Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018 | 7 p.m. | Allstate Arena | Facebook
BACK TO THE BEGINNING
The Chicago Wolves face the Cleveland Monsters tonight for the first time since they began their 11-game point streak. That streak began on Dec. 9 at Quicken Loans Arena with a 3-0 victory over the Monsters. In that contest, then-Wolves goaltender Michael Leighton earned his AHL-record 50th career shutout and the team earned its second shutout win of the year.
A STREAK OF HIS OWN
The Chicago Wolves are 7-0-1-1 when forward Tobias Lindberg gets his name on the scoresheet. The 22-year-old also own a unique streak: Lindberg has scored in every other game for Chicago dating back to Dec. 9 against the Cleveland Monsters when the club’s point streak began. In the 11 games since, the Swede owns six goals and three assists for nine points. The only blemishes on Lindberg’s record are an overtime loss to the Rockford IceHogs on Dec. 22 and an shootout loss to the Milwaukee Admirals on Dec. 29.
WHO DO YOU PLAY FOR
On Monday, USA Hockey named 23 of the players who will represent the United States at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. That list included three Chicago Wolves alumni: John McCarthy, Noah Welch and James Wisniewski.
As the most recent former Wolves player, Wisniewski skated in 21 games during the 2017-18 campaign and totaled 11 points (4G, 7A). In the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs, the 33-year-old skated in five games and produced two assists.
Now captain of the San Jose Barracuda, McCarthy spent the first half of the 2014-15 season in Chicago. Through 25 games, the Boston native registered five goals and three assists for eight points. He also logged 11 penalty minutes.
Over the course of two seasons, Welch skated in 87 games for the Wolves. He collected three goals and 15 assists for 18 points and racked up 98 penalty minutes. Welch appeared in 14 Calder Cup Playoff games in 2010 and nabbed two assists.
By the Numbers:
- 3: With the game-winner in Monday’s victory against the Iowa Wild, Mackenzie MacEachern became the third Chicago Wolves player to own multiple game-winning goals this season. MacEachern joins Tomas Hyka (3: Oct. 14, Dec. 16, Dec. 30) and Brett Sterling (3: Nov. 25, Dec. 15, Dec. 17) as the only players with multiple game-winners. Overall, the Wolves have 10 game- winning-goal scorers. The other seven are: Beau Bennett (Dec. 6), Tobias Lindberg (Dec. 9), Teemu Pulkkinen (Oct. 22), Shea Theodore (Oct. 28), Paul Thompson (Dec. 12), T.J. Tynan (Dec. 21) and Jake Walman (Dec. 27).
- 3: This season, the Chicago Wolves own five short-handed goals — the most recent of which came in Monday’s game against the Iowa Wild. The Tobias Lindberg tally was the second for the team in as many games. On Saturday, T.J. Tynan registered his third shortie of the year. Tynan’s two other tallies came against Iowa on Dec. 16. Captain Paul Thompson scored Chicago’s first short-handed goal of the season on Nov. 19 against the Rockford IceHogs.
- 8: Max Lagace has started eight of the 11 games in the Chicago Wolves point game streak. The 24-year-old also owns the longest consecutive start streak for a Wolves netminder this season with five straight starts from Dec. 17-29. Over the course of Chicago’s point streak, Lagace has posted a 6-0-2 record, 2.20 goals-against average and .926 save percentage.
- 20: On Monday, the Chicago Wolves edged the Iowa Wild 2-1 in their 20th one-goal game of the season — the most in the AHL. In contests decided by a one-goal differential, the Wolves own a 7-6-5-2 record. Six of those victories have come during Chicago’s 11-game point streak in which the club owns a 9-0-1-1 record.
- 22: Forwards Teemu Pulkkinen, Paul Thompson and T.J Tynan as well as defenseman Jake Bischoff are the ironmen on the Chicago Wolves roster. All four players have appeared in all 34 games this season for Chicago. All three forwards are over the 20-point mark. Pulkkinen — and Brandon Pirri— lead the team with 26 points (9G, 17A). Tynan (7- 16–23) and Thompson (10-10–20) are third and fourth , respectively, in team scoring. Bischoff is third in scoring among Wolves defenders with eight assists.
- 84.4: The Chicago Wolves penalty kill is clicking along at a 84.8 percent kill rate since their point streak began on Dec. 9, which is 0.9 percent better than their overall rate of 83.9 percent. The Wolves allowed just seven goals in 46 opponent power plays. On Monday, the Wolves were six for six against the Iowa Wild who, at the time, owned the fifth-best power play in the American Hockey League. Tonight’s opponent, the Cleveland Monsters, have the 29th-ranked power play in the league and own one power-play goal against the Wolves this season.
Game Review
Monday, Jan. 1 Chicago 2, (at) Iowa 1
- Chicago extended its point streak to 11 contests in its first game of the season at Wells Fargo Arena.
- Forward T.J. Tynan assisted on both Wolves goals.
- Forward Tobias Lindberg netted the team’s fifth short-handed marker and Mackenzie MacEachern scored Chicago’s second tally.
- Goaltender Max Lagace made 25 saves for his eighth victory of the season.
Saturday, Dec. 30 (at) Chicago 6, Rockford 2
- Chicago stretched its point streak to 10 games with an Illinois Lottery Cup victory over Rockford.
- Forward Tomas Hyka netted two goals, including the game-winner, while center Wade Megan registered three points (G, 2A).
- Former IceHogs player Brandon Pirri opened scoring at 7:20 of the first frame.
- Forward T.J. Tynan collected his third short-handed goal of the year while defenseman Chris Casto earned his first goal of the season.
- Goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo made his first start in six games and stopped 29 shots in the win.
FOLLOW. LISTEN. WATCH.
Listen on Facebook Live Watch on AHL LIVEHEAD-TO-HEAD RECORDS
2017-18 Series
1-1-0-0
LAST MEETING
Dec. 9, 2017
All-Time
28-18-5-2
SERIES GAME-BY-GAME
| Date | Location | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 12/08/2017 | Quicken Loans Arena | L, 3-2 |
| 12/09/2017 | Quicken Loans Arena | W, 3-0 |
| 01/03/2018 | Allstate Arena | |
| 01/21/2018 | Allstate Arena | |
| 02/15/2018 | Allstate Arena | |
| 02/18/2017 | Allstate Arena | |
| 03/20/2018 | Quicken Loans Arena | |
| 03/22/2018 | Quicken Loans Arena |
