Manitoba Moose on verge of doing what Winnipeg Jets couldn't

The Winnipeg Jets’ season may be over, but life on the farm isn’t.

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The Manitoba Moose, the Jets’ top minor-league affiliate, are one win from advancing to the second round of the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup Playoffs.

Two straight overtime wins have given the Moose a 2-1 lead in their best-of-fives series with the Milwaukee Admirals.

The latest came Wednesday night in Milwaukee, where Wyatt Bongiovanni scored on an overtime power play to give the Moose a 3-2 win in Game 3.

“It feels awesome,” Bongiovanni said, post-game. “A lot of guys deserved that overtime winner and that feeling. It’s a great team win and I’m happy to finish that off for us.”

It was Manitoba’s first power-play goal in 10 opportunities in the series.

“It was 0-for-9 and we were starting to squeeze the sticks a little bit,” head coach Mark Morrison said. “Really the story of the game for us was we had all four lines going and all six D. We used everybody and we had lots left at the end.”

Alex Limoges, Manitoba’s top point producer during the season, got his team off to a good start, scoring on a breakaway less than three minutes into the game.

“What a move,” Bongiovanni said. “He pump-faked that goalie, and I think his jock-strap was in the rafters. That certainly got us off to a hot start. Much-needed.”

Jeff Malott scored the other Moose goal, while Oskari Salminen stopped 24 shots for the win in goal.

The teams split the first two games in Winnipeg, with the rest of the series set for Milwaukee.

Game 4 goes Friday with Game 5, if necessary, on Saturday.

The 23-year-old Bongiovanni, an undrafted free-agent signing by the Jets, likes his team’s chances with a similar effort in Game 4.

“Our transition game was solid and we’re responsible on our blue line,” he said. “It makes it difficult when you get five guys back in our D-zone and checking hard. We get three periods of that and we’ll be successful.”

While it’s Bongiovanni’s first pro playoff experience, he and the other first-year Moose are leaning on vets like defenceman Ville Heinola and forward Jeff Malott, who were with Manitoba for a five-game playoff loss to Milwaukee last season.

“We’ve got some guys here that played in this building last year and we lost a playoff round… letting some of the younger guys know how it works and how you’ve got to step up your game,” Morrison said. “It’s been a huge help.”

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