Forward Teemu Pulkkinen collected a pair of goals to help the Chicago Wolves upend the Manitoba Moose 5-2 Sunday afternoon at Bell MTS Place. The victory is Chicago’s second of the season over the Central Division leaders.
Pulkkinen collected three points (2G, A) while center Beau Bennett recorded a goal and two assists for a three-point effort. T.J. Tynan netted his league-leading fourth short-handed goal and defenseman Zac Leslie netted his second tally since being acquired by the Wolves earlier this month.
Goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo (13-12-2) made 36 saves en route to his first victory of the season over Manitoba.
The Wolves (28-18-6-2) broke through with the game’s first goal at 11:34 of the opening period. Defenseman Griffin Reinhart boomed a shot from the point that Pulkkinen redirected past Eric Comrie (16-9-2) from the top of the crease for the 1-0 lead. Comrie’s shutout streak against the Wolves ended at 71:34.
Chicago extended its lead to 2-0 when Tynan whizzed up the right wing for a breakaway — the Wolves were skating down a man as Wade Megan served a goaltender interference penalty — and zipped a shot behind Comrie at 9:58 of the second session.
Just 2:20 later — the Wolves skating on the power play — Leslie lasered a shot from the right point into a crowd. In a net-front scramble, Pulkkinen put the puck back on net but Comrie made the save. Finally, Bennett corralled the puck and stuffed it into the net to stretch Chicago’s lead to three goals.
However, with 2:03 left in the second period, the Moose (34-15-4-3) got on the board to cut the Wolves’ lead to 3-1 on the power play. Kaskisuo stopped Buddy Robinson’s shot but Brandon Lemieux hustled into net-front traffic and swept the puck in for Manitoba’s first goal.
Early in the third period, on the rush from the right wing, Bennett fed a pass to Leslie in the Manitoba zone. Leslie cut to the center point while fending off Moose backcheckers and snapped a shot through a crowd to give the Wolves the 4-1 lead at 4:15 of the frame.
Manitoba again pulled with two goals at 7:54 as Lemieux ripped a point shot that found its way behind Kaskisuo for the 4-2 score and his second goal of the game.
At 13:03, Pulkkinen launched a one-timer from the top of the slot off a feed from Bennett in the right offensive corner. The goal gave the Wolves their third three-goal lead of the game with a 5-2 score that stood as the final.
Comrie made 28 saves in the loss.
The Wolves head home to Allstate Arena for their final School-Day Game of the year on Tuesday, Feb. 27, as they host the Texas Stars. Puck drop is 11 a.m. and the game will stream on AHLLive.com.
