Captain Paul Thompson netted two goals are the Chicago Wolves routed the Cleveland Monsters 5-1 on Thursday night at Quicken Loans Arena. The victory pushed the Wolves’ road win streak to seven games to match the American Hockey League’s longest string this season.
In his second game since returning to the Wolves on March 15, goaltender Max Lagace (13-4-2) made a season-high 39 saves for the win. In addition to Thompson’s tallies, forwards Tomas Hyka and Brandon Pirri scored as well as defenseman Jake Bischoff.
The Wolves (36-20-7-2) scored first at 11:20 of the opening period when Thompson threw the puck on net. Jeff Zatkoff (2-6-2) thought he made the save, but the puck trickled behind him into the far corner of the net to give Chicago the 1-0 lead.
Hyka doubled the Wolves’ lead to 2-0 when he floated toward the net through the right circle, dipped around a Cleveland defender and tucked a shot behind Zatkoff with 1:44 to play in the period.
Just 3:54 into the second session, the Wolves extended their lead to 3-0. Beau Bennett won an offensive-zone faceoff straight back to Bischoff perched at the center point. He delivered a shot down the slot that hit the post and bounced into the net.
Less than two minutes later, the Monsters (21-34-6-3) cut the Wolves’ lead to 3-1. Alex Broadhurst let a shot go from the top of the right circle into traffic and Terry Broadhurst tipped it in from the top of the crease.
Chicago regained a three-goal lead at 9:23 when Thompson jumped on a rolling puck behind the Cleveland defense and chipped a forehand shot past Zatkoff.
In the third period — on the power play — Pirri waltzed into the left circle and lasered a shot under Zatkoff’s glove arm at 5:24 for the 5-1 score.
Zatkoff stopped 26 of 31 shots in the loss.
The Wolves wrap up a three-game road trip with an Illinois Lottery Cup clash against the Rockford IceHogs on Saturday, March 24. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. and will be televised on CW50.
