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STERLING FINISH
Brett Sterling collected points No. 343 and 344 while wearing the Chicago Wolves uniform. The first goal in the 33-year-old’s two-goal performance earned him sole possession of the No. 4 spot on the Wolves franchise scoring list. He passed former teammate and fellow 2008 Calder Cup champion Jason Krog. Sterling’s second goal of the contest, which broke a 3-3 tie at 9:30 of the third period, went on to stand as the game-winner.
Four Score and Five Years Ago
Appearing in just his second game of the last 13 due to injury, forward Tomas Hyka delighted the masses and registered four points — two goals and two assists — to aid the Chicago Wolves in the 6-3 victory against the Grand Rapids Griffins. While the four-point effort was the first of Hyka’s North American professional hockey career, it was not the first time the 24-year-old collected four points on North American soil. Hyka recorded four-point efforts three times during his two-year career in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the Gatineau Olympiques: four assists on March 3, 2012, at Drummondville; two goals and two assists on Sept. 23, 2011, vs. Blainville-Boisbriand; and one goal and three assists on March 16, 2013, at Shawinigan.
FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME
On Friday, defenseman Jason Garrison collected his first three-point game, which included a goal and two assists, in a Wolves uniform. It was also his first three-point effort in a professional game since March 25, 2016, when he also collected a goal and two assists for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 7-4 home-ice romp over the New York Islanders.
FREAKY FRIDAY
On the third Friday of December, also known as yesterday, forward Beau Bennett doled out three assists as the Chicago Wolves beat the Grand Rapids Griffins at Van Andel Arena for the second time this season. On the third Friday of November — the 17th — Bennett marked the feat for the first time when he dished three assists in Chicago’s 6-4 loss against the Manitoba Moose. The Wolves do not play on the third Friday of the month for the rest of the regular season. Perhaps Bennett will next accomplish this third-Friday-feat on April 20 during the Calder Cup Playoffs?
By the Numbers:
- 2: On Nov. 26, center Wade Megan collected his first two goals of the season. However, those tallies were not enough as the Iowa Wild rattled Chicago 6-4 at Allstate Arena. Prior to Nov. 26, Megan had registered four assists through 13 contests. Since Nov. 26, Megan has scored just one goal through seven contest
- 3+: The last time the Chicago Wolves and Iowa Wild met, forward Brandon Pirri finished the game with a +3 plus/minus rating. Additionally, the Toronto native registered three assists for his first three-point performance of the season and his third of four multipoint contests this season. Including that Nov. 26 game, Pirri has eight points (3G, 5A) in his last eight games for Chicago.
- 4: Forward Tobias Lindberg scored in Friday’s 6-3 win against the Grand Rapids Griffins and the Chicago Wolves still have not lost when Lindberg gets on the scoresheet. The Wolves are now 4-0-0-0 in the games when the 22-year-old Swede registered a point. He has notched two goals and two assists through 22 games. Three of the points – two goals and an assist – have come in his previous three games and he comes into tonight’s contest looking to extend his scoring streak to four contests.
- 14.5: On Friday, the Chicago Wolves netted two power-play goals in a game for the first time since Nov. 17 against the Manitoba Moose. Those two goals also broke a power-play slump in which the Wolves were 0 for 17 opportunities in the four games prior to Friday. With Friday’s two markers, Chicago improved its season power-play to 14.5 percent.
- 44: During the Chicago Wolves’ 6-3 victory Friday night over the Grand Rapids Griffins, left wing Brett Sterling netted his 44th career game-winning goal. Additionally, Sterling became the only Wolves player with multiple game-winning tallies this season as he now owns two. His first game-winner came on Nov. 25 against the Rockford IceHogs in front of a home crowd at Allstate Arena as Chicago edged Rockford 4-3. Sterling recorded the marker in the final seven minutes of play to earn Chicago its fifth W of the season
- 87.5: In the last five games, the Wolves are clicking along at a 87.5 percent success rate on the penalty kill. That’s 3.5 percentage points better than the club’s overall 84 percent success rate that has them ranked 11th among the 30 American Hockey League teams. Only the Cleveland Monsters (Dec. 8) and the Grand Rapids Griffins (Dec. 15) have been successful on the power play against the Wolves in the last five games — each netting one goal
Game Review
Friday, Dec. 15 Chicago 6, (at) Grand Rapids 3
- The Wolves earned their second victory over Griffins in as many games at Van Andel Arena.
- Returning from injury, forward Tomas Hyka registered four points — two goals and two assists.
- Forward Brett Sterling netted two goals en route taking sole possession of the No. 4 spot on the Wolves franchise scoring list.
- Defenseman Jason Garrison earned a goal and two assists while forward Tobias Lindberg collected his third point, a goal, in as many games.
- In his second consecutive start, goaltender Max Lagace made 29 saves for his fourth Wolves win.
Tuesday, Dec. 12 Chicago 2, (at) Rockford 1
- The Wolves topped the IceHogs for their third win in four games.
- Forward Brandon Pirri scored early in the first period and Chicago held the lead for over 40 minutes before Rockford tied the game in the third.
- With just 1.8 seconds on the clock, captain Paul Thompson netted the game-winning goal.
- In his first game with Chicago since Oct. 22, goaltender Max Lagace made 34 saves for the win.
FOLLOW. LISTEN. WATCH.
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LAST MEETING
Nov. 26, 2017
2017-18 Series
0-1-0-0
2016-17 Series
8-1-1-0 Chicago
30-6-3-2
SERIES GAME-BY-GAME
Date | Location | Result |
---|---|---|
11/26/2017 | Allstate Arena | L, 4-6 |
12/16/2017 | Allstate Arena | |
01/01/2018 | Wells Fargo Arena | |
01/17/2018 | Wells Fargo Arena | |
02/09/2018 | Wells Fargo Arena | |
03/18/2018 | Allstate Arena | |
03/28/2018 | Allstate Arena | |
04/06/2018 | Wells Fargo Arena |