Chicago continued to gain ground in the Midwest Division last week by earning five of six points, including two on Sunday against first-place Grand Rapids to split the season series 5-5-0-0; following Wednesday’s and Saturday’s contests against Lake Erie, the Wolves will exclusively face intra-division opponents to finish the regular season as they play Milwaukee four times and Rockford and Iowa each three times.
THIS WEEK:
Wed., March 26*
vs. Lake Erie
Allstate Arena
7 p.m.
Sat., March 29*
vs. Lake Erie
Allstate Arena
7 p.m.
Sun., March 30*
at Rockford IceHogs$
MetroCentre
4 p.m.
*U-Too
$Illinois Lottery Cup
GAMES WILL BE TELECAST LIVE ON THE U-TOO OR WCIU
Log on to chicagowolves.com for broadcast schedule, or to watch or listen to the action live online
DOWN TO THE WIRE
Chicago continued to gain ground in the Midwest Division last week by earning five of six points, including two on Sunday against first-place Grand Rapids to split the season series 5-5-0-0; following Wednesday’s and Saturday’s contests against Lake Erie, the Wolves will exclusively face intra-division opponents to finish the regular season as they play Milwaukee four times and Rockford and Iowa each three times.
WOLVES HEADLINERS
— Ty Rattie: Potted his 26th and 27th goals in Sunday’s 6-2 win over Grand Rapids to cap off a three-goal week for the rookie … Leads the Wolves in goals and is tied with the Griffins’ Teemu Pulkkinen for the top position among American Hockey League first-year pros … Has not gone more than three games without a goal during the second half of the season … Is the first Wolves rookie to post a 20-goal campaign since Spencer Machacek tallied 23 in 2008-09 and could be the first to finish as the top rookie goal-scorer since Brett Sterling in 2006-07 … Paces the Wolves and sits 10th among AHL rookies with 42 points (27G, 15A) in 63 games
— Jake Allen: Denied 64 of 66 shots over two games last week, including a shutout of Rockford on Friday and tying his season-high in saves with 41 against Grand Rapids on Sunday … Has three shutouts in his last nine starts (6-3-0), posting a 1.55 goals-against average and .948 save percentage in that stretch … Paces the league with 28 wins, a 2.06 goals-against average, and 2709:59 minutes played, leads active goaltenders with a .927 save percentage, and is tied for first with five shutouts
— Cody Beach: Strung his point streak to four games and his goal streak to three games with tallies on Friday and Sunday, an AHL career-high on both accounts … Became the only Wolves player other than Ty Rattie and Adam Cracknell to score in three consecutive tilts this season … Has already eclipsed his previous AHL career-highs for goals (5), points (10), shots on goal (28), and penalty minutes (98), with seven of his 10 points coming in the second half of the season … Places second on the Wolves in penalty minutes
— Sergey Andronov: Assisted on the first goal of Sunday’s game, giving the left wing four points and a +3 plus/minus rating in five contests since returning from an injury that held him out of 17 tilts … Has surpassed his AHL career-high, set last season, with 21 points (10G, 11A) … Recorded 19 points (8G, 11A) in 59 AHL games with the Peoria Rivermen last season, his first year in North America
WOLF TRACKS
— Chicago’s season-high penalty-kill streak came to an end on Sunday when Grand Rapids scored on a second-period power play, ending a stretch of 25 perfect penalty kills spanning seven games and 436:09 minutes; the Wolves rank second in the league at 86.2 percent (249-for-289), less than one percentage point behind Norfolk for the top spot.
— With three points (G, 2A) in Friday’s 6-0 win over Rockford, center Keith Aucoin became just the seventh player in AHL history to hit the 850-point plateau; the veteran sits second on the Wolves with 36 points (10G, 26A) in 54 games.
— Two more wins last week pushed the Wolves’ record at Allstate Arena to 20-8-3-0, tying them for the fourth-most home victories in the league while playing the fifth-fewest games in their own barn; the Wolves are 17-1-3-0 at home after starting the season 3-7-0-0 there.
— The Wolves jumped into the top spot in the league for goals-against per game after allowing just three regulation goals in three games last week; Chicago has allowed 157 goals-against in 64 games for an average of 2.45 per game, which is .0014 ahead of Grand Rapids for the lead.
WOLVES REWIND (2-0-0-1)
Sunday, March 23
(at) Chicago 6, Grand Rapids 2
— Four first-period goals grounded the Midwest Division-leading Griffins as Chicago and Grand Rapids split the season series 5-5-0-0
— Right wing Ty Rattie scored twice and forwards Adam Cracknell, Michael Davies, Pat Cannone, and Cody Beach all added tallies
— Goaltender Jake Allen denied 41 shots, tying his season-high
Saturday, March 22
(at) Rockford 2, Chicago 1 (SO)
— Both teams scored single goals in the second period, but the IceHogs topped the Wolves with one more tally in the shootout
— Right wing Cody Beach scored the lone goal for Chicago in the Illinois Lottery Cup game
— Goaltender Matt Climie made 31 saves in regulation and overtime as well as 3-of-5 in the shootout
Friday, March 21
(at) Chicago 6, Rockford 0
— The Wolves scored twice in the first period and three times in the second in a feisty match-up with their Midwest Division rivals
— Defenseman Joel Edmundson and forwards Adam Cracknell, Ty Rattie, Keith Aucoin, Alexandre Bolduc, and Pat Cannone scored for Chicago
— Goaltender Jake Allen stopped all 23 shots to register his fifth shutout of the season and third in eight games
