Fast Facts: Moose at Rockford – March 19

The Manitoba Moose (21-33-1-3) close out a four-game road trip against the Rockford IceHogs (25-27-5-1). Puck drop at BMO Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT. The Moose are coming off a 6-2 defeat at the hands of the Iowa Wild on Sunday. The loss puts Manitoba at 4-4-0-2 over the past 10 games. Rockford dropped two in a row over the weekend, with the IceHogs falling 2-1 to Milwaukee last time out.

The Moose enter tonight's clash 10 points behind the IceHogs for the final playoff spot in the Central Division. Manitoba takes on Rockford three of the next six games. Coverage of tonight's contest begins at 6:45 p.m. CT on cjob.com, the Winnipeg Jets App and AHLTV on FloHockey.

Familiar Faces

Tonight’s game marks Isaak Phillips’ return to Rockford. The defenceman was acquired by the Winnipeg Jets in a trade with Chicago in exchange for defender Dmitry Kuzmin on Jan. 15. Phillips played the first 199 games of his AHL career with the IceHogs, recording 79 points (23G, 56A). The 2020 Chicago fifth round selection also appeared in 56 NHL games with the Blackhawks, tallying 12 points (2G, 10A). Phillips has seven points
(2G, 5A) in 26 games since joining the Moose. On the other side, Kuzmin faces off against Manitoba for the first time since the trade. He played 39 games with the Moose while recording seven points (2G, 5A). Kuzmin has four points (1G, 3A) in 17 games since joining Rockford.

Pushing 30

Mason Shaw picked up an assist on Dominic Toninato’s first period goal on Sunday to reach 30 points (13G, 17A) for the third time in his AHL career. Shaw has reached the 30-point plateau every season he has played at least 50 AHL games. The Wainwright, Alta. product’s 13 goals on the campaign represent his second-highest career total. Shaw comes into tonight’s contest with 95 career assists in 255 AHL games split between Manitoba and the Iowa Wild.

Point Producer

Dominic Toninato’s 15th goal of the season on Sunday pushed the Moose captain into sole possession of the team’s goal. It also marked his 30th point of the campaign to stay even with Mason Shaw for the team points lead. Toninato is racking up points having found a place on the scoresheet in 10 of the past 11 games. The Duluth, Minn. product is currently on a five-game point streak with six points (2G, 4A) in that span. Since Jan. 31, the 2012 fifth round pick of Toronto hasn’t gone more than one game without a point, while picking up 19 points (9G, 10A) in 21 games.

Secondary Scoring

The Moose have relied on their secondary scoring this month. A skater with less than five goals has scored in each of the past seven games. Of Manitoba’s 25 goals during that span, 13 of those tallies have been scored by players with less than five goals. Three of the goals marked players’ first goal of the season. Fabian Wagner led the way over those games scoring his first goal of the season on March 8, before tallying in five straight games. Danny Zhilkin and Isaak Phillips each have two goals in that span. Four of the goals were scored by defencemen.

Who's Trending?

Netminder Dominic DiVincentiis has carried the load for the Moose over the past month, appearing in 11 of Manitoba’s 17 games. The rookie holds a record of 7-3-1 in those 11 appearances. Those seven victories lead all rookie netminders over that stretch and place him in the top-three of all AHL goalies. DiVincentiis holds a 10-7-1 record overall.