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Preview: Moose vs. Chicago - Dec. 6 - Manitoba Moose

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Preview: Moose vs. Chicago – Dec. 6

By: Daniel Fink | Published: December 6th 2019

Moose vs. Chicago – Bell MTS Place– 7 p.m. CT
Broadcast: TSN 1290, moosehockey.com/listenliveAHLTV

It's a little weird to say it, but the Manitoba Moose will be in action on home ice at Bell MTS Place tonight. It's the first time the club plays in Winnipeg in over two weeks. The Moose are fresh off a seven-game road swing that took the team through six cities. The Moose actually come into this evening's game with a six-game home winning streak. Forward JC Lipon is glad to be back in friendly territory.

"It's nice... It's always nice coming home and getting on the good ice. Yeah, it should be fun tonight to play a home game."

Manitoba posted a 3-4-0-0 record on the trip, wrapping things up with a 4-2 loss in Rockford. A busy first period saw the teams come out of the opening frame tied 2-2. Seth Griffith and Skyler McKenzie accounted for the Moose tallies. Brandon Hagel scored the lone goal of the second period and it stood up as the game-winner. The Moose pumped 22 shots at Collin Delia in the Rockford net through the second and third periods, but were unable to beat the IceHogs netminder again. All told, Delia made 37 saves on the evening. A Nick Moutrey empty netter sealed the contest for Rockford.

Griffith's marker made him the first Moose player to reach the 10-goal mark this season. The Wallaceburg, Ont. product has at least 10 goals in all seven of his professional seasons. At 0.48 goals per game, Griffith is on a career pace and on track to touch 30 goals for the first time in his AHL career.

The Moose could have a very different lineup tonight from their previous meeting with Chicago last Saturday. The Winnipeg Jets reassigned forward Michael Spacek and defenceman Cameron Schilling in the past couple days. Schilling can add a veteran presence to the defensive group that has featured four players in their first or second year of pro hockey. Spacek adds a little more pop offensively up the middle for the Moose and is an important power play contributor.

The Moose and Wolves previously met just under one week ago when Manitoba picked up a 3-2 overtime win in Chicago. Emile Poirier and Jimmy Oligny gave the Moose a 2-0 lead in the first. The Wolves battled back with a pair of power play tallies to tie the contest 2-2 and force overtime. Jansen Harkins only needed 18 seconds to set up Johnny Kovacevic for the overtime winner. That Wolves power play is operating at 26.7 per cent over its past four games. Moose defender Jimmy Oligny knows the Moose will have to be sharp against a group that includes top goal-scorers like Valentin Zykov and Brandon Pirri.

"It was a pretty intense matchup against these guys. They have a pretty good lineup. They also got some guys back from up in Vegas, so it's probably going to the same kind of match. We have to come prepared for sure."

The Moose and Wolves drop the puck at 7 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available at moosehockey.com/tickets. Coverage on TSN 1290 and moosehockey.com/listenlive begins at 6 p.m. with Moose Weekly hosted by Austin Siragusa.