The Manitoba Moose didn’t exactly have their sharpest night, but they kept finding answers, and that was enough to walk out with a 4-3 overtime win over the Texas Stars.
That mattered even more with the Jets set to make a recall Monday ahead of their two-game road trip to St. Louis and Dallas, putting individual performances under a brighter spotlight.
Manitoba also had a notable addition before puck drop: Elias Salomonsson had been cleared to play and was assigned to the Moose, giving him his first game action since shoulder surgery last April. To make room, Manitoba shifted Henry Thrun to the left side and scratched Lukas Gustafsson.
The start was rough for the home side. Texas needed just 18 seconds to open the scoring, jumping on Manitoba before the game had even settled in.
But the Moose answered later in the period when Colby Barlow buried a rebound with 7:55 left in the opening frame to tie it up. The goal gave Barlow three goals in six games after he had eight in 65 games last season.
Danny Zhilkin’s speed and strength showed up again as he used that burst to draw a power play, and the Moose kept cashing in with the man advantage. Nikita Chibrikov scored for the third straight game to put Manitoba ahead 2-1, and the hot start on special teams kept rolling. That was Chibrikov’s third goal in six games, and he wasn’t finished.
Thomas Milic was steady when Manitoba needed him most. He made several key stops, including a breakaway save late in the second period, and finished the first 40 minutes with 20 saves to keep the Moose in front by one.
Then the game got strange. In the third period, Milic was taken out by Henry Thrun on a collision, leaving the goalie down on the ice as Texas tied the game. Just 48 seconds later, a Manitoba turnover ended up in the back of its own net on Emil Hemming’s blast, and the Stars suddenly had the lead.
The Moose power play, though, bailed them out again. Manitoba struck for its eighth power-play goal in six games - tied for second most in the AHL - and its power play percentage now sits at 42.1%, best in the league.
Chibrikov’s quick release tied the game again, and the goal seemed to even draw a smile from him. It was his fourth goal of the season, already halfway to the six he scored in 53 games last year.
Milic then delivered another huge stop with a leg extension to keep the game level in the closing stages, setting the stage for overtime.
There, Brayden Yager ended it. The Jets prospect scored the winner to seal the 4-3 comeback and push Manitoba to 5-1-0. Yager now has five goals in six games, after finishing with 10 in 68 last season.
It wasn’t clean, but it was another win. And right now, the Moose keep proving they can live with that.
In Other News...
Rangers Could Trigger The Goalie Domino That Reshapes This Market
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The Rangers are being connected to separate goalie possibilities involving Buffalo, Carolina and Los Angeles, and those discussions could create the opening another team needs before a Hellebuyck deal can be completed. For the Jets, that means the path forward may depend less on their own urgency than on a chain reaction they cannot control. It is the kind of market wrinkle that can keep a prominent player in limbo a little longer, even when the general direction of the story already seems clear. [Read more 🡒]
Former Jet Comes Back To Haunt Winnipeg In Painful Loss
The night had a little extra weight before the puck even dropped, with the ceremony in support of the Toba Centre setting the tone in Winnipeg. On the ice, the Jets had their chances and got goals from Mark Scheifele and Alex Iafallo, but Carolina kept answering and ultimately left town with a 3-2 win after holding off a late push to level things.
A familiar face played a central role in the outcome, which only made the finish sting more for Winnipeg. The Hurricanes got the decisive goal from Nikolaj Ehlers, and with that marker he completed a rare personal checklist while leaving the Jets to sit with a loss that felt even harder given how close they came to extending the game. [Read more 🡒]
Cole Perfetti Is Giving The Jets One Early Reason For Confidence
Cole Perfetti is giving the Jets a timely reminder of why they locked him in long term this summer. After Winnipeg signed the young forward to a five-year extension in July, he has opened the season with the kind of early pace that gives a team confidence in both its present and its future, piling up offense while looking more and more comfortable as a top-six piece.
Perfettis start has been especially encouraging because it has come right as the Jets are trying to establish an early-season rhythm around their younger core. The production has been steady and noticeable through eight games, and if this level of play keeps up, Winnipegs bet on him is going to look better and better long before the season reaches its midpoint. [Read more 🡒]