WINNIPEG – The Manitoba Moose got the homestand started off on the right foot.
Mason Appleton broke a two all deadlock with a powerplay goal in the third period as the Moose defeated the Chicago Wolves 3-2 on Wednesday at Bell MTS Place.
In his first game back from the Winnipeg Jets Brendan Lemieux scored once and added an assist in the victory.
“Solid win.” Lemieux said. “It was definitely pretty ugly in the first, but we turned it around and yeah it’s good to be back.”
The Moose were outshot 44-31 overall and 14-7 in the first period alone.
“Even in the third period I don’t think we found our legs the whole game. It felt it was the seventh game of the road trip.” head coach Pascal Vincent said. “We needed some details of the game to be there, like again blocking shots and strong goaltending and we had it.”
Peter Stoykewych scored the other Moose marker as they won for the fifth time in their last six games.
“We had to work through a little bit of bus legs there but we were able to come out with the win.” Stoykewych said.
“It’s hard to come off the road. We found some consistency on the road the past couple games and that’s something we wanted to bring here tonight.”
WATCH: Highlights – Moose defeat Wolves 3-2
In making his first start in goal in nearly two weeks Michael Hutchinson was sharp for Manitoba. He stopped 42 of the 44 shots he faced including a clutch save on a breakaway in the third period to preserve the one goal lead.
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Stefan Matteau scored both goals for Chicago in the loss. The Wolves have now lost four straight games.
It was the first home game for the Moose since October 28. The four game homestand continues for the Moose on Friday as the two teams meet again in the rematch at Bell MTS Place.
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