Evan Polei and Wyatt Bongiovanni Each Record Two Points in Loss
January 4, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manitoba Moose News Release
The Manitoba Moose (16-10-2-1) traveled east to clash with the Laval Rocket (13-15-3-1) on Wednesday evening at Place Bell. It was the first of two weekday contests between the two sides. Manitoba was coming off a 5-2 loss against Abbotsford on Saturday.
Laval struck first, 17 seconds into the game. Jesse Ylonen took advantage of a Moose breakdown and found Mitchell Stephens, who tapped it back door past Oskari Salminen. Laval added to its lead three minutes later as Rafael Harvey-Pinard used a slick passing play and beat Salminen off a backdoor feed. Manitoba fired back 41 seconds later with a tally from Joseph Nardi. Brayden Burke, who was making his Moose debut, sent the puck to Nardi who rifled it past Kevin Poulin. It was the forward's first AHL goal in his league debut. The Rocket restored the two-goal lead with a tally from Nate Schnarr, who beat Salminen with a shot along the ice off the rush. Salminen ended the frame with eight saves as the Moose trailed 3-1 at the first intermission.
The Rocket struck first in the second stanza with another goal from Harvey-Pinard. The forward spun and fired the puck off both posts past Salminen. The Moose struck back with a power play goal from Evan Polei. Dean Stewart boomed the puck from the point and Polei deftly tipped it past Poulin to cut into the Rocket lead. The horn sounded to draw the period to a close with the Moose trailing 4-2 and the Rocket having a 29-12 shot edge.
Laval added some insurance three minutes into the third as Harvey-Pinard completed the hat-trick with a power play goal. Laval pushed further ahead with a second man-advantage marker, this time off the stick of Jesse Ylonen. Manitoba pressed and was rewarded with a power play goal off the stick of Wyatt Bongiovanni to cut the Laval lead down to 6-3. Salminen was tagged with the loss and ended with 32 stops, while Poulin captured the win on the strength of 21 saves of his own.
Quotable
Moose Forward Wyatt Bongiovanni (Click for full interview)
"First and foremost they got off to a hot start. Scoring on their first shift. We have to answer. Then they capitalized on a few chances. I'll give them credit, they put the puck in the net and got a lot of shots on net. We just have to answer and come out a little stronger at the start of periods."
Statbook
Brayden Burke made his Moose debut and recorded an assist
Joseph Nardi made his AHL debut and notched his first AHL goal
Wyatt Bongiovanni's second-period assist is the first of his AHL career
Bongiovanni's two points (1G, 1A) marked his first AHL multi-point game
Evan Polei has four points (2G, 2A) his past two games
Polei's power play marker was his first since Feb. 9, 2018 when he was a member of the Bakersfield Condors
What's Next?
Manitoba rematches with the Laval Rocket at Place Bell on Friday, Jan. 6. Puck drop is slated for 6 p.m. CT. You can catch the game on CJOB.com/sports, the new Winnipeg Jets App, and AHLTV.
Tickets to all upcoming Moose home games are available at MooseHockey.com/TICKETS.
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