Tale of the Tape: Nov. 27, 2016 vs. Manitoba

Sunday, Nov. 27 | 4 p.m. | Allstate Arena

HOME SWEET HOME

Sunday’s game is the Wolves’ second of five home contests in an eight-game stretch. Saturday night at Allstate Arena, the Wolves turned in a 3-2 victory against their in-state rival, the Rockford IceHogs. On Wednesday (Nov. 30), they’ll host Texas Stars for the first time this year. After a Friday, Dec. 2, road trip on I-90 to Rockford, they’ll face off on Saturday, Dec. 3, with the Iowa Wild for the second time this season at Allstate. Previously, the Wolves blanked the Wild, 5-0, for the team’s — and goaltender Pheonix Copley’s — first shutout of the season. Through six games this season, the Wolves are 4-2-0-0 at Allstate Arena with wins against the Cleveland Monsters (Oct. 30, 4-2), Iowa (Nov. 19, 5-0) and Rockford (Oct. 29, 7-3; Nov. 26, 3-2).

LOWERING THE BOHM

On Nov. 24, the St. Louis Blues (NHL) returned defenseman Petteri Lindbohm on loan to the Chicago Wolves. This season with the Wolves, Lindbohm has skated in six games and logged 1 assist (earned Saturday night on Andrew Agozzino’s opening goal), a -1 plus/minus rating and 9 penalty minutes. On Nov. 4, the 23-year-old played in his 100th regular-season AHL game against Chicago’s Central Division rival, the Milwaukee Admirals.

MOOS’ING AROUND

The 2015-16 season marks Manitoba’s second in the American Hockey League since 2010-11. During summer 2015, True North Sports & Entertainment moved the St. John’s franchise to Winnipeg, and the Hamilton Bulldogs relocated to St. John’s to become the new IceCaps. The Moose revival came just two seasons after the relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers north of the border to Winnipeg, Manitoba, as a reincarnation of the Winnipeg Jets, who had not played in the city since 1995-96 National Hockey League season. The Jets were relocated to Arizona as the Phoenix Coyotes for the 1996-97 NHL season; they are now known as the Arizona Coyotes.

BY THE NUMBERS:

• 6: The Wolves have six consecutive victories on home ice against the Manitoba Moose. Chicago has not lost to Manitoba at Allstate Arena since Nov. 28, 2009, when the Moose got out of Rosemont with a 4-2 win. Last season, the Wolves won four games versus the Moose at Allstate, including a lopsided 8-2 victory on Dec. 2, 2015. The win marked the Wolves’ second-most goals in a game for the 2015-16 season; they nearly doubled the Charlotte Checkers 9-5 on Oct. 25, 2015.

• 15: So far in the month of November the Chicago Wolves have 15 player personnel transactions on the books. The team’s top defensive duo — Chris Butler and Brad Hunt — were individually recalled by the St. Louis Blues (NHL) but barely made it to the airport before being reassigned to the Wolves. Neither skater missed a game for Chicago, and Hunt still holds the title as the team’s leading scorer with 20 points (5G, 15A) through 18 games. Forward Ty Rattie skated in three games with the Wolves (Nov. 7-13) for a conditioning stint. Forward Danny Kristo and defenseman Reid McNeill swapped AHL teams in an NHL trade between the Blues and Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 19. The Wolves recalled pesky forward Emerson Clark (Nov. 13) from the Tulsa Oilers (ECHL) and returned defenseman Kevin Tansey on loan to the Missouri Mavericks (ECHL) on Nov. 14. The Blues reassigned center Justin Selman to the Wolves and left wing Jacob Doty to the Mavericks on Nov. 25. Lastly, defenseman Petteri Lindbohm was recalled (Nov. 7) and reassigned back to the Wolves (Nov. 24) in a 17-day span.

• 20: Defenseman Brad Hunt continues to lead the offensive charge from the blue line for the Chicago Wolves. Through 18 games, the defender has 20 points (5G, 15A) — which ranks second in the AHL. This season, defensemen have accounted for 38, or 28.8 pecent, of the Wolves’ 136 total points. Captain Chris Butler (G, A), rookie Vince Dunn (G, 6A), Morgan Ellis (2G, 4A), Hunt, Petteri Lindbohm (A), Reid McNeill (A), Jordan Schmaltz (G, A) and Gus Young (A) have each tallied at least a point for the Wolves. Part-time defenseman Scooter Vaughan is still in the hunt for his first point of the season.

• 29: The Wolves netted 29 goals during the 2015-16 season against the Manitoba Moose. Through eight games, the squad averaged 3.50 tallies per game to Manitoba’s 2.13. The Moose notched just 17 goals against the Wolves. Chicago took the season series with a 6-1-1-0 record. This year’s season series has been cut to four games — two at Allstate Arena and two at MTS Centre in Manitoba.

• 200: Forward Andrew Agozzino and defenseman Brad Hunt registered their 200th career AHL points Saturday night in the Wolves’ 3-2 victory over their Illinois Lottery Cup rival, the Rockford IceHogs. Agozzino opened game scoring at 7:35 of the second period when he wrangled a redirection for an easy open-net goal. Hunt assisted on Wade Megan’s game-winning goal in the third period. In a crazy coincidence, Agozzino and Hunt each played in their 282nd AHL game last night.

Recent Games Recap

• The Wolves topped the IceHogs for their second win in three games over their in- state rival in Illinois Lottery Cup action.
• Center Wade Megan registered his fifth goal in as many games in the victory.
• Wings Andrew Agozzino and Bryce Gervais also tallied.
•  Defenseman Brad Hunt nabbed his team-leading 20th point with the lone helper on Megan’s goal.
• Goaltender Jordan Binnington stopped 25 shots for his fifth win of the season.

• The Wolves took the second of back-to-back games against the Checkers to split the series in Charlotte.
• Center Wade Megan (2G, A) and wing Kenny Agostino (G, 2A) each registered 3 points while Ivan Barbashev recorded 2 assists.
• Defenseman Reid McNeill nabbed his first point (A) in a Wolves uniform.
• In a high-shooting affair, Jordan Binnington turned aside 38 shots for the victory.