Milwaukee Admirals (1-1) at Manitoba Moose (1-1)

Winner take all.

It’s one of the best scenarios in sports, and it’s what we have in store this afternoon as the Manitoba Moose and Milwaukee Admirals do battle in downtown Winnipeg.

One team will advance to the next playoff round. The other will see their season come to an abrupt, disappointing conclusion.

The Moose already staved off elimination once after Friday’s dramatic 2-1 victory over the Admirals.

David Gustafsson tipped home Brayden Yager’s power play point shot with 47 seconds left in regulation.

“In playoffs and in tight games, it’s always a greasy goal or something that gets thrown on net. That was kind of the idea,” Yager told reporters on Saturday of how the game-breaker happened.

“I was kind of walking the line, saw Gus had nobody really on him there and just threw it through there. It was a great screen and an even better tip. That was pretty cool to see that one go in. The building kind of erupted.”

Manitoba Moose centre Brayden Yager (No. 29) fights for his position in the slot against Admirals defenceman Kevin Gravel, while Admirals goaltender Matthew Murray (No. 32) keeps an eye on the play during Friday's game. (Brook Jones / Free Press files)

Can the Moose do it again?

“It’s a great test for us,” said Yager. “There’s not many teams that play as hard as them, so hopefully we can build off this one (Game 2).”

Although there won’t be a morning skate because of the early puck drop, we’d suspect Moose coach Mark Morrison won’t make any changes to a winning lineup.

That likely means sticking with goaltender Dom DiVincentiis, who was a bit of a surprise starter but certainly showed he was up for the task in stopping 19 of 20 pucks that came his way.

“Our backs were against the wall and we had desperation and got a massive win,” defenceman Ashton Sautner told reporters.

“It was a great effort right from the start. Our whole team — four lines, our six D and Dom was great. That’s what you need this time of year, you need everybody to buy in and everybody to be committed. We knew what we were going into, facing elimination. It was gut check time, and we responded.”

Expect to see Matthew Murray between the pipes for Milwaukee. He’s been sensational in stopping 75 of the 78 Manitoba shots he’s faced so far.

The winner of this game will face the powerful Grand Rapids Griffins in a best-of-five series.

—Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe

MAILBAG CALLOUT

With the Winnipeg Jets season now complete, the monthly mailbag is open for a few more days. Please send your questions to Mike and Ken by replying to this email or reaching out via social media.

FROM THE PRESS BOX

MIKE SAYS: Friday’s game was one of the most exciting of the year at Canada Life Centre. And, yes, I’m including all 41 Jets home contests.

The Moose and Admirals went toe-to-toe with some heavy, highly competitive hockey, and the nearly 5,000 fans in attendance certainly got their money’s worth.

I’d expect a similar low-scoring, tight-checking affair in this one given the stakes.

I liked what I saw of Yager in his three-game audition with the Jets down the stretch and he looks to have carried that momentum back with him to the Moose.

He was absolutely flying in Game 2 — drawing a pair of penalties with his speed and creating all kinds of chances. I wasn’t surprised to see the game-winning play come off his stick.

No doubt Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and head coach Scott Arniel, who were up in the press box observing, enjoyed the performance as well.

Another solid development for the Moose on Friday was the power play coming through with a huge goal.

Manitoba looked pretty lost on their first four chances of the night, which included surrendering a shorthanded breakaway goal that put them in a 1-0 deficit early in the second period. But a much more direct approach on the final one led to game-winning success. Let’s see if they can carry that over to Game 3.

It was obvious the impact of Elias Salomonsson’s return as the Moose were a lot tidier in their own end compared to Wednesday’s Game 1 loss. Salomonsson can really calm the play down and it’s great to see him back in action following the late-season concussion with the Jets.

“He’s one of those guys who’s just unshakable, really. He’s so poised,” said Sautner. “You can tell the time he spent in the NHL, he’s obviously gained a lot of confidence with that. Whenever you can add a guy like that for the playoff run, it’s huge for the team.”

KEN SAYS: What a moment that must have been for Gustafsson, to deliver the series-extending GWG and be named the first star.

Prior to Game 1, I asked Gustafsson about the opportunity to play such an important role with the Moose, one that includes a lot more ice time than he’d been used to during his time with the Jets.

“That’s probably been the best thing about this season,” said Gustafsson, who has 149 NHL games on his resume in addition to 11 more during the Stanley Cup playoffs. “Getting those big minutes and playing in tough situations in a game. That’s what you want to do. It’s been really fun.”

As someone who has covered Gustafsson’s career since he was chosen by the Jets in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft, the answer wasn’t the least bit surprising.

Gustafsson is someone who has appreciated every step of the journey and while he hasn’t given up on his dream of being an NHLer, the Swedish forward isn’t someone that was going to spend a lot of time lamenting his lot in life when he could be using the time to get better as a player and serve as a mentor to the many Jets prospects that are on the Moose roster.

“For myself, getting sent down is not the thing I wanted,” said Gustafsson. “But I felt like I managed it well and I’ve been playing good down here. I’ve enjoyed my time this season.”

Gustafsson is a pending restricted free agent, so it’s fair to say his future with the organization is unclear, but that’s a topic for another day.

The only thing he’s concerned about right now is doing his part to ensure that Sunday isn’t the final game of the season.

It was a gutsy call by Morrison to switch goalies for Game 2, but he expressed confidence in both guys when I asked him about his netminders going into the series.

Unlike Thomas Milic, DiVincentiis didn’t get the chance to make his NHL debut this season — mostly because Connor Hellebuyck got back a week earlier than most expected, as he worked his way back from arthroscopic knee surgery — but this first taste of the Calder Cup playoffs should serve him well moving forward.

PROJECTED LINES

Don’t get bogged down by the order, this is not a depth chart:

MANITOBA MOOSE

FORWARDSMason Shaw–David Gustafsson–Walker DuehrJaret Anderson-Dolan–Danny Zhilkin–Sam FagemoBrad Lambert–Brayden Yager–Lucas WahlinColby Barlow–Parker Ford–Phi Di Giuseppe

DEFENCE

Isaak Phillips–Elias Salomonsson

Ashton Sautner–Tyrel Bauer

Dylan Anhorn– Kale Clague

GOAL

Dom DiVincentiis

Thomas Milic

MILWAUKEE ADMIRALS

FORWARDS

Isaac Ratcliffe–Jake Lucchini–Cole O’Hara

Zach L’Heureux–Reid Schaefer–Joakim Kemell

Shawn Element-Brady Martin–Oasiz Wiesblatt

Kalan Lind–Joey Willis–Ryder Rolston

DEFENCE

Kevin Gravel–Ryan Ufko

Jordan Oesterle–Andrew Gibson

Tanner Molendyk-Christoffer Sedoff

GOAL

Matthew Murray

Magnus Chrona

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

Veteran defenceman Ashton Sautner on the value of playoff experience for some of the Jets’ top prospects such as Elias Salomonsson, Brayden Yager, Brad Lambert, Colby Barlow, Dom DiVincentiis and Thomas Milic, among others:

“It’s a good taste for them. It’s part of the grind. You go through a long season like that, and then you get into high-pressure situations like a playoff game. It’s going to do wonders for their development and further their careers. The more experienced gained, the better off you are.”