The Manitoba Moose (31-33-2-1) rematched with the Central Division’s Chicago Wolves (22-32-6-6) on Sunday afternoon at Canada Life Centre. Manitoba was coming off a 5-4 shootout victory against Chicago the previous afternoon.
Manitoba opened the scoring halfway through the first with a power play tally from Kyle Capobianco. Kristian Reichel fed the puck along the line to Capobianco. The defenceman walked in and fired a well-placed shot into the top corner past a screened Antti Raanta. The Wolves were granted an extended look with a five-on-three power play chance, but Thomas Milic and the Moose kept the Wolves from finding the back of the net. Capobianco’s power play goal was the lone scoring play of the opening period. Both Milic and Raanta ended the frame with nine stops.
Neither club was able to find the back of the net in the middle stanza. The Wolves were granted the lone chance on the man-advantage, but Milic and the Moose remained stalwart defensively. Manitoba was outshot by Chicago to the tune of 11-5 in the second stanza and carried a 1-0 lead into the final 20 minutes of play.
Chicago tied the contest 53 seconds into the third with a tally from Hudson Elynuik. Nathan Sucese won a battle off to the side of the net. He sauced the puck to Elynuik and the forward’s quick shot beat Milic. Chicago took the lead with less than seven minutes to play off a penalty shot from Elynuik. The forward skated in slipped the puck past the pads of Milic. Manitoba tied the contest with 57 seconds left with a power play goal from C.J. Suess. Reichel went to work in the offensive zone and sent the backhand out in front. Axel Jonsson-Fjallby shuffled the disc to the side of the net where Suess swooped in to lift it past Raanta. With a single point on each side banked, the Moose and Wolves geared up for overtime for the second straight contest. The Moose secured the overtime victory 1:26 into the frame off the stick of Ville Heinola. The defenceman wheeled into the offensive zone and danced into open ice. Heinola circled into the high slot, forced a Wolves defender to bite on a head fake, then beat Raanta with a quick shot past the glove. Milic picked up the home victory and registered 34 stops, while Raanta was hit with the road loss and made 22 saves of his own.
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