The Moose played their first “three in three” series of the season this past week, and had great success doing it sweeping their way through a trip of Southern Ontario and moving into first place in the AHL. Read on for a recap of how the Moose picked up their 19th, 20th, and 21st wins of the season.

On Friday, the Moose opened the road trip with their first ever visit to Yardmen Arena to face the Belleville Senators.  The Senators got off to a quick start, with Gabriel Gagne opening the scoring just under a minute in to give the home team a 1-0 lead. But the Moose would settle down, and after killing a penalty, Brendan Lemieux would score his eighth of the year to tie the game just under halfway through the first. Buddy Robinson would then give the Moose the lead at 14:20 of the first, and the Moose would take a 2-1 lead to intermission.

After Nic Petan scored a powerplay goal at 3:38 of the second period, it appeared that the Moose would run away with the game up 3-1. However, on a late second period penalty kill after a penalty to Chase De Leo, the Senators would strike twice in nine seconds. Sens 2015 second round pick Filip Chlapik would score on the power-play to make it 3-2.  Then off the ensuing faceoff, the puck would find the stick of Max McCormick, who fired it past Eric Comrie to tie the game at three heading to the second intermission.

The Moose, as they have all season, showed some resolve when faced with adversity, scoring four times in seven minutes in the third to take the game away. Patrice Cormier would score twice, his tenth and 11th of the season, Sami Niku snapped a personal nine game goalless drought with his third of the season, and then Cameron Schilling scored for the second straight game which was also his fourth of the season. Comrie would shut the door, and finish with 24 saves on the game, and the Moose won their fourth road game in a row 7-3.

Saturday began a two game clash between the two best teams in the American Hockey League as the Moose and Marlies squared off at Ricoh Coliseum for the first of 4 regular season meetings. The first period was a clear feeling out process, as the two teams were held scoreless, with very few grade A chances in the period. The Marlies outshot the Moose 11-6 in the period.

The Moose would strike first in the second period. Just over a minute into the period, Peter Stoykewych would let a point shot go that beat Marlies starter Garret Sparks to give the Moose a 1-0 lead. For Stoykewych, it was his fifth goal of the season, tying his career high set last season with 48 games still to go in the season. Michael Hutchinson was sharp in the second, as the Marlies put 12 shots on net, but could not solve the Moose starter, and the second period ended 1-0.

In the third, the Moose were forced to play defense, as the Marlies dominated play, out-shooting the Moose 17-7 in the final stanza. Hutchinson made several 10-bell saves, including having to help successfully kill three Marlies power-plays. The Moose would get an insurance goal from captain Patrice Cormier with 68 seconds left to extend the lead to 2-0.  That goal was his fifth in the last three games, and his 12th of the season, closing in on his career high of 18 set in the 2011-12 season with St John’s.  It turned out to be an important goal, as the Marlies would get one back through rookie Jeremy Bracco, his second in as many games, but it would not be enough, as the Moose won the first of the two meetings by a 2-1 score.  Hutchinson was the first star, with 39 saves in the game.

The Moose looked to sweep the three in three series on Sunday at Ricoh Coliseum against the Marlies. Unlike Saturday’s game, the Marlies came out on fire, looking to avenge the loss, and would open the scoring. Ben Smith would fire a wrist shot from just above the circles that would elude Michael Hutchinson to give the Marlies a 1-0 lead at 8:18 of the first period.  The Moose would respond six minutes later, with a goal that gave Jets fans a glimpse into the future. As a Marlies penalty expired, Michael Spacek would feed Mason Appleton on the goal-line, and Appleton zipped a pass out front to Nic Petan, who roofed it on Calvin Pickard to tie the game at 1-1 after 20 minutes.

In the second period, the Moose would take the lead for the first time in the game. After some sustained pressure in the Marlies zone, the puck worked back to Kirill Gotovets at the point. He got the puck through towards net, and Buddy Robinson would deflect it home past Pickard to make it 2-1 Manitoba.  On the goal, Brendan Lemieux picked up a secondary assist for his 19th point of the year, tying his career high set last year with the Moose.  The Marlies controlled most of the second, but could not tie the game, and the Moose would capitalize midway through the third period. Marlies defenseman Justin Holl turned the puck over brutally in his own zone, and Jack Roslovic picked his pocket and sniped it top shelf on Pickard for a big insurance goal to make it 3-1 Manitoba. The Moose would add two empty netters from Cormier and Robinson, to run out a 5-1 win, and a two game series sweep against Toronto.  Michael Hutchinson again picked up one of the stars, making 27 saves in the game.

Forward Buddy Robinson, a free agent signing this past summer by the Jets, had eight points in three games (three goals and five assists).  Robinson, coming off playing 15 playoff games for the San Jose Barracuda last season, has 26 points (12 goals, 14 assists) in 29 games this season, and has a +15 rating on the season.  He is closing in on his career highs in goals (15), and points (34).

The Moose finish their pre-Christmas schedule with a pair of games against the San Antonio Rampage, the top affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche.  Games are on Thursday and Friday, with puck drop at 7:00 PM each night, and both games can be heard on moosehockey.com.