The Manitoba Moose played in the second half of their four-game homestand this weekend, hosting the league-worst Iowa Wild on Saturday and Sunday at Canada Life Centre.
Saturday, Feb. 21 – Iowa 3, Manitoba 2 (OT)
After a 3-2 shootout loss to the Calgary Wranglers on Louis Riel Day, Manitoba looked to bounce back.
Riley Heidt broke the scoreless tie at 9:24. Carson Lambos’ shot was stopped by Thomas Milic, but the rebound kicked out to Heidt, who fired a backhand shot through Milic’s legs for his fourth of the campaign.
Zhilkin continued to produce just 2:03 later, giving Manitoba its first lead. He cut into the slot on his backhand, glided down low, and instead of forcing a wraparound, quickly shifted to his forehand and stuffed the puck just inside the near post for his 10th of the year, making it 2-1.
Despite being outshot 13-9, Manitoba held a one-goal lead after 20 minutes.
After a quiet middle frame, Tyler Pitlick tied the game 4:26 into the third period. He got around Phillips, cut to the net, and slid the puck through Milic’s five-hole on a backhand-to-forehand move for his sixth of the year.
After 60 minutes, it remained 2-2, with Iowa holding a 33-27 edge in shots.
Former Winnipeg Ice captain Lambos scored the overtime winner 1:55 into the extra period. Oskar Olausson found him wide open in the right circle, and he beat Milic for his sixth of the year to give Iowa the win.
Milic stopped 33 of 36 shots, while Manitoba fell to 23-17-5.
Sunday, Feb. 22 – Iowa 5, Manitoba 1
Defenceman Tyrel Bauer played his 200th career game for the Moose.
Manitoba struck just 1:32 into the game. Parker Ford won an offensive-zone faceoff back to Kale Clague, who fired a wrist shot past Cal Petersen for his eighth, making it 1-0.
Pitlick responded at 5:04, beating DiVincentiis with a shot from the slot that deflected off Barteaux’s skate.
At 12:57, Pitlick scored again, grabbing the puck behind the Moose net and squeaking a wraparound past DiVincentiis to give Iowa the lead.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel made it 3-1 late in the period, beating DiVincentiis on a breakaway at 18:39 for his 10th of the season.
Manitoba trailed by two after 20 minutes despite outshooting Iowa 10-7.
Heidt scored Iowa’s fourth at 11:13 of the second period on a partial breakaway, and Jack Peart blasted home his fourth at 15:29 to make it 5-1.
The Wild led by four after 40 minutes while outshooting Manitoba 19-17.
No goals were scored in the third, but there was a notable officiating error. Bauer received five minutes for elbowing and a 10-minute misconduct, but no one served the major penalty. After the five minutes expired, Manitoba remained shorthanded briefly because no one exited the penalty box, something surprising given the length of the call.
Iowa held on to hand Manitoba its third straight loss, winning 5-1.
DiVincentiis made 30 saves, and the Moose fell to 23-18-5.
“If you’re not playing a full 60 minutes, you’re not giving yourself a chance to win,” said captain Mason Shaw. “We gotta start period by period here and clean a lot of things up because our execution is horrendous right now. We got what we deserved.”
The Moose now hit the road for three straight, starting Wednesday in Grand Rapids against the league-best Griffins. Puck drop is set for 6:00 p.m. CT on FloHockey.