Center Jack Roslovic netted two goals — and collected four points — as the Manitoba Moose earned a 6-4 victory over the Chicago Wolves Friday night at Bell MTS Place.
The Moose (10-5-1-1) opened scoring just 1:05 into the first frame as Julian Melchiori rocketed a quick shot from the point that got past Kasimir Kaskisuo (2-6-0) for the 1-0 lead.
Skating on the power play at 8:42, Sami Niku extended the Moose lead to 2-0 while standing alone at the left hashmarks.
The Wolves (4-9-1-0) broke through less than four minutes later — also on the man advantage. Defenseman Jason Garrison fed center Brandon Pirri a pass for a knee-drop one-time shot that cut Manitoba’s lead in half.
Just after the expiration of a Chicago power play, defenseman Jake Bischoff shot the puck into net-front traffic. Veteran wing Brett Sterling swept the puck into the net for the game-tying goal at 15:33.
Manitoba regained the lead at 17:44 of the first period when, from the left-side boards, Mason Appleton fed a cross-ice pass to Cameron Schilling at the far point. Buddy Robinson, camped in front of the Wolves net, tipped the shot to make it 3-2.
In a fast-paced second period, Wolves forward Stefan Matteau netted his third goal in two games to tie the contest 3-3. Behind the Moose net, Beau Bennett slipped a pass to Matteau at the goal line. His shot squeaked behind Eric Comrie (6-4-1) at 8:33.
The deadlock was short-lived as Roslovic lasered the 4-3 go-ahead marker as he skated up the right wing.
In the third period on the power play, Garrison blasted a shot from the center point for his first Wolves goal and the 4-4 equalizer.
But just nine seconds later, Roslovic capitalized on a Wolves turnover and stuffed the 5-4 go-ahead goal past Kaskisuo.
With just under two minutes left in the game — with Kaskisuo on the bench — Chase De Leo potted an empty-net insurance marker for the 6-4 final score.
Comrie made 37 saves for the victory while Kaskisuo stopped 25 shots in the loss.
The Wolves travel to BMO Harris Bank Center for their first Illinois Lottery Cup contest of the season against the Rockford IceHogs. Puck drop is set for 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 19.
