Manitoba Moose split Wisconsin trip, stun league-leading Griffins, lose twice in Milwaukee

The Manitoba Moose opened a three-game road swing with a signature upset — a 3-2 overtime win at the AHL’s top team, the Grand Rapids Griffins — then closed the trip with back-to-back losses in Milwaukee, falling 6-2 on Feb. 28 and 4-3 in overtime on March 1.

"The incredibly shorthanded Moose would go on to knock off the league-leading Griffins with a shorthanded OT game-winner by Phil Di Giuseppe." Di Giuseppe supplied the decisive goal in extra time, capping a game in which Manitoba generated chances despite being repeatedly described as short on available personnel. "That’s their league-leading 9th shorty," the game notes state, a figure recorded without further definition in the game summary.

Manitoba finished with a 37-26 edge in shots through 60 minutes. "In fact Manitoba was outshooting Grand Rapids 37-26 through 60 minutes." Early in the game, the visitors survived a key save — "he did start the game with an excellent save to keep the game tied 0-0" — and then struck first on a "Nice give-and-go between Samuel Fagemo and Jaret Anderson-Dolan to open the scoring and give Manitoba a 1-0 lead." Jets prospect Jacob Julien produced "a nice sequence by Jets prospect Jacob Julien who gets a chance (probably should have shot) and then sets up a great chance for Ashton Sautner who catches iron." Brayden Yager also came close, with the report noting "Brayden Yager hitting iron."

Isaak Phillips pushed the lead to 2-1 with what the notes call "Two goals in three games for Isaak Phillips as this nice individual effort gave the Moose a 2-1 lead in the middle frame." Late in the second, Manitoba was penalized in a sequence that altered momentum: "With the game tied 2-2, Sautner got boarded resulting in a five minute power play to conclude the 2nd period. But the powerless PP cannot get the visitors a go-ahead goal against the top ranked PK in the AHL." The Griffins also presented dangerous shorthanded chances that were stopped by "Milic," with the account adding that "they also gave up a pair of glorious shorthanded chances which Milic stopped."

The win moved Manitoba’s record to 24-18-4-1 and shuffled the Central Division standings: "With the victory the Moose improve to 24-18-4-1 and leapfrog ahead of the idle Stars into 3rd spot in the Central (with three games in hand)." The game log lists "Multi-point game: None" and notes "Players post-game media: [...] None."

The two-game set in Milwaukee produced only final scores in available notes. Manitoba lost 6-2 on Feb. 28 and then dropped a 4-3 overtime decision on March 1; no scoring breakdowns, goal scorers, goaltender names, or shot totals for the Admirals games were recorded in the summary provided here.

A roster transaction appears in the feed as a stand-alone line: "Winnipeg Jets recall Kale Clague from the Moose [...] Illegal Curve Hockey." The Grand Rapids write-up repeatedly labels the Moose as "so shorthanded" and "incredibly shorthanded" but does not enumerate absences or explain the short-handed designation. The summary also records the "league-leading 9th shorty" without defining whether that refers to a team or individual season total, and the identity and team affiliation of "Milic" is noted only by last name.

For now, the snapshot from Wisconsin is clear on results and several key moments: an OT shorthanded finish by Phil Di Giuseppe in Grand Rapids, a 37-26 shot advantage through 60 minutes in that game, and consecutive losses in Milwaukee on Feb. 28 and March 1. Confirming the full box scores for the Milwaukee games, clarifying the roster situation that left the Moose "so shorthanded," and identifying Milic and the exact meaning of "9th shorty" will be necessary to complete the record for the road trip.