Manitoba Moose drop Game 1 of first-round series to Milwaukee – Winnipeg

Despite doubling down on their opponents in shots, Manitoba Moose came on after losing in Game 1 of their best first-round series to the Milwaukee Admirals.

Milwaukee captain Cole Schneider scored the winning goal with just over four minutes to start in the third half and goalkeeper Devin Cooley made 40 saves as the Admirals beat Moose 3-2 on Friday night.

The Moose hit 42 shots into the net, but were only able to concede Cooley twice.

Moose defender Declan Chisholm, who had one goal and one assist, called it a disappointing defeat, but said they needed to move on.

“We just have to turn the page and head for the next game,” Chisholm said. “We dominated them in every game and hit them with shots the whole game. If we carried that effort with us every night, I think the series would go our way. ”

The opening goal of the match came 15:39 minutes into the second half, when Milwaukee’s Brayden Burke beat Moose goalkeeper Mikhail Berdin.

The Moose responded just over 90 seconds later, when CJ Suess saved a Chisholm shot past Cooley to make it 1.

But Manitoba would give up an own goal with just a second left in the middle of goal, when Matt Donovan scored in the power game to give the Admiral a 2-1 lead.

Moose would respond just 46 seconds into the third round when Chisholm opened fire in Cole Maier’s head-to-head victory to tie the two things at two. But Schneider’s goal with 4:07 remaining in the third half will be the difference-maker for Milwaukee.

Moose coach Mark Morrison said his team’s effort was outstanding, but said there were some things to clean up.

“I’m not sure we’ve got enough traffic ahead (Cooley). I think he’s seen too much of that footage and that’s one thing that we’re going to have to get stronger,” Morrisson said. “It’s hockey playoff, win.”

Berdin made 18 saves for Moose.

Game 2 is on Saturday night in Milwaukee with a drop just after 6pm. The series then moves to Winnipeg for Game 3 on Wednesday.

Chisholm hopes his club will bounce back.

“There’s nothing to bother us here, there’s going to be adversity in every series and every game, you just have to get over it and keep moving forward.”