Nic Petan scored with 2:09 to play in regulation to lift the Manitoba Moose to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Wolves Saturday night at Allstate Arena. The loss halted the Wolves’ win streak at six games, which matched their season-high first set from Dec. 9-21.
Brandon Pirri, Chicago’s leading goal-scorer, was the team’s lone scorer with his 24th of the season as the Wolves (33-19-6-2) tried to pull within two points of the Central Division-leading Moose (36-16-4-4). Less than four weeks earlier, the Wolves trailed the Moose by 15 points.
“I give our guys a ton of credit,” said Wolves head coach Rocky Thompson. “They’ve battled extremely hard all year long. They’ve put in the effort in practice and they’ve supported each other and they’ve never lost faith and they’re being rewarded for it.”
With just 23 seconds left in the first period, the Wolves capitalized on a 5-on-3 power play to take the 1-0 lead. T.J. Tynan whizzed from the left wall to the center point and mailed a pass to Teemu Pulkkinen in the bottom of the left circle. Pulkkinen dished a pass through the slot to Pirri waiting in the right circle for a one-time shot that found twine.
Manitoba knotted the game 1-1 with 3:24 left in the second session. The Moose took advantage of a neutral-zone turnover that gave Peter Stoykewych time and space up the left wing for the easy equalizer.
With 2:09 left in the third period, Petan delivered the game-winning goal while the Moose were skating on their second power play of the night.
Chicago goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo (14-13-2) made 20 saves in the loss while Manitoba’s Eric Comrie (17-10-3) stopped 22 of 23 shots for the win.
The Wolves wrap up a 3-in-3 weekend on Sunday, March 11, as they host the Rockford IceHogs in an Illinois Lottery Cup clash. Puck drop is set for 3 p.m., and the contest will be televised on CW50.
