The Manitoba Moose (9-9-0-0) rematched with the Rockford IceHogs (9-7-2-0), on Sunday afternoon at Canada Life Centre for the final of two weekend contests.
Manitoba opened the scoring 1:32 into the contest. Dean Stewart sent puck off the end boards and out in front of the goal. Jeff Malott burned past his man in front and lifted the quick backhand past Jaxson Stauber. Manitoba added to its lead just past the five-minute mark of the frame. Malott slid the puck back to Artemi Kniazev at the point. The defenceman fired on target and Parker Ford was able to tip the disc past Stauber. Rockford cut Manitoba’s lead in half at the 11:49 mark of the period. Anders Bjork found Mike Hardman open in front, and the forward beat Collin Delia blocker side. Manitoba was ahead 2-1 heading into the first intermission and outshot Rockford by a count of 10-5.
With the Moose ahead 2-1, the squad was granted a five-on-three power play opportunity. Stauber and the IceHogs made a few big stops and kept Manitoba off the board. Rockford attacked later in the frame and skated in on a two-on-oh rush, but Delia made a brilliant lunging stop. The Moose later restored the two-goal lead at 14:03 of the stanza. Manitoba attacked with numbers and Nicholas Jones threaded a pass across the seam to Wyatt Bongiovanni, who snapped a perfect shot upstairs for his third goal in as many games. Delia stopped all eight Rockford shots he faced in the middle frame as the Moose took a 3-1 lead into the final 20 minutes of play.
With time ticking down in the third period and the Moose ahead by a pair, the IceHogs called Stauber to the bench with three minutes to go in the contest. Manitoba grabbed the disc and had chances to find the empty net, but the IceHogs blocked the majority of the opportunities. The horn sounded to draw the game to a close with the Moose capturing a 3-1 home victory. Delia notched the win on the strength of 19 saves. Stauber was hit with the loss and posted 24 stops of his own.
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