Preview: Moose at Milwaukee – Nov. 27

Manitoba at Milwaukee – UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena – 7 p.m. CT
Broadcast: moosehockey.com/listenlive, AHLTV

The Moose return to Central Division action tonight after three games in the North Division. After picking up a win in Belleville, the Moose suffered a pair of losses to the Toronto Marlies. Despite being right there with the Eastern Conference's top squad, Manitoba was unable to pick up any points in their four-game series against Toronto.

The Moose fell 4-1 to the Marlies on Sunday in a game that sat at a 2-1 count until the final minutes of the game. You could argue the Moose deserved a better fate, especially after outshooting and out-chancing Toronto heavily in the first period. Joseph Woll was certainly the difference maker for the Marlies, stopping 31 of 32 in the contest. Jansen Harkins got right back on the scoresheet after having his point streak snapped.

Harkins' third period power play tally saw Kristian Vesalainen pick up an assist. The Jets first rounder now has six points (3G, 3A) in his last seven games. Vesalainen scored a power play goal to open the scoring in Manitoba's previous visit to Milwaukee.

Special teams could be a deciding factor in today's matchup. The Moose penalty kill was perfect against Milwaukee in their last meeting, turning aside six Admirals opportunities and scoring a three-on-five shorthanded goal. Milwaukee comes into this evening's game operating at a 31.8 per cent success rate with the man-advantage. The Manitoba penalty kill will need to be sharp again. Meanwhile the Moose power play has one goal in its last three games, though a part of that is not having much opportunity. Manitoba has been to the power play just seven times in those three games.

Manitoba gets a significant member of its power play back in the lineup as Seth Griffith returns to to game action tonight. Griffith missed three games after he was struck in the mouth by a redirected puck last Sunday. The veteran forward is looking for the Moose to keep things straightforward with the man-advantage.

"I think we just have to get back to what we were doing when we were successful," said Griffith. "We weren't trying to make too high-risk plays. We were keeping it simple. We were getting pucks on net and we were getting rebounds, getting traffic on goalies. Because most of the time in this league when a goalie sees a shot he's going to save it, nine times out of ten. So it's about getting traffic in front of him, being first on loose pucks and getting those rebounds."

The Moose are trying to play spoiler tonight against the Admirals. Milwaukee can set a franchise record with an 11th straight win this evening. It would be a nice feather in the cap of a team celebrating its 50th season this campaign. The teams met in somewhat similar circumstances on Dec. 9, 2017 in Winnipeg. The Moose were one win away from matching their franchise-best winning streak. Milwaukee came away with a 4-3 shootout win to interrupt the run. Coincidentally Admirals were also the only blemish in a 9-1-0-0 run for the Moose this season.

The Moose and Admirals drop the puck at 7 o'clock this evening. Tune in to the game on moosehockey.com/listenlive, the Moose App and AHLTV starting at 6:45 p.m.

Don't forget to snag your tickets to see the Moose when they are back from this current road swing. The team faces off against Chicago on Dec. 6 and 7 at Bell MTS Place. The Dec. 7 game is the annual Teddy Bear Toss, presented by Red River Co-op, in support of the Christmas Cheer Board. Tickets are available at moosehockey.com/tickets.