Tale of the Tape: Jan. 7, 2017 vs. Charlotte

Saturday, Jan. 7 | 7 p.m. | Allstate Arena

Streeeeeeeaking

The Chicago Wolves are riding a season-high seven-game winning streak that they reached with Friday night’s 7-2 romp over their Illinois Lottery Cup rival, the Rockford IceHogs. That string is entirely comprised of victories against Central Division foes: the Milwaukee Admirals (3), Rockford IceHogs (2), Charlotte Checkers (1) and Iowa Wild (1). The Wolves last had a seven-game win stint during the 2014-15 season from March 21 to April 2, 2015. Also on streaks are Wolves netminders Pheonix Copley and Ville Husso. With Copley’s 38-save performance Friday night against the IceHogs, he pushed his stint to four games. Rookie Husso is also riding a four-game win streak. Left wing Kenny Agostino cannot be held off the scoresheet; the recently announced 2017 AHL all-star is leading the league with 47 points (15G, 32A) and has notched at least one point in nine consecutive games, a club season-high.

Feels Like the First Time

Friday night marked the firsts for a few Chicago Wolves. Rookie forward Conner Bleackley’s first professional goal came when he redirected a Morgan Ellis shot while standing at the top of Rockford’s crease. The tally was also the 3-2 go-ahead marker that stood as the game-winner. In the final minutes of the first period — for the Wolves’ first lead of the game — center Alex Friesen collected his first goal of the season. Ellis again put the puck on net and Friesen was there to clean up the garbage, poking the puck past Lars Johansson. Lastly, skating in his first game since Nov. 23, Magnus Paajarvi recorded his first goal since missing six weeks due to injury. Center Wade Megan led a 2-on-1 rush and took the initial shot. Paajarvi snapped the rebound chance past Johansson to extend the Wolves’ lead to 4-2. The 25-year-old also nabbed his first assist at 7:09, narrowly staying onside and catching a pass flipped from Chicago’s side of center by Jordan Schmaltz. He then dropped a between-the-skates pass back to Mackenzie MacEachern rushing up the left wing for a shot that found the back of the net.

Everybody’s Crazy ‘Bout a Sharp-Dressed Man

Saturday night is the first of three games — Jan. 7, 11 and 21 — at Allstate Arena in which the Chicago Wolves will don red-and-white specialty jerseys to raise awareness for animal adoption throughout the Chicago area. Beginning tonight, all the jerseys will be available to the public through a series of actions and raffles. The fundraisers will be highlighted by a Golden Ticket Raffle in which only 50 tickets will be sold for the chance to win one of Jordan Binnington’s animal adoption jerseys. Defenseman Jordan Schmaltz’s jersey will be available via blind auction and bids will be taken during all three games. Proceeds will benefit Chicago Wolves Charities and animal adoption-related charities.

BY THE NUMBERS

10: Chicago Wolves opponents cannot keep Kenny Agostino off the scoresheet. The AHL’s leading scorer — 15 goals and 32 assists — is looking to push his point streak to 10 games. During his run, the 24-year-old has registered six goals and 13 assists for 19 points, including five multi-point performances. On New Year’s Eve in a 5-2 trouncing of the Iowa Wild, Agostino netted four goals to match a Wolves franchise record. He joined Dan Currie, Nigel Dawes and Steve Larouche as the only Wolves players in the team’s 23-year history to collect four goals in a single game. With an assist in the same contest, Agostino became the first AHL player this season to recored a five-point game.

46: When the Chicago Wolves and Charlotte Checkers met on Nov. 23, the Wolves fired a season-high 41 shots at Checkers goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic. Four of those shots got behind the 20-year-old netminder to give Chicago a 4-2 victory in the second of back-to-back contests with their North Carolina rival. The teams also combined for 81 shots in the contest, also a season-high for the Wolves. Chicago netminder Jordan Binnington helped secured the Wolves victory, turning aside 38 of 40 shots for his fourth victory of the season and a season-high in saves. That tilt also featured a two-goal effort from center Wade Megan. The 26-year-old netted two of his team-leading 17 goals, as well as one of of his three team-leading game-winning tallies.

50: Friday night, Chicago Wolves defensemen Chris Butler and Jordan Schmaltz both hit career milestones as they each tallied their 50th career AHL point. With the secondary assist on Magnus Paajarvi’s goal at 2:24 of the third period, Butler registered his 50th point. Schmaltz finished the game with two helpers — on the Wolves’ first and fifth markers of the contest — collecting career points 49 and 50. The team’s top defensive pair were two of 16 skaters that registered at least a point in the Wolves’ 7-2 Illinois Lottery Cup victory over the Rockford IceHogs.

1300: Saturday night marks the fourth Adopt-A-Dog Night for the Chicago Wolves this season. Through 15 seasons, the Wolves have helped find forever homes for nearly 1,300 dogs. During one Saturday home game each month, the Wolves host a number of shelter canines and fans can adopt the dogs throughout the game. Almost every pup finds a home during each Adopt-A-Dog Night. This season, center Wade Megan became the first Wolves player to take home a pet through the program. However, many members of the organization have given dogs homes through the years. Team play-by-play announcer Jason Shaver, team president Mike Gordon and, of course, team owner and chairman of the board Don Levin – the man to whom this cause is nearest and dearest – have given numerous pups forever homes.

331: Chicago Wolves left wing Kenny Agostino has helped Carlucci Rosemont contribute $2,250 to Citizen Schools through the Chicago Wolves Charities Score for Charity program. The American Hockey League’s leading scorer — with 47 points through 36 games — has collected 15 goals. Carlucci has agreed to donate $150 per goal to its selected charity, Citizen Schools, for a grand total of $2,250 so far this season. Agostino is on pace for 33 goals this season, meaning Citizen Schools could receive a donation of nearly $5,000. The total would be the one of the largest Score for Charity contributions to date.

First Two of 2017

Friday, Jan 6 (at) Chicago 7, Rockford 2

Chicago earned its seventh consecutive win in an Illinois Lottery Cup clash with Rockford
Netminder Pheonix Copley matched a season-high, turning aside 38 shots.
Sixteen Chicago skaters notched at least one point in the victory.
Wings Andrew Agozzino and Magnus Paajarvi, along with defenseman Jordan Schmaltz, each tallied two points.

Tuesday, Jan 3 (at) Chicago 4, Charlotte 2

Chicago earned its seventh consecutive win in an Illinois Lottery Cup clash with Rockford.
Wing Kenny Agostino (G, 2A) and captain Chris Butler (3A) each registered three- point performances.
Rookie defenseman Vince Dunn netted two points (G, A) while forward Andrew Agozzino and Ivan Barbashev also tallied.
Rookie goalkeeper Ville Husso turned aside 23 shots in the victory.

FOLLOW THE ACTION

Saturday night’s game begins at 7:00 p.m. with CW50’s “Saturday Night with the Wolves,” presented by the Illinois Office of Tourism.

The game will also be streamed LIVE on Facebook and AHLLive.com starting at 7:00 with Jason Shaver and Billy Gardner.

Join the conversation. Follow @Chicago_Wolves for live game updates.