The Calder Cup Playoffs just started on Wednesday for the Manitoba Moose, but they’re facing elimination already.
The Moose gave up a pair of first period goals and goalie Matthew Murray stood on his head in a 4-1 Game 1 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals on Wednesday at Canada Life Centre.
The Moose have their backs against the wall already, trailing the best-of-three first round series 1-0.
Reid Schaefer, Brady Martin, Kevin Gravel, and Cole O’Hara had the tallies for the Admirals who finished seven points behind the Moose in the regular season.
Parker Ford replied with the only marker for Manitoba.
“I thought we played well except for the first 10 minutes of the game,” said Moose head coach Mark Morrison. “I thought we came out the first 10 minutes, and I thought didn’t execute very well. We looked like we had the jitters a little bit for the first 10 and after that I thought we played well.
“There’s some adjustments we have to make I think to get some pucks in the back of the net. But yeah, I thought the effort was there and the last 50 minutes I thought we executed, we just didn’t put it in the net.”
Get breaking National news
Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.
The Admirals had a three-goal lead after 40 minutes and the Moose could only muster a single goal in the third period before O’Hara’s empty-netter sealed the victory.
Manitoba badly outshot Milwaukee 43-24 with a 17-11 edge in the second frame and a 16-6 shot advantage in the third period.
“We all had a belief in there that we were going to win that game and come back,” said Ford. “We had good parts to the game and some things we want to clean up on. But I thought for the most part we played a good game and the goalie was hot there for a little bit, so yeah, we’ll find a way to win next game.”
Murray stopped 42 of the 43 shots he faced, while Thomas Milic had 20 saves in defeat.
3,126 fans took in the contest.
This is the third post-season meeting between the two teams in just the last five playoffs after the Admirals won the last two series.
All three games of the series are scheduled for Winnipeg, but the Admirals will be designated as the home team in Game 2 to get the last line change.
Game 2 is scheduled for Friday and Game 3, if necessary, will be played on Sunday.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
