Saturday, Jan. 21 | 7 p.m. | Allstate Arena
Amtrak Rivalry Nearing the Station
Saturday night marks the ninth of 12 Amtrak Rivalry meetings between the Chicago Wolves and Milwaukee Admirals during the 2016-17 season. The series had a rough start for the Wolves as the club registered three straight losses — one in regulation, one in overtime and one in the shootout. However, Chicago is undefeated in the last five games versus Milwaukee. Backstopped in all five wins by Pheonix Copley — who was recalled from loan by the St. Louis Blues (NHL) on Friday morning — the Wolves outscored the Admirals 24-12 and cashed in six times on the power play for a 27.3 percent success rate. Copley posted a .919 save percentage and 2.36 goals-against average in those five wins.
Power-Ups
Wolves in Sharp Clothing
Saturday night marks the final game in which the Chicago Wolves will wear red-and-white specialty jerseys to raise awareness for animal adoption throughout the Chicago area. The club also donned the Animal Adoption Awareness threads on Jan. 7 and 11. Most of the jerseys — including sweaters for head coach Craig Berube and general manager Wendell Young — are available via silent auction on the Allstate Arena concourse behind Section 105. Defenseman Jordan Schmaltz’s sweater is available through a blind auction. Bidding for the aforementioned jerseys ends at the conclusion of second intermission during tonight’s game. One of goaltender Jordan Binnington’s three specialty jerseys, in addition to a Size 56 jersey that the winner gets to personalize, is still up for bid online through Friday, Jan. 27. Click for more information.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 9: Through eight games against the Milwaukee Admirals this season, left wing Kenny Agostino has two goals and seven assists for nine points and is the leading point- getter for either team in the series. Those nine points are just a fraction of the 52 points (16G, 36A) that Agostino has tallied this season to sit atop the American Hockey League’s scoring leaderboard. For his season efforts, Agostino was named an AHL All-Star for the first time in his three-year AHL career. The 24-year-old also has earned CCM/AHL Player of the Month for December and CCM/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Jan. 1. All the accolades have come while the former Yale University Bulldog is setting new career-highs in multiple categories, including goals and assists. He is also set to surpass his career-high point total of 57.
- 15: The Chicago Wolves enter tonight’s game having scored 15 of their 31 goals against the Milwaukee Admirals in the third period. Even with the bulk of their goals coming in the final regulation frame, the Wolves have only trailed the Admirals twice going into the second period and once going into the third session. Chicago recorded a season-high five goals in the third period when it throttled Milwaukee 8-4 on Dec. 22 at Allstate Arena. That game featured two-goal efforts from forwards Ivan Barbashev and Bryce Gervais. Kenny Agostino, the league’s leading scorer, recorded a three-assist performance and five skaters collected multiple points.
- 16: On Jan. 11, the last time the Chicago Wolves and Milwaukee Admirals met, Chicago fired just 16 shots at Admirals netminder Marek Mazanec. The irregularly anemic shot count for the Wolves set a season-low for the club. However, Chicago emerged as the victor in that defense-driven grudge match, edging the Admirals 2-1. Defensemen Vince Dunn and Morgan Ellis netted the goals for Chicago, and fellow blueliner Jordan Schmaltz registered an assist, to account for three of the Wolves’ five points that evening. In net, Pheonix Copley turned aside 35 shots to preserve the win.
- 98: Wing Magnus Paajarvi has 31 goals and 63 assists for 94 career American Hockey League points. The 25-year-old is six points shy of hitting the century mark. With five goals and eight assists through 19 games this season, Paarjavi is on pace to collect those six points and finish the year with 38 points. Paajarvi was loaned to Chicago by the St. Louis Blues (NHL) on Oct. 28. The Sweden native also missed 18 games from Nov. 26 to Jan. 6 due to injury. Since his return, Paajarvi has collected a goal and four assists, including two points (G, A) in his return on Jan. 6 against the Rockford IceHogs.
- 174: Left wing Kenny Agostino is skating in American Hockey League career game No. 174. His third full season in the league, Agostino is having a career year. He has already set career benchmarks in goals (16) and assists (36) and is just five points shy of matching his career best in points (57). Agostino is also one of just three players to appear in every game this season for the Chicago Wolves. This would be the first year he has skated in every game of the 76-game schedule for another career-best marker. The 24-year-old is also carrying a career-high +10 plus/minus rating.
Recent Game Rewind
Friday Jan 20 Chicago 2, (at) Grand Rapids 3
- The Griffins topped the Wolves for the second consecutive time in the season series.
- Evgeni Svechnikov netted the late-second period go-ahead goal and netminder Eddie Pasquale stopped all 11 shots he faced in the third to secure the victory.
- Rookie Samuel Blais and center Ivan Barbashev each tallied to rally the Wolves in the second period.
- Rookie netminder Ville Husso turned aside 33 of 36 shots in the loss.
Sunday, Jan 15 Chicago 1, (at) Manitoba 4
- Manitoba netted four unanswered goals to hand Chicago its second loss in 12 games.
- Former Wolves goaltender Ondrej Pavelec turned aside 35 shots in the victory.
- Defenseman Petteri Lindbohm was the lone goal-scorer for Chicago, and rookie netminder Ville Husso made 16 saves.
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.
