The Manitoba Moose (1-0-0-0) picked up their first win in their Home Opener on Friday night, outpacing the Laval Rocket (0-1-0-0) by a 4-1 score.
The Moose offence didn’t take long to get rolling. Just over two and a half minutes into the game, Brayden Yager, making his professional hockey debut, ripped a shot past Rocket goaltender Jacob Fowler. Yager’s first AHL goal gave Manitoba an early lead. Kevin Conley added another marker with six minutes left in the frame, providing the Moose a 2-0 lead they held into the intermission. Domenic DiVincentiis turned away all 10 shots he faced in the Moose net, while Fowler stopped nine of 11 attempts.
A little over 12 minutes into the second, the Rocket found their first goal of the contest, courtesy of Joshua Roy on the power play. The Moose fought to restore their two-goal lead quickly, and Walker Duehr scored his first goal in antlers for a 3-1 lead. DiVincentiis stood tall in the frame, stopping 12 of the 13 shots directed his way, while Fowler turned aside 11 of 12 shots.
Laval opened the third period pushing the pace offensively, but DiVincentiis continued to hold the visitors back. The Manitoba netminder received more goal support midway through the final stanza, as Danny Zhilkin pushed the lead to 4-1. DiVincentiis took care of the rest, finishing the game with 36 saves to secure the opening night victory.