Moose fall to Wolves 5-2 but still lead the Central Division

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This article was published 25/02/2018 (2840 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For the Manitoba Moose, it’s a case of two steps forward, one step back.

The Moose entered play Sunday having strung together consecutive wins and looking like they’d finally got their game back in order after a rough few weeks. But then they came out and laid an egg against the Chicago Wolves, falling 5-2 in a game that exposed several areas they still need plenty of work on.

Manitoba now stands at 34-15-7 with 20 games left in the regular-season. They continue to lead the Central Division by a healthy margin and remain second-overall in the AHL, even if their recent play hasn’t always looked the part.

After snapping a four-game winless streak with a 6-3 victory over Milwaukee last Wednesday, the Moose followed up with a neat and tidy 2-0 win on Saturday afternoon against the Wolves. Eric Comrie was the star in that game, stopping all 33 shots he faced in his return from the Winnipeg Jets.

But Comrie and his teammates were no match for them 24 hours later. Chicago scored an even-strength goal in the first period, and then a shorthanded and power play marker in the second to pull away.

Brendan Lemieux replied late in the second period to give the Moose some life.

Chicago added an insurance marker early in the third, which proved to be valuable when Lemieux scored his second of the game just as a Moose power play ended later in the final frame. Lemieux is now up to 17 goals on the season. The Wolves finished off the scoring with a late goal, the second of the game off the stick of sniper Teemu Pulkkinen.

The disappointing loss came as the Moose turned back the clocks Sunday, honouring their past as part of the annual “retro day” game complete with throwback jerseys, music and video graphics.

The Moose and Wolves, long-standing rivals which date back to the old IHL days and then the AHL, seemed to get into the mood early by converging at centre ice and exchanging a few heated words during the pre-game warm-up. Perhaps fittingly, former Moose fan favourite Jimmy Roy was in the building to be honoured. Roy, now the coordinator of player development for the Jets, was often in the middle of many of those battles.

In addition to Saturday’s win, the other bright spot for the Moose this weekend was the play of Mason Appleton. He set the franchise record Saturday for single-season points by a rookie. His assist on the opening goal now gives him 51 points in 56 games (18 goals, 33 assists). Sean Tallaire previously held the record with 21 goals, 29 assists in 74 games in 1996-97.

Manitoba will wrap up their eight-game homestand next Saturday and Sunday when they host the Iowa Wild.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg