Moose forced into must-win mode

In the blink of an eye, the Manitoba Moose find themselves on the verge of playoff elimination.

It wasn’t for a shortage of scoring chances, but rather a lack of finish as the Moose managed 43 shots on goal against Matt Murray but lost 4-1 to the Milwaukee Admirals before a crowd of 3,169 on Wednesday at Canada Life Centre.

“It kind of speaks for itself, but I think the message is belief,” said Moose defenceman Isaak Phillips, who was a physical presence in the contest. “We’re right there in that game. We ran into a little bit of a hot goalie there at the end. We could have had two or three go in the back of the net, but that happens sometimes.”

Falling behind 2-0 and seeing the deficit grow to three in the second period created a hole that was too difficult to dig out of, even if the Moose carried a good chunk of the play.

“It was just two breakdowns for us on two shifts, three shifts apart,” said Phillips. “And that kind of held strong for the rest of the game. I felt like we bounced back well after that. Even though they got that third one it still felt like we were controlling the play for the most part. Obviously it’s a back-and-forth playoff game, but there’s a lot of positives to take away from that game.

“Things happen quick and it’s the playoffs. So I don’t know if it’s necessarily waking up. It’s just that you have to reset after every shift.”

Game 2 is set for Friday night, with Game 3 (if necessary) on Sunday afternoon at Canada Life Centre.

“We’re very positive that we’re going to bounce back and take the next two games,” said Moose forward Parker Ford, who scored the lone goal for the home side. “Backs against the wall. We’re going to come out with our best effort.”

The Moose were happy with the quantity of scoring chances they generated, but need to do a better job of making life more difficult for Murray by getting to the net more often and utilizing screens to take his sightlines away.

“It looked like we had the jitters a bit there for the first 10 (minutes). After that I thought we played well,” said Moose head coach Mark Morrison. “There’s some adjustments I think we have to make to get some pucks to the back of the net. But the effort was there and the last 50 minutes I thought we executed. We just didn’t put it in.”

In the ninth meeting of the season between the Central Division rivals — and the third playoff series in the past five years — so there was plenty of intensity and animosity during the first period, which included plenty of words and shoves exchanged.

“It was what we expected,” said Phillips. “They’re a chippy team, but they were probably a little bit more disciplined than we would have expected. They were a little rowdier in the regular season. We’ll try to bring the same intensity on Friday.”

Let’s take a closer look at what happened in the series opener:

THE DISH

Jets forward prospect Colby Barlow found his scoring touch with four goals during the final four games of the regular season, but it was his passing ability that helped the Moose get on the board in the third period.

After Phil Di Giuseppe won a battle along the boards, Barlow got the puck down low and made a smart pass in the slot to Ford, who showed great poise and scored on the backhand.

“I was just trying to find some quiet ice there and he made a good play,” said Ford. “I saw that I had a little bit of room to my left. I didn’t think I had a really good angle to shoot it there right away, so it ended up working out.”

Barlow was moving well and generated three shots on goal in his Calder Cup playoff debut.

CATCHING YOUR ATTENTION

One of the most noticeable forwards for the Moose was winger Lucas Wahlin, who was signed to a two-year, two-way entry level contract by the Jets that kicks in next season after he completed his NCAA career at St. Thomas.

Wahlin is a feisty forward that skates well and seems like he’s always in the middle of things, whether it’s trying to create chaos on the forecheck or mixing it up in front of the blue paint.

Wahlin, who finished with five shots on goal, also made a few nice plays skating alongside Jets top forward prospects Brayden Yager and Brad Lambert.

Lambert had one of the best scoring chances of the game during the second period, electing to shoot on a two-on-one rush with Yager but his wicked wrister rattled off the crossbar.

THE KEY PLAY

Brady Martin extended the lead to 2-0 just under three minutes after the Admirals opened the scoring for what proved to be the game-winning goal.

THE THREE STARS

1. G Matthew Murray, Admirals: Made 42 saves
2. F Reid Schaefer, Admirals: One goal, five shots on net
3. F Parker Ford, Moose: One goal, three shots on net

THE (AHL) DEBUT

Nashville Predators forward prospect Brady Martin was assigned to the AHL after his Ontario Hockey League season and made his debut with the Admirals on Wednesday.

Chosen fifth overall in the 2025 NHL Draft, Martin suited up in three NHL games and recorded an assist before he was returned to the Soo Greyhounds.

The power forward was at centre on the second line and made a slick move to sneak behind two Moose D-men before scoring his first professional goal through the five-hole.

Martin established a franchise record with the tally, becoming the youngest player to score at 19 years, one month and seven days.

Captain Kevin Gravel, Cole O’Hara and Schaefer had the other goals for the Admirals.

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Moose goalie Thomas Milic made his first Calder Cup playoff start and finished with 20 saves.

Moose right-winger Walker Duehr was slashed on the right hand/wrist during the second period, but he finished the game.

Jets head coach Scott Arniel was among the interested observers checking out Game 1.

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