Manitoba Moose beat Chicago Wolves 5:1 in the American Hockey League on Sunday evening. The visitors took control straight away and never let the hosts back into the contest. It was a clean result for the second-placed side and a heavy night for Chicago.
By then the pattern was clear. Manitoba had already shown what they could do when these two met earlier in the month, winning 8:3 and 3:0 in quick succession. Sunday was just another chapter in a one-sided relationship. And here's the thing — the Wolves had never looked comfortable against them this season.
Chicago sit seventh with two defeats and no points from their opening games. Three losses on the spin would have drawn a different kind of attention, but two is a start. Manitoba meanwhile sit second after three matches, though the table still shows zero points for both sides — the standings don't tell the full story yet.
Our prediction had Chicago on top at 51 per cent confidence. We were wrong, and the match told us why. The Wolves simply couldn't match the pace Manitoba brought. It wasn't a tactical failure so much as a gap in quality that showed through from the first whistle.
The Wolves have now lost three straight, including both meetings with Moose this season. They changed shape at half-time against Toronto in June and won, but that was a different competition and a different group of players. This feels like a longer problem.
