Moose make impressive run to playoffs – Winnipeg Free Press

Manitoba moose breathed a sigh of relief for the first time in three months.

The American Hockey League club played Sunday's home regular-season finale against the playoff-clinching Iowa Wild less than 24 hours ago.

The Wild may have spoiled the Moose's final home game, winning 4-3 after the home team scored three goals in the final period, but Manitoba can rest assured that their improbable postseason run is over. .

“It means a lot,” quarterback Ashton Sautner said. “We've been through a lot. None of us wanted to be there, but we dug deep as a team and that said a lot about our team. I've never been through that in all my years of playing, but the way we came out and where we're at now is fantastic, so you've got to be proud of that.

“Tonight wasn't the result we wanted, but to know we're now in the playoffs is a huge achievement.”

The Moose will compete for the Calder Cup trophy for the third year in a row. The first is a best-of-three series with the Texas Stars starting next week.

With three games remaining, the only thing left to do is play at home in the first round. Manitoba needs a win against the Milwaukee Admirals at Wisconsin on Wednesday (7 p.m.) to claim fourth place.

The Moose and Stars play back to back to close out the regular season in Texas on Friday and Saturday.

Sunday's contest ran away for the visitors, who at one point held a four-goal advantage. Stephen Fogarty scored a pair after Luke Toporowski and Simon Johansson found the net on wild pitches.

Kyle Capobianco and Ville Heinola cut Iowa's lead in half and C.J. Suess made it a one-point game with less than two minutes remaining, but the Moose couldn't beat Peyton Jones again.

Jones stopped 36 shots to earn his first career AHL win as the Wild improved to 25-37-4-3. Collin Delia allowed four goals on 11 shots for the Ice, who dropped to 32-34-2-1.

Winnipeg Jets prospect Colby Barlow made his professional debut, recording a one-hitter. Most of Barlow's ice time came when teams were at full strength, but he saw limited time on the power play.

Defensive end Dylan Anhorn, a recent college free agent signed from St. Cloud State, also made his first pro start.

“(Barlow) was very modest tonight. I think he was a little nervous at first, but he settled right in,” assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner said. “The same with Dylan. He looked really ready for a quarterback making his first professional game and I thought he played well.”

At the start of the calendar year, the outlook for the club looked bleak. It sat at the bottom of the standings, enduring a franchise-worst 11-game losing streak. Since then, they've been in playoff mode and compiled a 19-11-1-1 record to enter the dance.

“It was a lot of hanging heads,” Sonter said. “Sometimes down the stretch, it seems like we can't find ways to win and we can't find ways to lose. It's one of those things where you go through it as a team and you come out stronger for it, and I think we're a great example of that.”

That means some of the young guns will have to mature quickly.

Brad Lambert, a 2022 first-round pick, has been one of the most impressive players in the minor leagues this season and one of the Moose's most important players in the second half of the campaign. The Finnish forward is second among freshmen with 52 points in 62 games. Russian shooter Nikita Chibrikov, selected in the second round of the 2021 NHL draft, scored 17 goals and had 28 assists.

Lambert and Chibrikov were honored as the team's rookies ahead of Sunday's race.

Meanwhile, in the fifth round of last summer's NHL draft, Tomas Milich of the Jets has a 2.71 goals-against average and a .901 ppg. The rookie netminder has become the team's No. 1 since being drafted in January.

“I think it was our team attitude and our work ethic every day,” Baumgartner said of what impressed him most as the Moose endured a historic losing streak. “There was never any rejection.

“All respect to our players. They've done a great job of getting out of it and getting us where we are now.”

A franchise-worst losing streak that has been in playoff mode since the calendar moved to 2024 could be a blessing in disguise for the Moose. The club has shown that it can play with its back against the wall, which can pay off. when the playoffs begin next week.

“We've been fighting for our lives for a while now, so it's good that we're playing at this level and we've set that standard for ourselves. “We had to get here, we had to pull away, but that's the style of play we're playing right now,” Sautner said.

“I think everybody understands that and we have a full team to play like that, and that's what you need come playoff time. “

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Joshua Frey-Sam
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