Preview – Moose vs. San Antonio – Nov. 15

Moose vs. San Antonio Rampage – Bell MTS Place – 7 p.m. CT
Tickets: moosehockey.com/tickets
Broadcast: TSN 1290, moosehockey.com/listenlive, AHLTV

The Manitoba Moose (7-8-0-0) roll into this weekend's action on a four-game win streak. The club has also won six of its last seven outings. Manitoba puts its run on the line tonight at Bell MTS Place when the Moose welcome the San Antonio Rampage (6-4-1-1) to town for a 7 p.m. matchup. The first 3,000 fans at tonight's game will receive a free Moose 20th season commemorative baseball cap.

Tonight's tilt is the second time the two clubs face off this season after the Rampage outlasted the Moose for a 2-1 win back on opening night. Cameron Schilling scored the lone Moose goal in the loss, while Mikhail Berdin stopped 33 of 35 shots against. Nathan Walker and Mike Vecchione did the damage for San Antonio.

Their previous outing saw the Moose pick up a 2-1 win against San Antonio's in-state rival, the Texas Stars. Kristian Vesalainen opened things up with a power play tally in the first. Brad McClure tied the contest in the second, but Emile Poirier scored the eventual game-winner moments later. Mikhail Berdin earned himself a fourth-straight first star nod as he stopped 36 of 37 for the win.

Speaking of Berdin, the (still technically) rookie netminder has been nearly unbeatable over Manitoba's current four-game run. He's running a 0.50 goals-against average and a .985 save percentage, allowing just two goals on 137 shots. The Ufa, Russia product has been the club's MVP over the stretch, but isn't doing it alone. Forward Kristian Vesalainen feels the team is getting the job done in its own end around the netminder.

"That's where it all starts. First defence, then you get the offensive zone play going," said Vesalainen. "Berdin has done a really good job and the d-men have been really tight."

Jansen Harkins and Sami Niku each enter tonight's game with seven-game point streaks, but the Moose have been getting contributions from throughout the lineup. Emile Poirier has two game-winning goals in his last three games and Cole Maier has three points in his last five. Maier joined Poirier and JC Lipon on a line in place of Michael Spacek, who was recalled by the Winnipeg Jets. The move paid dividends for the Moose as Maier set up Poirier's winner on Monday and led the team with five shots on goal. Moose head coach Pascal Vincent was clearly impressed with Maier's game.

"I think Cole Maier was our best player tonight," Vincent explained following Monday's contest. "He was a factor in this game. He was extremely good on the PK. He was extremely good five-on-five. He was matched against their top lines."

The San Antonio Rampage started out the season with points in five straight games. Since then the club has a record of 3-4-1-1 including their current three-game slide. As a result, San Antonio has just a two-point edge over the Moose in the standings and one less win on the season. Nathan Walker leads the Rampage with 14 points (8G, 6A) while the club features four players with 10 or more points this season.

Puck drop for tonight's game goes at 7 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available at moosehockey.com/tickets. Be sure to arrive early to snag your free Moose hat. Coverage of this evening's matchup on TSN 1290 gets going at 6 p.m. with Moose Weekly hosted by Austin Siragusa.