The Manitoba Moose played twice this week in the continuation of a four-game series with the Iowa Wild at Canada Life Centre, and the two games were complete opposites.

Manitoba kicked off its six-game homestand against the Wild on Friday night at Canada Life Centre, dominating the Minnesota Wild’s AHL affiliate in a 6-1 victory.

Walker Duehr opened the scoring just 3:16 into the first period for his ninth of the season. Ville Heinola jumped into the rush along the left side and fed Duehr charging through the middle, where he ripped a shot past Cal Petersen.

Just 3:18 later, Moose captain Mason Shaw finished off a nice setup pass across the crease from Duehr to make it 2-0 Manitoba, marking the captain’s fifth of the campaign.

Brad Lambert tripled the Moose lead at 18:58 with his second of the year on the power play. His wrist shot from the left faceoff dot was blocked, but Lambert collected his own rebound and slipped it past Petersen low glove side. Duehr picked up his third point of the period with the primary assist.

Manitoba led 3-0 after 20 minutes despite being outshot 10-8.

At 11:40 of the second period, Isaak Phillips banked in his third of the season off former Winnipeg Ice defenceman Carson Lambos’ stick and past Petersen. Phillips was looking to pass across to Duehr, but the lucky bounce gave the Moose a 4-0 edge.

2:21 into the third period, Shaw netted his second of the night and sixth of the season off a nice setup from Parker Ford. Ford cut into the middle of the ice and dished a pass to Shaw on the right side, where he fired it past Petersen to extend the lead to five.

Oskar Olausson got Iowa on the board with his third at 3:03, then Jaret Anderson-Dolan capped off the six-goal performance with his fifth of the year at 13:43, as the Moose earned their second straight win over Iowa, took a 2-1 series lead, and improved to 14-9-2.

Thomas Milic stopped 27 shots to record his first shutout of the season, while Duehr (1G, 2A), Shaw (2G, 1A), and Heinola (3A) each recorded three points.

After dismantling the Wild 6-1 on Friday, the Moose were on the receiving end of a lopsided result on Sunday, as Iowa bounced back with a 6-0 shutout, its second of the mini-series.

Manitoba’s rough afternoon began 6:40 into the first period when former Moose forward and Dauphin, Manitoba native Mark Liwiski opened the scoring with his second of the year. Bradley Marek made it 2-0 on the power play at 9:33, and Jaxon Nelson extended the lead to 3-0 at 14:59 with his first of the season.

One bright spot came during the first intermission, when hundreds of teddy bears rained down onto the ice during the annual Teddy Bear Toss in support of the Christmas Cheer Board.

Milic, making his second straight start, did not return after the first period after allowing three goals on eight shots.

Liwiski added his second of the game at 6:43 of the second, and Jack Peart made it 5-0 on the power play at 9:08. Iowa dominated through 40 minutes, and that trend continued into the third.

Riley Heidt put the finishing touch on the Wild’s offensive explosion, making it 6-0 at 14:42 with his third of the season. Samuel Hlavaj turned aside 28 shots to earn the shutout.

Domenic DiVincentiis came on in relief and stopped 17 shots while allowing three goals. Manitoba fell to 14-10-2 with the loss.

The Moose remain at home with four games still to play on their six-game homestand. They’ll host the Rockford IceHogs on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. CST.