That Wasn't Part Of The Plan

While I know that the Stanley Cup Playoffs have virtually everyone's attention captured, there are some great playoff series happening in other leagues right now as well. One of those leagues is the AHL, and they have an old IHL battle happening in this round between the Manitoba Moose and the Milwaukee Admirals. As you likely know, these are the AHL affiliates of the Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators, respectively, so there are all sorts of storylines and players to watch in this series when it comes to the futures of those two NHL clubs.

Anytime I can celebrate an old IHL rivalry is pretty special considering how they filled the void for me after the Jets left, but these are two good AHL clubs looking to win the Calder Cup. The Moose were looking to end the five-game series tonight as they held a 2-1 series lead over the Admirals after two-straight 3-2 wins following a 6-2 drubbing in Game One. Would tonight be the night that the Moose advance to face the awaiting Texas Stars?

Things started well for the Moose as Greg Meireles scored at 5:02 to put the Moose up 1-0 before Milwaukee answered at 8:13 with a Zach Sanford goal to make it 1-1. With time winding down in the first period, Manitoba pulled Oskari Salminen for the extra attacker on a delayed penalty call, and that's when chaos broke out on the ice.
Declan Chisholm's pass back to Ville Heinola missed the defender, and Cole Maier couldn't track down the puck as he came off the bench to watch it slide into the Manitoba net for an own goal at the 18:45 mark of the first period. Milwaukee defenceman Spencer Stastney gets credit for his first playoff goal as he was determined to be the last player from the Admirals to touch the puck, but the Moose would go into the intermission having scored twice, but trailing 2-1.

The good news is that there is still a lot of time left in Game Four for Manitoba to mount a comeback, but, while I was preparing all of the components of this article, the Admirals opened the scoring in the second period to take a 3-1 lead thanks to Joakim Kemell scoring on the power-play at the 2:15 mark. The hole that Manitoba started digging with that own goal gets a little deeper, but this Moose team has been resilient down the stretch so a comeback is not out of the question just yet. The Moose do need to get something going before this second period ends, though.

The scoring has come from all over the Moose lineup as it speaks to their depth. They've had eight different players light the lamp including Meireles tonight, and only Jansen Harkins has more than one goal for the Moose. They certainly could use a few of those players stepping up in this moment of need tonight, but we'll see how this game finishes before the night ends.

If a Game Five is required, it will be played tomorrow night in Milwaukee at 6pm. No one likes that pressure of needing to win or the season ends, but that could be the pressure that Manitoba faces if they can't dig themselves out of this deficit tonight. Game Four isn't over by any means, but there's work do if the Moose hope to prevail and avoid Game Five altogether.

If I can provide one crucial tip in Manitoba's quest for the Calder Cup, it's this: stop helping your opposition score goals.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!