagner’s four-game run launched him to the top of the Moose rookie goal-scoring list.

Quick Starters

The Moose have scored the game’s first goal in seven consecutive outings. Manitoba put a goal on the board in the opening five minutes in three of those contests, and scored twice in the opening five minutes in Thursday’s loss to Chicago. Unfortunately for the Moose, that hasn’t translated to a winning record with the team sitting 2-3-0-2 in that span. Overall, the Moose have all but two of their wins when scoring the opening goal with an 18-8-0-3 record. Dominic Toninato and Parker Ford lead the Moose with five ‘first goals’ each. Fabian Wagner has scored the opening goal in two of the past four outings.

Key Matchups

With 16 games remaining on their schedule, the Moose sit 12 points back of the Rockford IceHogs for the final playoff spot in the Central Division. The good news for Manitoba is the team faces off against Iowa and Rockford, the two other teams in the race, in seven of the final 16 games. Four of those will be against Iowa, including today and tomorrow’s matchups. The Moose take on the IceHogs on Wednesday for the first of the three contests, which all take place in Rockford. The Moose hold a 3-1-0-0 record against the Wild so far this season, while maintaining a 2-3-0-0 mark against Rockford.

Joining the Hometown Team

The Moose announced yesterday the team signed forward Reece Vitelli to a professional tryout agreement. Vitelli has 52 points (12G, 40A) in 57 games with the ECHL’s Savannah Ghost Pirates. The Winnipeg, Man. product is tied for 13th in ECHL scoring and ranks sixth in the league in assists. Vitelli has 130 points (33G, 97A) in 154 career ECHL contests split between Savannah and the Atlanta Gladiators. The winger comes to the Moose with 21 games of AHL experience, picking up two goals with the Tucson Roadrunners.

Who's Trending?

Danny Zhilkin picked up an assist in the third period of Thursday’s game. The helper gives Zhilkin three points (1G, 2A) over his past five games. The centre scored his first goal of the season on March 8, in a 6-5 win over Calgary. Zhilkin has one assist in three games against Iowa. The Moscow, Russia product was a third round pick of the Winnipeg Jets in 2022.