Preview: Moose at Grand Rapids – Nov. 29

Manitoba at Grand Rapids – Van Andel Arena– 6 p.m. CT
Broadcast: moosehockey.com/listenlive, AHLTV, TSN 1290 (joined in progress)

The Moose visit the Grand Rapids Griffins tonight in the fifth contest of their season-long, seven-game road trip. It’s the fourth time the teams match up this season after the Moose dropped a 4-1 decision in Grand Rapids on Oct. 25, followed by two wins against the Griffins on home ice on Nov. 2 and 3. Van Andel Arena hasn’t been overly friendly to the Moose the past five seasons with the Moose owning a 3-8-2-0 record in Grand Rapids.

Something has to give tonight as both of the two long-time rivals come into this evening’s contest on three-game losing skids. The Moose have been streaky this season with consecutive wins or losses accounting for 18 of their 21 results on the campaign. It was the pair of wins against Grand Rapids to start the month that got a 9-1-0-0 stretch rolling for the Moose that came to an end on this road trip.

Manitoba’s last time out saw the club drop a 6-3 decision in Milwaukee on Wednesday. The Moose fell behind 4-0 before clawing back into the contest on goals from Seth Griffith and Andrei Chibisov. That was as close as the Moose would get as the Admirals added a late power play tally and then an empty net, shorthanded goal to stretch the score out. Derek Hulak scored his first of the year in the waning moments to pull the deficit back to three.

Moose defender Jimmy Oligny says the team needs to shake out of its run of allowing in quick succession.

"We just have to get out of whatever this patch is and try to not do what we've being doing for a couple games. 10 minutes where we forget how to play. Just play 60 minutes, it's a cliche, but that's really what we need to do."

The contest was Seth Griffith’s first back in the lineup and jumped right back in with his linemates Jansen Harkins and Chibisov. The grouping combined for two goals as Griffith notched a goal and an assist and Harkins picked up two helpers. The trio sits one-two-three in Moose scoring. Harkins leads the club with 18 assists, while Griffith’s nine goals pace the Moose.

Speaking of Harkins’ 18 assists, those rank second in the AHL and the centre is lurking just one point back of the league points leaders Chris Terry and Lucas Elvenes. The Moose face Terry tonight with Grand Rapids, and Elvenes tomorrow with the Wolves. Harkins has 17 of his 18 assists in the month of November, meaning he surpassed his assist total of 16 in 70 games last season in the past 13 games alone. He leads the AHL in scoring this month and has at least a point in all but one game.

Forward Cole Maier knows the Moose will have to be ready for a hungry Grand Rapids squad.

"I think we just have to get back to doing what we were before this (losing streak)," said Maier. "There were some good things from the past couple games that we need to bring with us. Because Grand Rapids certainly isn't going to feel bad for us."

On the Griffins front, Grand Rapids holds a 4-6-0-0 record in its last 10 games and have lost four of five. In those five games, the Griffins have been outscored by a 21-10 margin. As previously mentioned, Chris Terry leads the way for the Griffins with 25 points (10G, 15A) this season. He has eight points (3G, 5A) in three games against the Moose on the campaign. The Griffens saw goaltender Calvin Pickard recalled by the Detroit Red Wings, so the Moose may see rookie netminder Filip Larsson tonight. The Stockolm, Sweden product is 2-4-0 this season with a 3.71 goals-against average and a .852 save percentage.

The Moose and Griffins drop the puck at 6 p.m. CT tonight. Coverage gets going on moosehockey.com/listenlive and AHLTV starting at 5 p.m. with Moose Weekly hosted by Austin Siragusa. The pre-game show starts a 5:45 p.m. TSN 1290 will join the action in progress.