Jets Prospects Put Hot Start To The Test In Rockford

The Manitoba Moose aim to close their road trip on a high against the Rockford IceHogs as their explosive offense continues to lead the AHL in scoring.

The Manitoba Moose close out their six-game road trip on Friday night in Rockford, where they’ll face the IceHogs at BMO Center. Manitoba enters at 7-4-0-0, while Rockford is 3-5-0-0.

Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. CDT, with coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m. CDT on CJOB.com, the Winnipeg Jets App and AHLTV on FloHockey.

Friday has been a productive day for Manitoba so far this season, and the Moose will try to keep that going in their fourth Friday game of the year. They’ve gone 2-1-0-0 on Fridays and won each of their last two, outscoring opponents 13-9 on those nights.

That includes a 7-4 home win over the Texas Stars on Oct. 18.

Parker Ford has been the team’s most productive Friday performer with six points, while Lucas Wahlin and Nikita Chibrikov have each chipped in four. In goal, both Thomas Milic and Domenic DiVincentiis have picked up Friday wins, with Milic stopping 42 shots in his Oct. 23 victory.

October has been even better for several Moose skaters. Noah Gregor leads the way with 13 points in the month, followed by Brayden Yager with 11, and Danny Zhilkin and Nikita Chibrikov with 10 apiece.

That gives Manitoba four players in double figures for the month, matching the total number of Moose skaters who reached that mark across the 2025-26 and 2024-25 seasons combined. It’s also the most since March of 2024, when eight players hit double digits.

Gregor’s 13 points, including five goals and eight assists, are the most by a Moose player in a month since that same March, when four players also reached 13 and Brad Lambert piled up 18 points in 13 games. Even with the offence held in check on Wednesday for the first time this season, Manitoba still leads the AHL with 41 goals in 11 games and sits fourth with 3.73 goals per game.

The road trip itself has been a grind, and Friday is the final stop. Manitoba has gone 2-3-0-0 through the first five games away from home, with both wins coming against the Iowa Wild on Oct. 23 and 24.

Zhilkin has scored three goals on the trip, while Wahlin and Ford each have two. Gregor has a team-best four assists and shares the points lead with Zhilkin at five.

After this one, the Moose return home Nov. 6 and 7 to meet the Toronto Marlies before heading back out for another five-game trip.

There’s also a quick turn to this season’s meetings with Rockford. The Moose and IceHogs will play all eight games in a tight stretch between Oct. 30 and Dec. 18, with eight of Manitoba’s next 23 games coming against Rockford. The teams met eight times between Nov. 12 and Feb. 1 last season, and Manitoba took six of those matchups.

One more note from Wednesday’s loss to Milwaukee: Davis Burnside finished with a career-high four shots on goal. It was the first time the first-year pro had multiple attempts on net this season.

Burnside has four points, including one goal and three assists, in 11 games. He arrived with Manitoba after putting up 112 points, with 49 goals and 63 assists, in 155 NCAA games at Ohio State.

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