Preview: In the Eagles’ Nest
By: Manitoba Moose Staff | Published: March 22nd 2019
March 22, 2019 vs Colorado Eagles
The Manitoba Moose (31-27-4-2) make their first trip to Loveland, Colo. the home of Colorado Eagles (33-23-3-1) for tonight’s 8:05 p.m. CT puck drop. It’s the start of a five game Moose road trip and their fifth straight contest against a Pacific Division team. Tune in on TSN 1290, moosehockey.com/listenlive/, the Moose App, or stream the game live on AHLTV.
The teams head into today’s matchup following very different results. Manitoba picked up an emotional 4-3 overtime win against the San Diego Gulls on Tuesday, while Colorado ended their nine-game win streak with a 9-0 loss to the San Jose Barracuda on Sunday.
The Moose and Eagles played a two-game back-to-back series in Winnipeg to start of the post-Christmas schedule. Manitoba won both games by a combined score of 8-1, jumpstarting their playoff push.
Seven different Moose scored in those two games, while 16 players found their way onto the scoresheet. Eric Comrie recorded his first shutout of the season in the first meeting of the teams, and stopped 69 of 70 Colorado shots in the series. Former Moose Scott Kosmachuk was the lone goal scorer for the Eagles.
The team’s goaltenders, Comrie and Pavel Francouz are the two busiest in the AHL this season. Comrie has faced 1,436 shots while Francouz has seen 1,325, the most and second-most in the league.
Strangely, it has been in Manitoba’s favour to keep Comrie busy. The Moose are 23-16-3-2- when being outshot by their opposition, and were outshot in both games against the Eagles at the end of December.
The Moose have found some scoring from their defence lately. Cameron Schilling pitched in five points (2G, 3A) over his last five outings, while Tucker Poolman has been dominant since the beginning of February with 15 points (1G, 14A) in eighteen games. Logan Stanley moved into a tie for the club’s rookie scoring lead (5G, 11A) with six assists in the last eight games.
The team has found some depth scoring as well. Ryan White is riding a two-game goal streak into today’s action, with three points (2G, 1A) over his last two games. White and linemate Cam Maclise played valuable minutes over Manitoba’s six-game homestand. They combined for six points (4G, 2A) and a plus-8 rating.
White was asked after Tuesday’s game how the Moose can take their success from Bell MTS Place, where they are 22-10-1-1 this season, and translate it to this critical road trip.
“You’ve got to come on the road, work hard and be simple. You’ve got to make sure you get pucks out and get pucks in. I know it’s cliché, but you can’t have turnovers and you can’t give teams free goals. The way we’re built, if we just keep getting pucks low and go to work down there; we’ve got deep forwards. I know it’s tough to play to play against [us] down there.”
The Moose and Eagles face off once again tomorrow night, with Mitch Peacock and the pre-game show beginning at 7:45 p.m. CT on moosehockey.com/listenlive/, the Moose App, and streaming live on AHLTV.
