[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Chicago Wolves arrived at the BMO Harris Bank Center trying to extend its current winning streak to four games which would tie its season high.
In order to achieve this, they would have to take on the Midwest division leaders Rockford Icehogs, who were looking to end their own three game losing streak.
The Icehogs knotted three goals in the second period to give them a four goal lead heading into the third. The Wolves scored two goals in the third to try and get back into the game but the late game heroics weren’t enough and they fell to Rockford 4-2.
The Chicago Wolves (17-12-3-0) came into the contest with a victory in the Amtrak Series over rivals Milwaukee Admirals by a score of 6-2 and took over sole second place in the Midwest Division with 37 points. They entered last night’s game with the Rockford Icehogs (19-10-3-1) who are currently leading the division with 42 points.
The first period was pretty even between both teams. The Icehogs had the edge in the shots category 10-8 but both teams had an equal amount of scoring opportunities. At 13:07 of the first the Icehogs finally saw one of its shots get past Wolves goaltender Jordan Binnington. Icehogs center Denis Rasmussen redirected a shot from the point from teammate Pierre-Cedric Labrie to give the Icehogs a 1-0 at the end of the first period. Chicago’s record when trailing after the first is 3-7-2-0.
Entering the second, the Icehogs offense opened the flood gates as center Teuvo Teravainen knocked a rebound from Clendening home just 53 seconds into the period for his sixth goal of the season and to give the Icehogs a 2-0 lead. The Icehogs offense added another goal at the 1:47 as Teravainen fed a pass into the slot to defensemen Ville Pokka and he fired a wrist shot home to put the Icehogs up 3-0. At 3:05, Rockford center Mark McNeil capitalized on the power play to give the Icehogs a 4-0 lead. Chicago Wolves coach John Anderson pulled rookie goalie Jordan Binnington and replaced him with Matt Climie after he gave up four goals in the first 23:05 of the game. Chicago’s track record after trailing after two periods is 0-11-1-0.
As the third period got under way Chicago set out to make this a game and comeback from a 4-0 deficit. At 5:49 Chicago center Colin Fraser helped cut into the Icehogs lead by being in the right place at the right time. Fraser banged the rebound home passed Icehogs goal Scott Darling. The Icehogs power play couldn’t clear the zone and Wolves defensemen Scott Brodeur capitalized on the penalty kill by driving home a slap shot passed Scott Darling and cut the Rockford’s lead to two. Unfortunately the Wolves couldn’t drive home anymore goals and saw the hopes of extending the winning streak ended at 3.
The Wolves rookie goalie Jordan Binnington (10-5-1) took the loss as he stopped 11 of 15 shots before being pulled at the 3:05 mark of the second period. In relief Matt Climie stopped all 18 shots he faced. Icehogs goalie Scott Darling (9-3-2) took the W while stopping 33 of 35 shots.
Chicago looks to end the year on a high note and enter 2015 with momentum. The Wolves return home to the Allstate Arena will take on Midwest division rival The Grand Rapids Griffins. Grand Rapids is looking to avenge the Dec. 21 5-3 loss at the hands of the Wolves.
The game wall all tied up at 3 when Chicago scored 2 goals in the third to thwart a Griffins comeback. Puck drops at 8PM EST.
WOLVES SCORE FOUR IN THE SECOND TO BEAT MILWAUKEE 6-2
Emotions were high at the Bradley Center last night as the Wolves traveled to Milwaukee to take on the Admirals in the Amtrak Series. There is no love lost in this series as the Admirals lead the series 4-2. The Wolves avenged their previous two losses in the series last night with a hard fought game that saw the wolves score four goals in the second period.
The Chicago Wolves traveled the hour drive north on I-94 to take on the Milwaukee Admirals at the Bradley Center. Right winger Shane Harper opened the scoring for the Wolves at 14:03 of the first period with a nice one timer set up by Terry Broadhurst passed Admirals goalie Magnus Hellburg.
The second period opened up just as physical as the first period. At 9:48 on the power play Jeremy Welsh extended the Wolves lead to 2-0. While trying to pass the puck to his teammate Benn Ferriero but the pass bounced off the leg of Admirals defensemen Joe Piskula and into the back of the net.
Just 35 seconds after Welsh’s power play goal, Wolves Defensemen Brent Regner took a pass from right winger Cody Beach and took a snapshot from the top of the right faceoff circle passed Hellburg to make it 3-0.
At 15:25 Ty Rattie scored an unbelievable goal to put the wolves up 4-0. Welsh was skating along the back boards and put the puck right on the tap of his line mate Rattie who does a 360 turn to put the puck in the net to score his 15th goal of the season.
With just 1:49 left in the second, the Admirals finally light the lamp with a goal from Miikka Salomaki who poked put a Binnington rebound into the back of the net to cut the Wolves lead to 4-1.
The arena was buzzing after the Admirals finally got on the scoreboard but just 34 seconds to go in the period the Wolves center Phillip McCrae took a slap shot from the blue line which went off Hellburg’s glove into the back of the net to give the Wolves a 5-1 lead heading into the third.
As third period started, the Admirals pulled Hellburg and replaced him with Marek Mazanec. At 18:34 of the third Cody Beach added a power play goal with help from Colin Fraser and Matthew Register.
The Admirals defensemen Jimmy Oligny scored his first goal of the season passed Binnington with just 20 seconds left in the game.
Chicago Wolves goalie Jordan Binnington earned his tenth win of the season stopping 24 of 26 shots. Milwaukee Admirals goalie Magnus Hellburg took the loss as he stopped 12 of 17 shots faced and was replaced by Marek Mazanec who stopped 6 of 7 shots.
