The time has come for the Manitoba Moose to show their true colours.
On the heels of a 7-1 shellacking at the hands of the Hamilton Bulldogs on Wednesday night to close out a six-game homestand, the Moose face the prospect of playing the next six games on the road against tough North Division opponents.
While they did earn a split against the Bulldogs, who lead the Western Conference standings, the fact the Moose were blown out in the return match can’t sit well with head coach Scott Arniel and company.
“We’ve see-sawed a bit here since January,” Moose defenceman Travis Ramsey admitted.
“We just have to play consistent. We’ve been saying that since January. We have to be able to play night-in and night-out.”
However, with only eight games left in the regular season, there’s no sense wasting time crying over lost points.
The Moose see their next action on Monday when they open a critical two-game set with the Abbotsford Heat — who are three points up on Manitoba but have played one more game and are winless in four.
A sweep of the Heat could put the Moose in the driver’s seat, while getting swept could leave them in a perilous position heading into the next two games against the Toronto Marlies, who just so happen to be their nearest pursuer.
“We know it’s going to be a tough road trip, we just have to be ready. Every line has to be 100%,” said Moose centre Mario Bliznak. “We can still catch Abbotsford. It’s frustrating for everybody, but we’re still in pretty good position right now.”
It’s true the Moose remain in a pretty good position despite their consistent inconsistency, but can they take advantage of it?
That remains to be seen.
The next part of the test requires the Moose to be road warriors and they’re just 15-17-2 away from the MTS Centre this season.
“We have to play those greasy road games,” said Ramsey. “Being on the road brings some new scenery and we have to play hard. I think we can do that.
“It’s going to be preparation for playoffs because most likely in playoffs, we’ll (start) on the road. We have to treat these like playoff games. Frankly, we’re not for sure in the playoffs, so this is our playoffs right now. We’re taking it really seriously. That’s how we’re viewing the next few games.”
Huge points
The Moose can take some solace in the fact they’re 5-1 against the Heat this season and swept a pair of games in B.C. in early January.
But that was then and this is now.
“I didn’t even know that and I don’t think guys will be thinking about that,” said Ramsey.
“They’re going to be fighting for their lives as well because we’re right behind them. These are huge points for both teams and these are going to be intense games.”
Jekyll and Hyde won’t cut it during the final eight games and following the trend of win one and lose one is unlikely to be enough.
The Moose can’t afford to take the long-term view right now, since their focus is on the next three games to complete their second five-game mini-series.
But we’ll look long-term for them. Going 4-4 could be problematic, especially if the four losses come against the Heat and Marlies.
If this team wants to do more than just scrape into the playoffs, they better go 5-3 or 6-2 down the stretch.
Some semblance of a winning streak is a must or there’s an outside chance they might not even receive an invitation to the post-season party.
And that’s a situation the Moose don’t want to find themselves in.
ken.wiebe@sunmedia.ca
