Moose on the loose in back-to-back victories

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This article was published 25/02/2017 (2609 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Moose finally found the cure for what ails them — a struggling, road-weary San Antonio Rampage squad that proved to be no match in a pair of weekend games.

Manitoba took the series opener 4-2 Saturday night, then followed it up with an identical 4-2 victory on Sunday afternoon at the MTS Centre. It’s the first time the Moose have strung two consecutive wins together since the first week of January.

Not only did Manitoba collect four points in the standings, but several slumping scorers were able to find the back of the net and perhaps regain some lost confidence.

Dan DeSalvo got the offence started early in the second period Sunday with his team-leading 13th goal of the season — but just the first in 14 games.

“The monkey’s off my back, for sure. Hopefully I can keep things rolling. I was off the scoresheet for a while so it definitely feels good,” DeSalvo said following the game.

Chase De Leo then made it 2-0 moments later after Jack Roslovic fed a nifty pass to him in the slot. De Leo now has 12 on the year but had also gone cold recently, with just three goals in his past 19 games entering play on Sunday.

Roslovic then made it 3-0 when he broke a 15-game scoring drought, taking an incredible backhand saucer pass from fellow 20-year-old rookie Kyle Connor and ripping home what would be the game-winner. Although they don’t always play on the same line, it’s clear Roslovic and Connor have plenty of chemistry together.

“Two really skilled players. Kyle has got incredible vision, he’s got a good shot. He’s just easy to play with, a good passer. I think when you put two guys like that together we kind of create chemistry together off the ice, too,” said Roslovic, who has 10 goals on the season and leads the Moose in points with 31 in 46 games.

San Antonio scored late in the second period, but Connor put the game away when he scored on a solo rush just 27 seconds into the final frame. Connor recorded his first professional hat trick on Saturday night against the Rampage — his first goals in nine games — and suddenly has a hot stick. He’s now at 12 goals and 11 assists in the 34 games since he was sent to the Moose after starting the year with the Winnipeg Jets.

The Rampage crept a bit closer midway through the period when a power play point shot deflected off a Moose defenceman and into the net, but that would be all the scoring on the day.

“We’ve been struggling to find the offence. It was a good win for us,” said DeSalvo.

San Antonio was closing out a nine game road trip which saw them go 0-8-1. They now sit 28th overall in the American Hockey League standings. With the pair of weekend wins, the Moose are now in 26th place in the league. They had come into the weekend by going winless in their past five games and with just eight victories in their previous 32 games, averaging barely two goals a game.

“Whenever you’re scoring and feeling good about yourselves and not squeezing the stick so hard it’s good,” said Roslovic.

Moose goalie Eric Comrie — making his 17th start in the past 18 games — followed up Saturday’s 37-save performance with another 33 stops on Sunday. Head coach Pascal Vincent said Comrie could handle the heavy workload.

“He’s pushing himself every day in practice and games. He’s used to that kind of back-to-back effort,” Vincent said.

Vincent was impressed with how his team started Sunday’s game, holding San Antonio to just eight first-period shots one night after giving up 23 in the opening frame.

“We were on time, right from the first face-off we played a solid game. Created good scoring chances, defended well. We responded well to the physicality of the game,” said Vincent.

Indeed, Sunday’s game was hard-hitting and downright dirty at times, with plenty of behind-the-play hacks and whacks that the lone referee struggled to spot and control.

It also included an ugly moment in the third period when Moose defenceman Nelson Nogier fell face-first into the ice during a fight.

He was bleeding heavily and was eventually helped off by teammates and trainers. Vincent didn’t have a post-game update on his status.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Notes

Sending a message: For the second straight game, the Moose went with just 11 forwards and seven defencemen. When asked about his roster numbers, Vincent made it clear he was sending a bit of a message to his squad.

“It’s a function of how you practise. We evaluate the practices and consider their efforts and their execution in practices. It’s a reward for the players to play the games, it’s a privilege to play at this level,” Vincent said.

To translate, some players haven’t exactly been pulling their weight of late.

It should be noted that forwards Ryan Olsen, Darren Kramer and Jimmy Lodge were all scratches on Saturday. Olsen and Kramer drew into the lineup on Sunday, in place of injured forwards Quinton Howden and Scott Glennie, while Lodge remained in the press box. He’s also day-to-day with an injury.

Big crowd: The Moose drew one of their largest crowds of the season on Sunday, with 11,514 fans in attendance for the matinee. Manitoba has averaged just over 6,000 fans per game this season, which puts them 11th in the 30-team league. In their return to Winnipeg last season, the Moose averaged just over 7,200 fans per game, which put them 9th in the league.

Up next: Manitoba (21-27-7) now hits the road for a pair of games in Rockford followed by single-game stops in Chicago and Milwaukee, before returning to MTS Centre for an eight-game homestand beginning March 9.