The Manitoba Moose have begun the 2023-24 season with a loss.
The Manitoba Moose dropped their season opener 4-2 to the Calgary Wranglers on Friday evening.
The game began well for the home team, but ultimately, Manitoba could not sustain Calgary's late-night attack, giving up four-straight goals as the night wore on.
“I'm not happy about the result," Moose captain Jimmy Oligny said post-game.
"I think what we can take away from that game is that in the first period we were applying pressure and getting turnovers. We were able to capitalize twice on that. Obviously the penalty at the end of the second hurt. We're going to have to clean that up for sure. Our first period was good, but you can't just play one period in this league"
It was an ugly start for Calgary, which gave up a goal from the red line, which was actually Nikita Chibrikov's first career AHL tally.
The brutal opening strike made its way past the ever-promising, youthful netminder Dustin Wolf, who actually turned aside 28 total shots in the game.
He did, however, let another Moose rookie find the twine in the opening frame before Wolf strapped things down.
On a mid-period power play, 19-year-old Brad Lambert fired a wrist shot through the out-of-place netminder, scoring his first tally of the season.
Moments later, Moose forward Jeffrey Viel and Calgary's Alex Gallant threw down in the 'fight of the year'. With haymaker after haymaker, the two certainly gave fans at Canada Life Centre their full ticket's value in a span of roughly a minute.
But it was all downhill for there for Manitoba.
Calgary potted four-straight goals over the next 40 minutes, with Jeremie Poirier, Cole Schwindt, Adam Klapka and Clark Bishop all getting in on the action. Schwindt's power play marker came with five seconds left in the middle frame, deflating the building as time ticked off the clock.
The two third period goals finished off the Moose, putting a nail in the team's bid for a season-opening victory. Netminder Oskari Salminen did not play his best, allowing four goals on the 21 shots he faced - much like that of Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck on Wednesday night.
Manitoba put up 30 shots to Calgary's 21 on the night in front of the 3,888 gathered downtown. The Moose will have a chance to split the two-game series on Sunday, as the two teams return to Canada Life Centre for a 2:00 PM central matinee matchup.
Manitoba continues its four-game homestand next weekend with a back-to-back set against the visiting Iowa Wild on Friday and Saturday. All four games can be viewed live on AHL TV.