Moose Moment: Taming the Monsters at Home
By Alec Beatty
6 years agoThe Moose began a four game homestand this past week with a pair of games against the Cleveland Monsters. The Moose went into the homestand with a 7 game winning streak, and 7 game home points streak.
Thursday Nov 30 / Manitoba 7 – Cleveland 1
On Thursday, the Moose opened the homestand against the Monsters, and got off to a sluggish start, being outshot 13-9 in the first period. The Moose would open the scoring late in the first period, after a too many men penalty against the Monsters. On the powerplay, Sami Niku would tee up Michael Spacek, and his one-timer beat Brad Thiessen to give the Moose a 1-0 lead after 1.
In the second period, there was a flurry of scoring in the back half of the period. Chase De Leo would extend the Moose lead to 2-0, when his attempted pass deflected off a Monsters defender and past Thiessen. The lead would be extended to 3-0 just over 90 seconds later. Mason Appleton took the puck inside the Monsters zone and drove to the net, beating Thiessen glove side. After the Monsters got a goal back just 46 seconds later, the Moose would extend the lead again just a minute later. After a great drive to the net by Brendan Lemieux, Buddy Robinson would take the puck off a Monsters defenseman and beat Thiessen to make it 4-1. Just 41 seconds after that, Julian Melchiori’s point shot went through a screen and beat Thiessen, ending his night and making the score 5-1 after 2.
In the 3rd period, the Moose would kill any hopes of a Cleveland comeback just over a minute in, Peter Stoykewych’s shot beating Cleveland backup goalie Matiss Kivleniks to make it 6-1. The Moose would finish the scoring halfway through the 3rd period, Jack Roslovic scoring his team leading 12th goal of the season to make it a 7-1 Moose win. Michael Hutchinson picked up his 8th win of the season, stopping 34 of 35 shots in the game.
Saturday Dec 2 / Manitoba 4 – Cleveland 0
The Moose got off to a much better start in game 2 of the homestand. Julian Melchiori would open the scoring, with his second goal in as many nights 7 minutes into the 1st period, set up by Mike Sgarbossa, to give the Moose a 1-0 lead. They would extend the lead just under 2 minutes later on the powerplay. Jack Roslovic would score his 13th of the year, on a deflection of a Sami Niku point shot to give the Moose the 2-0 lead after 1 period.
In the second period, the Moose would extend the lead on another powerplay. Michael Spacek would score his 3rd of the season, with Nic Petan and Jack Roslovic on the assists at 8:19 of the 3rd. The Moose would take a 3-0 lead into the 2nd intermission, and were outshooting the Admirals 23-15 after 2.
In the 3rd, the Moose powerplay would connect again, and it was the same connection for the 3rd time in the game. Nic Petan would score his 3rd goal of the season and 2nd goal in the last 3 games, from Niku and Spacek, which would make it 4-0 Moose. The Moose locked it down defensively, and Michael Hutchinson picked up his first shutout of the season, making 27 saves in the game.
Top Performer
F Nic Petan, a 2013 2nd round pick by the Jets, had 6 points in 2 games (1 goal and 5 assists). Petan, who has played 86 games for the Jets scoring 3 goals and adding 16 assists, now has 16 points in 17 games for the Moose this season, and is a +11 in those 17 games.
News and Notes
- G Michael Hutchinson was named the CCM/AHL Goaltender of the month for November. Hutchinson made 6 starts in the month of November, and allowed only 8 goals in the month, going 6-0-0 with a 1.33 GAA and a .965 SV%. Overall for the season, Hutchinson is 8-1-1, with a 1.90 GAA (4th in the AHL), and a .947 SV% (2nd in the AHL).
- F Jack Roslovic was named the CCM/AHL Player of the month for November. In 14 games in the month, the 2015 1st round pick of the Jets tallied 8 goals and 11 assists for 19 points, good for 1st in the league in that timeframe, while maintaining a +13 rating in the month, and was a key contributor in the Moose having a record of 12-2-0 in the month.
- The Moose will look to match a franchise record winning streak when they face the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday. The Moose have previously won 10 games in a row twice (March 2008 and October/November 2000). The Moose also can match a franchise home points streak record if they can get a point in both games this weekend. They would match the 11 game home points streak set from December 22, 1999 to February 5, 2000. The Moose made the playoffs in both years.
Standings
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | PT% |
| Manitoba | 24 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 36 | .750 |
| Rockford | 23 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 27 | .587 |
| Iowa | 23 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 26 | .565 |
| Milwaukee | 22 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 23 | .523 |
| Grand Rapids | 22 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 21 | .477 |
| Cleveland | 19 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 18 | .474 |
| Chicago | 22 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 17 | .386 |
As of December 8th, 2017
Up Next
The Moose host a 2-game series this weekend against the Milwaukee Admirals, top affiliate of the Nashville Predators. Game 1 goes Saturday at 2:00 PM (moosehockey.com), with game 2 going Sunday at 2:00 PM (TSN 1290, moosehockey.com).
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