Preview: Moose at Rockford – Dec. 3

The end is in sight for the Moose who are coming to the finish of a marathon seven-game road trip tonight in Rockford. The two week swing brought the team from Belleville, to Toronto, over to Milwaukee, through Grand Rapids, to Chicago, and now, Rockford. By the end of their journey, the Moose will cover 4,900 kilometres by air and bus. Most importantly, the team comes into its final game of the trip with a 3-3-0-0 record. They have a chance tonight to finish above the .500 mark on the swing and two games above that line overall.

Both clubs head into this evening's tilt on back-to-back wins and the Moose have collected one more point in their last 10 games than Rockford. The last time the teams faced off, Nov. 8 in Rockford, the IceHogs outshot the Moose 41-26. Despite the lopsided shot count, Mikhail Berdin was unbeatable as the Moose claimed a 4-0 victory. That win started off a seven-game winning streak for Manitoba that ended two games into this road trip.

Despite a blue-line missing Cameron Schilling and Sami Niku, the Moose picked up a 3-2 overtime win in Chicago on Saturday. The Moose defence supplied two goals. One from Jimmy Oligny, his first of the season, the other from Johnny Kovacevic, his second in as many nights and the overtime winner. The win pushed the Moose to an 11-4-0-0 record in November and was very representative of their month. Mikhail Berdin was stellar, making 26 saves on 28 shots. Jansen Harkins set up Kovacevic for the overtime winner. The team's "next man up" mentality was on full display as the club rolled out four defencemen in their first or second year of pro hockey in the win. Moose assistant coach Eric Dubois says playing in difficult situations is part of the development of the team's young players.

"Every time you can give (young players) a lot of ice time and give them a chance to play in different situations, whether its power play or penalty kill, or in overtime. (Kovacevic) had a chance in overtime, but we were coming back with Gawanke and Green for the next shifts. It's always good experience for them to live those situations and get more ice time as well."

Despite missing some key offensive pieces on their back end, the Moose roll in with one of the top players in the AHL powering their offence. Jansen Harkins was named the CCM/AHL Player of the Month yesterday after recording 24 points (4G, 20A) in 15 games. One of the most impressive things about Harkins' month has been his consistency. The North Vancouver, B.C. product recorded a point in 14 of 15 games. He posted a 10-game point streak, and is now trucking along with a four-game point streak.

Meanwhile, the Moose have been able to count on depth scoring. The past two games, the combination of C.J. Suess, Skyler McKenzie and Emile Poirier has contributed three goals. McKenzie feels the group has been able to create offence with its forecheck.

"I think we're creating offence off our forecheck. In the d-zone we've got really good support right now and I think that's converting over into our offensive game," said McKenzie. "I think it's just good puck placement and our speed has been really good. I mean, (Suess and Poirier) are workhorses as well so it's pretty easy to play with them."

The Moose and IceHogs drop the puck at 7 p.m. CT. Tune in on moosehockey.com/listenlive, the Moose App or AHLTV starting with the pre-game show at 6:45.

Don’t forget to snag your tickets to see the Moose when they are back from this current road swing. The team faces off against Chicago on Dec. 6 and 7 at Bell MTS Place. The Dec. 7 game is the annual Teddy Bear Toss, presented by Red River Co-op, in support of the Christmas Cheer Board. Tickets are available at moosehockey.com/tickets.