Moose Moment: Into the Wild

6 years ago

The Moose continued a 6 game home-stand, with their fourth and fifth games of the season series against the Iowa Wild. The Moose split the two game series, extending their division lead to 11 points.

On Saturday, a tough second period was costly, as the Moose lost 5-4 to the Wild. Sami Niku had a three point game (two goals and one assist), and captain Patrice Cormier added two assists. The other two Moose goals were scored by F Buddy Robinson (his 17th), and D Peter Stoykewych (his fifth). G Eric Comrie had a rough start, giving up five goals on 25 shots, and getting pulled after the fifth Iowa goal. His record dropped to 10-6-1 on the season.

On Sunday, the Moose responded, getting out to a 2-0 lead, and hanging on to beat the Wild 3-2. Peter Stoykewych had a two point game, setting career highs in both goals (six), and points (20). Buddy Robinson added his team high 18th goal, and Francis Beauvillier scored his first goal of the season. Eric Comrie responded after a rough start on Saturday, giving up two goals on 20 shots, and improving his record to 11-6-1 on the season.

Top Performer

D Tucker Poolman, a Jets 2013 fifth round pick, had three assists in two games this week. Poolman, who played the last 3 seasons at the University of North Dakota, has five assists in 11 AHL games this year. He also scored his first NHL goal on December 23rd at the New York Islanders. In 13 NHL games, Poolman has just the one goal and a +3 rating.

News and Notes

With the Jets on their mandated player break, the Jets reassigned F Brendan Lemieux, F Jack Roslovic, and G Michael Hutchinson to the Moose in advance of Sunday’s game against Iowa. Lemieux had one assist in Sunday’s game. Hutchinson will be back in the lineup on Friday against Texas. (Edit: The Jets have recalled Hutchinson today, as Steve Mason continues to be unable to play due to injury)
With his assist in the game against Iowa, Lemieux extended his assist streak to 5 games, with 5 assists in the 5 games.
D Cam Schilling, a 2018 AHL All-Star, has missed the last three games due to injury. He currently leads the AHL with a +31 rating. If he can maintain the pace, he would break the Moose franchise record for Plus/Minus in a single season (+25, set by Jason Krog in 2008/09).

Standings

Team	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	PTS	PT%
Manitoba	39	26	8	3	2	57	.731
Milwaukee	39	21	14	4	0	46	.590
Rockford	41	21	15	2	3	47	.573
Iowa	40	18	13	6	3	45	.563
Chicago	41	19	15	5	2	45	.549
Grand Rapids	42	19	18	1	4	43	.512
Cleveland	37	12	19	3	3	30	.405

Scouting the Opposition

The Moose conclude their 6 game homestand this weekend against the Texas Stars, top affiliate of the Dallas Stars. The two teams will play Friday and Saturday at 7:00 PM at Bell MTS Place. Both games can be heard on TSN 1290 or moosehockey.com