The Manitoba Moose turned Friday night in Rockford into a record-setting showcase, skating past the IceHogs 6-3 at BMO Center and tying an AHL mark with four shorthanded goals in the process.
Coming off a 3-0 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals on Wednesday, Manitoba came out with purpose and spent much of the opening minutes pressuring Stanislav Berezhnoy. The Moose fired 15 shots at him in the first period, including four in the first two minutes alone, and Chase Yoder got them rolling at 7:53 when he spun a backhander inside the far post. A little more than three minutes later, Noah Gregor made it 2-0 by blowing past an IceHogs defender and sending a puck toward the net that slipped through for the goal.
Rockford answered late in the period when Nick Lardis finished a passing sequence into an open cage at 15:14, trimming the Moose lead to 2-1. Thomas Milic turned aside the other four shots he faced in the frame.
The second period belonged to special teams and penalties. Rockford tied it just 47 seconds in, as Gavin Hayes cashed in on a two-man advantage after Dawson Barteaux blocked a shot in the slot and the puck bounced right back to Hayes in front.
Milic held firm the rest of the way in the period, stopping 15 shots, while Berezhnoy handled the other nine Manitoba sent his direction. The Moose also took four minor penalties in the frame.
Then came the third-period surge that flipped the game for good. Brayden Yager intercepted a pass at centre ice and raced in alone for a shorthanded breakaway, scoring his seventh of the season to put Manitoba ahead 3-2. Rockford tied it again at 8:59 when former Moose Dylan Anhorn blasted one home right off the faceoff, but that was the last time the IceHogs were level.
Yoder set up Davis Burnside for the go-ahead goal, with Burnside scoring anyway despite drawing a delayed penalty. Less than three minutes later, Isaak Phillips made it 5-3 with a sharp solo effort, going nearly end-to-end, beating a defender and waiting out Berezhnoy before sliding the puck into the open net. Danny Zhilkin then sealed the history, flipping the puck the length of the ice into an empty net to record Manitoba’s fourth shorthanded goal of the night, a feat that matched an AHL record that had stood since 1988.
The Moose closed out the road trip with the 6-3 win, and Yoder and Burnside each finished with two points. Thomas Milic made 33 saves in the victory.
“I thought we started really well, obviously it’s a bit of a wacky game with all the penalties and stuff, but we handled it well and did our jobs at the end of the day.”
In Other News...
Hurricanes Just Pushed Winnipeg Deeper Into A Spiral
The Jets skid has now reached nine straight, and the latest stop was as ugly as it gets, a 7-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes that left Winnipeg searching for any sign of traction. In the aftermath, Scott Arniel tried to keep the focus on the work ahead, saying his attention is on preparing his players and not on outside noise, while also making clear that the responsibility does not sit with the coaching staff alone once the puck drops.
Adam Lowry offered a similar read on a team that knows the results are no longer sustainable. The captain acknowledged the struggles and suggested the group understands changes will have to come if the losing streak keeps rolling, a blunt reminder that the Jets are now past the stage of simply waiting for things to turn around. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Hit A New Low As This Losing Streak Gets Harder To Explain
The skid keeps getting uglier for the Jets, and Fridays 7-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes felt like another night where little went right from the opening shift. Winnipeg is now winless in nine straight, and the pattern has become impossible to ignore: the Jets have given up the first goal in 11 of their last 13 games, a habit that keeps forcing them to chase instead of control the pace.
The Hurricanes pushed the game out of reach early, and Winnipeg spent most of the night on its heels while getting badly outshot. Cole Koepke was unavailable because of an injury-related issue, adding another wrinkle to a lineup already searching for answers, but the larger concern is the way the losses are piling up and the lack of resistance once the game starts slipping away. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Hit A Defining Week As Early Slide Starts To Feel Serious
The early-season frustration in Winnipeg has been hard to ignore, with the Jets sitting at 4-7-3 and already trying to steady a roster that has been thinned by injuries in several spots. Josh Morrisseys absence has been especially noticeable because it has altered the teams defensive shape and slowed the transition game, while the missing bodies up front and on the blue line have left the coaching staff with less room to adjust from night to night.
A road trip now offers a chance to change the tone, but it also brings a difficult test right away with a visit to the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. For a team trying to stop an early slide from turning into something more serious, the next stretch is about more than just points in the standings. It is about finding enough structure and depth to survive until the lineup starts to look whole again. [Read more 🡒]