Life got a bit hectic this week, so I didn’t have a chance to do a recap for both games against the Ottawa Senators’ minor league affiliate. Therefore this one will include recaps of the two clashes this week in Manitoba….lets get started.
The Winnipeg Jets’ farm team hit the quarter mark of the American Hockey League’s 2025-26 regular season schedule during this week’s two game set versus the Belleville Senators. Entering the first game at the Canada Life Centre, the Moose were sitting with a 9-6-2 record and leading the race for the Central Division’s 3rd place ranking. The Senators were also in fight for 3rd in their division, the North, and that should mean teams equally hungry to add more points to their season totals. Manitoba was hot coming into the series, with a 6 game winning streak on the line, while the Sens were on a 2 contest skid.
GAME 1:
This match started off poorly for the hometown Moose, as a constant parade to the penalty box in the opening period killed any hope of momentum. The plethora of infractions really bit Manitoba in the butt when the teams were already down to 4 on 4 and then our club quickly received a deserved bench minor for too many men 30 seconds in. Down to 4 on 3 play, Isaak Phillips almost immediately got called for a ticky-tack hooking call when he used his stick to disrupt a shot attempt by making contact with the lower part of the opposing player’s stick. Since you can’t go down under 3 skaters, that meant the Senators received a prolonged 5 on 3 advantage that saw the Moose fall behind 2-0.
The opening minute of the 2nd period saw Manitoba score their first when Parker Ford scored his first AHL goal of the season to make it 3-1. Despite play being even in the middle frame, the mini-Jets could draw any closer until early in the 3rd, a Kyle Clague goal that saw Brad Lambert (3 shots) pick up his first assist since being demoted. However, 3 to 2 was as close as this game would be, as Belleville were able to regain a 2 goal lead at the midway point before adding an empty netter to seal a 5-2 victory.
Ford ended up being named the 3rd Star of the Game and his 4 shots was 2nd on the team to defenseman Ville Heinola (6). Goalie Dominic DiVincentiis faced 35 shots, walking away with a .886 save percentage.
GAME 2:
Hoping to rebound from the loss in the back-to-back situation, Manitoba’s prospects didn’t look good in the opening period on Wednesday night when Belleville outshot our club 11-3 (though MB did hit a crossbar & a post). Fortunately Dominic DiVincentiis was ready to play, closing the door to keep the contest scoreless going into the first intermission.
A flip was switched in the Moose’s dressing room, as they came out looking like a different team and it paid off in the opening 2 minutes when a great forecheck by David Gustafsson saw him retrieve the puck behind the goal line and center the puck to his teammate Walker Duehr. The big forward didn’t take the shot, instead sliding the puck across the crease to a waiting Mason Shaw to break the scoreless contest. Manitoba broke the game open in a period where they led the shot clock 21-3, getting a mid-point marker when another good forecheck, this time by Parker Ford, eventually saw Shaw set up Jaret Anderson-Dolan for another goal. A Belleville tripping penalty was quickly followed by a high sticking infraction, giving the Moose almost a full 2 minute 5 on 3 man-advantage. In an almost textbook example of how you want these situations to go, our PP took just over 30 seconds before Colby Barlow & Ville Heinola set up Brad Lambert for a 1 timer and his first goal on the season. Still on a man-advantage, it was only 21 seconds later that saw Samuel Fagemo pocket one with the assistance of Kyle Clague & Gustafsson.
Any dream of Dom getting a shutout was dashed in the opening minute of the 3rd, when the Senators finally beat the Moose tender to make it 4-1. Manitoba shut things down adequately, outshooting Belleville 11-8 while protecting the big lead and were able to add a second marker from Fagemo 5 minutes later. Defenseman Tyrel Bauer picked up his first point of the year (11th gm) on his team’s 5th goal of the night, as did rookie Brayden Yager.
Here are the stats from theAHL.com:
*****
THREE STARS
*****
The Manitoba Moose improve to a 10-7-2 record after winning 7 of their last 8 games, forcing franchises like the Chicago Wolves (Carolina Hurricanes) and the Rockford IceHogs (Chicago Blackhawks) to continue chasing them for 3rd in the AHL’s Central Division race.
The boys will be off until Saturday, giving Domenic DiVincentiis (.957 save % in the game) some time to rest up before Wolves visit for a weekend back-to-back series. Manitoba has already beaten Chicago twice on this long homestand they are on, but both contests were tightly contested and saw the Moose outscore the Wolves by a 5-3 margin.