Fast Facts: Moose vs. Iowa – Oct. 20

The Manitoba Moose take on their first Central Division opponent tonight when they host the Iowa Wild at Canada Life Centre (7 p.m.). Manitoba garnered a split against the Calgary Wranglers to open the season last weekend. The Moose are coming off a 3-2 overtime win that saw the antlered ones score twice in the third in a successful comeback bid. Manitoba was the only team in the AHL to come out of opening weekend with three rookies in the team's top-five scorers. First-year AHL'ers Brad Lambert (2G, 1A) and Nikita Chibrikov (1G, 2A) pace the team with three points each.

Tickets for tonight's 7 p.m. matchup are available at MooseHockey.com/TICKETS.

First Point In Antlers

Artemi Kniazev, who made his Moose debut on Sunday against Calgary, tallied his first assist as a member of the club. The second period helper also represented the first point recorded off the stick of a Moose defenceman so far this season. Kniazev, who was acquired in a trade with San Jose over the summer, ended the 2022-23 regular season ninth on the Barracuda with 28 points (5G, 23A) in 61 contests. The point-total also placed him first among San Jose defenders. Kniazev, a second round pick of San Jose in 2019, has 122 games of AHL experience between the Moose and Barracuda and has racked up 57 points (12G, 45A) in 122 contests.

Young Guns

Through a pair of games, three Moose skaters find themselves among the top 10 in overall AHL rookie scoring. Brad Lambert, a 2022 Winnipeg first round pick, ranks second with three points (2G, 1A). Nikita Chibrikov, a 2021 second round selection, sits fourth with three points (1G, 2A). In addition, Chibrikov product notched his first AHL multi-point outing in Sunday’s win. Chaz Lucius, Winnipeg’s 2021 first round pick, rounds out the trio and finds himself eighth with two points (1G, 1A). The Moose are the only team in the league with three players ranked in the top 10 of league rookie scoring. The trio of skaters are also all currently 20 years old or younger.

Toni Time

Dominic Toninato got the final touch on the puck to end Sunday’s overtime and send Manitoba away with its first win of the season. The forward has tallied two points (1G, 1A) in his past two contests and notched his first game-winning tally of the season. Since the 2017-18 season, Toninato has tallied at least one game-winning goal in all but one AHL season he appeared in. The Duluth, Minn. product co-led the antlered ones this past campaign with six game-winning tallies. The goal also represented Toninato’s  49th career AHL goal and 90th career AHL point.

Deal With It

Goaltender Collin Delia notched his first victory of the campaign in his Moose debut Sunday afternoon. Delia stopped 24 of 26 shots he faced, including all nine in the first and all eight in the third. The netminder holds a 1.86 goals-against average, which ties him for seventh among goaltenders, and a .923 save percentage early on in the 2023-24 season. The win marks the 66th victory of his AHL career. Delia owns a combined record of 66-42-11-5 over 122 AHL contests split between Rockford, Abbotsford and Manitoba.

Who's Trending?

Brad Lambert recorded two points (1G, 1A) in the Moose overtime victory Sunday. The forward co-leads Manitoba with three points (2G, 1A) through the first two games of the campaign. In addition to leading the team in points, Lambert also paces the Moose with 10 shots and ranks second on the club by converting on 20% of his shots.