DiVincentiis shines as Moose force decisive Game 3 against Milwaukee
DiVincentiis stopped 50 of 52 shots across two starts, and Gustafsson’s late power-play goal sent Manitoba past Milwaukee.
One playoff night reshaped the Calder Cup field, and Manitoba’s route through it ran straight through a rookie goalie call that paid off at the most dangerous time. Domenic DiVincentiis, who had split the regular-season workload with Thomas Milic, took over with the Moose one loss from elimination against Milwaukee and answered with 19 saves in his postseason debut, then 31 more in the clincher as Manitoba survived and advanced.
The switch mattered because Game 1 had already put Manitoba in a hole. Milic, who made 41 regular-season appearances, stopped 20 of 23 shots in a 4-1 home loss, and the Moose needed a different look in Game 2. DiVincentiis gave them one. Milwaukee’s Ryan Ufko opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal, Parker Ford answered for Manitoba, and then David Gustafsson finished the rally with 42.6 seconds left in regulation, redirecting Brayden Yager’s point shot on a Manitoba power play for a 2-1 win. It was Gustafsson’s first goal in seven career Calder Cup Playoff games, and it forced a deciding Game 3 in Winnipeg.
The final game again turned on timely scoring and steady goaltending. Walker Duehr put Manitoba in front, Samuel Fagemo supplied the second-period goal that stood as the winner, and Jake Lucchini’s tally pulled Milwaukee within 2-1 before DiVincentiis and the Moose closed it out Sunday afternoon at Canada Life Centre. Matthew Murray stopped 28 shots for the Admirals in the 2-1 loss, and Milwaukee finished the series having allowed only five goals on 108 shots, a number that showed how thin the margins were even in defeat.
For DiVincentiis, the series was the kind of pressure test that can accelerate a young goalie’s rise. Across his two playoff starts, he stopped 50 of 52 shots for a .962 save percentage and a 1.00 goals-against average, and Manitoba’s first series win since 2018 carried the kind of weight that lingers beyond one round. The Moose, who returned to the postseason after missing in 2025 following playoff berths in 2022, 2023 and 2024, now move on to face Grand Rapids in the Central Division semifinals with a goaltending decision already answered and a bracket that suddenly looks very different.
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