AHL CENTRAL DIVISIONAL SEMIFINAL ROUND
Manitoba Moose (35-29-8) vs Grand Rapids Griffins (51-16-5)
***above graphic via MooseHockey.com.***
The Manitoba Moose were able to win their First Round series 2 games to 1 against the Milwaukee Admirals, using a pair of tight defensive 2-1 victories to move on in the AHL Playoffs to overcome dropping the opening contest. The biggest story line to arise from this matchup was the emergence of goaltender Dominic DiVincentiis. A bit of an inconsistent regular season had allowed fellow Winnipeg Jets’ prospect Thomas Milic to take a hold of the starting role for Manitoba, but a shaky performance in Game 1 saw the coaching staff turn to Dom to try and win the next one. And the 22 yr old goalie didn’t let them down, turning aside 48 of 50 shots over the next 2 matches for a .960 save percentage to lead the Moose to their first playoff series win in a while.
However, beating the Admirals is a totally different thing than taking on the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Detroit Red Wings’ farm team were easily among the AHL’s elite this year, earning the 2nd best record in the minors while scoring the 2nd most goals (255 GF) and allowing the least goals against (159 GA). The Moose finished 4th in the Central, 29 pts behind Grand Rapids while scoring at the 30th best rate (185 GF) in the AHL and defending at the 9th (216 GA). The special teams stats show the same thing, with the opposition having advantages on the powerplay (18.7% to 11%) and penalty kill (86% to 82.4%).
The Griffins have a mix of veterans & youth on their roster, though the older players are doing a lot of the heavy lifting offensively. Proven AHL players like John Leonard, Sheldon Dries, &Dominik Shine amassed between 39 and 54 pts on the season, while long-term NHL veteran defenseman Erik Gustafsson also chipped in 37. A couple Wings’ prospects have played a large role for Grand Rapids this year too, as Michael Brandsegg-Vygard (15th overall pick has 44 pts) and Amadeus Lombardi (3rd round pick has 42 pts). Goaltender Sebastian Cossa has also been excellent, as the former 15th overall selection has put up a 2.33 GAA & a .915 save % (3rd straight above .910% in the AHL for the 6’7″ tender). Finally d-man William Wallinder (2nd rounder with 20 pts) also played his part, while the Griffins got a boost when Detroit sent down forward Carter Mazur (3rd rounder with a pt/gm in limited AHL action) and defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka (17th overall with 3 pts in 6 gms) after their NHL campaign ended.
The Griffs won the Central Division easily (by 20 pts) and handily took the series against the Moose with a 6-1-1 record in the 8 regular season contests. The good news for Manitoba is that the majority of the games were of the 1 goal variety, so with strong defensive play, a hot goalie, and a bit of scoring luck…..they could pull out an upset. Both clubs will perhaps be a bit rusty, with the mini-Jets having 5 days off since they clinched a Round 1 series win and Grand Rapids waiting a full 2 weeks to get into their first post-season action.
GAME 1 PREVIEW:
Manitoba gets to open up the series with a pair of games at the Canada Life Centre and will hope to sweep the action in Winnipeg before Grand Rapids even plays their first playoff home game of the season. The Moose received some bad news when they were informed that both Elias Salomonsson and Nikita Chibrikov’s seasons were over. The young Swedish defenseman has undergone shoulder surgery with a 5-6 month recovery period that will probably limit his involvement in next year’s Winnipeg Jets training camp. Rough start for the young lad, who broke into the big leagues with his strong play for Manitoba in the past season & a half.
But the Moose will get newly signed d-man Garrett Brown in the line up for his first professional game to fill in for the injured Salomonsson. Donning the jersey number 59, the two-time NCAA Champion will get an early chance to impress the Winnipeg Jets’ & Manitoba Moose staff before taking part in his first training camp next September.
Here are the predicted line ups for Saturday afternoon’s 2 pm game at the CLC:
MOOSE
Mason Shaw / David Gustafsson / Walker Duehr
Anderson-Dolan/ Danny Zhilkin / Samuel Fagemo
Brad Lambert / Brayden Yager / Lucas Wahlin
Colby Barlow / Parker Ford / Phillip DiGiuseppe
Ashton Sautner / Tyrel Bauer
Isaak Phillips / Kale Clague
Dylan Anhorn / Garrett Brown
Dominic Di Vincentiis
GRIFFINS
John Leonard / Sheldon Dries / Dominik Shine
Carter Mazur / Amadeus Lombardi / Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
Eduards Tralmaks / Wojciech Stachowiak / Jakub Rychlovsky
Eddie Genborg / Gabriel Seger / Austin Watson
Erik Gustafsson / Antii Tuomisto
William Lageson / Axel Sandin-Pellikka
William Wallinder / Anton Johansson
Michal Postava
*****
GAME 1 RECAP:
**should have it up sometime Saturday night…….most likely between 7 – 10 pm.**
GO MOOSE GO!!!