Moose set dubious record

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This article was published 23/01/2024 (609 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Not much has gone right for the Manitoba Moose lately.

Of course, tough stretches like this are expected of a young team finding its way at the pro level, but that doesn’t make it any easier to stomach.

The Moose lost a franchise-record 10th game in a row in a 2-1 defeat to the Chicago Wolves at the downtown rink on Tuesday. It was the eighth time the club has scored two goals or fewer over an 0-9-0-1 stretch that has yielded just one point to its standing at the bottom of the Central Division.

“I liked our effort but effort only goes so far, the execution has to be there,” said Moose head coach Mark Morrison. “I don’t think we can ever question of the group, right until the end they play hard, but execution wise we need to be better.”

The Moose dropped to 12-22-1-0 and are still searching for their first win since the calendar flipped. The rival Wolves improved to 14-16-3-2, good for fifth in the Central.

Max Comtois and Vasily Ponomarev each bulged the twine for the visitors before the game was 10 minutes old and Ville Heinola spoiled the shutout bid for Wolves’ goaltender Adam Scheel with 26 seconds left. A frantic finish ensued but the Wolves held on for the win on the strength of 29 saves from Scheel.

Collin Delia made 21 saves, several of which were highlight-worthy, for the hosts in a loss.

A gooseegg for the Moose was indicative of a team that lacked its usual firepower, without Chaz Lucius who is set to undergo season-ending ankle surgery and Jets’ prospect Brad Lambert missing a third game in a row with an upper-body injury.

The Moose have been outscored 38-17 in the last 10 games.

Maintaining confidence among the young guns is of the utmost importance for Morrison and his staff as his team navigates this stretch and finds a way back into the win column. Morrison agreed that winning can help a player’s development and losing can hinder it.

“Absolutely. Those are true words. But I think you not only lean to the coaching staff but you lean on the veteran players in the room, the core group. You make sure that you’re having meetings with them, make sure that the communication is good and they have to show the younger guys what they’ve learned through their experience,” Morrison said.

“It’s not a problem yet because you can see the effort is there and they’re still working really hard. I think there’s enough experience in the coaching staff and the group itself on the team to get us through it.”

The Moose have struggled defensively as much as they have offensively. Matters only get worse when they’re down a man, operating at 75.5 per cent on the penalty kill, the third-worst efficiency in the AHL.

Their special teams continued to struggle early on as the Wolves took an early lead off a power play marker from Comtois, who cleaned up a rebound with a quick backhand.

Six minutes later, Chris Terry and Vasily Ponomarev played a two-man game that saw the latter finish a nifty drop pass from the former that beat Delia over the blocker as the period neared the halfway point.

The other half of the Moose special teams has been the club’s strong suit with a plethora of offensive talent in the lineup, taking its 10th-best 20.2 per cent efficiency into the contest. The unit had its fair share of opportunities — three to be exact — in the middle stanza but only managed to test Scheel four times.

Indeed, there are plenty of learning lessons for players, young and old, but it will always be about how the Moose respond when they get another opportunity.

“I’ve had these stretches before but, obviously, it’s pro hockey so it’s different now,” said defenceman Danny Zhilkin, one of the youngest players on the squad. “I think not just the rookies, I think everybody can learn from each game.”

The Moose will have another chance to snap their streak tonight when they meet the Wolves back at the downtown rink at 7 p.m.

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

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