WINNIPEG, MANITOBA – Evan Cormier stopped 29 shots to lead the Manitoba Moose to a 2-1 victory over the Iowa Wild on Sunday afternoon. Both teams were playing in their first game of 2022, but it was a joyous celebration for the Moose, who scored the first two goals of the game to earn the victory. Trevin Kozlowski was solid for Iowa, stopping 28 shots. Manitoba is now 16-9-1, while the Wild dropped to 11-11-4.

It took Manitoba just 90 seconds before they were on top. Thomas Caron passed the puck to Declan Chisholm in the slot, who fired a wrist shot by Kozlowski for his sixth goal of the year. That was all the offense that either team could muster as the teams each fired seven shots on net.

In the second, Todd Burgess extended the lead at 4:37 of the period. The Moose were controlling the puck inside the Iowa zone. Mikey Eyssimont passed the puck to the left faceoff circle to Burgess, who fired a blistering wrist shot by Kozlowski for his third goal of the year.

Manitoba held the lead for eight more minutes, but Kyle Rau pulled the Wild within one just before the 13-minute mark. With Iowa on a 5-on-3 power-play, Matt Boldy fired a shot that was redirected by Rau to make it a 2-1 game. Rau was parked between the three Manitoba defensemen in front of the net, enabling him to make the tip past Cormier for his eighth goal of the year. Marco Rossi earned an assist on the tally giving him points in six straight games (four goals, four assists).

The Wild outshot the Moose 14-11 in the second period but found themselves trailing by one. The third was dominated by Manitoba, however, as the Moose outshot the Wild, 12-9. However, neither team could beat the opposing netminder as Manitoba held on for the 2-1 victory.

Both teams took 30 shots on net. Kozlowski stopped 28 shots while Cormier turned aside 29. The Wild are now 2-5-3 in their last 10 games.

The two teams will square off again on Tuesday in Manitoba at 7 p.m.