4
|
Tucson
2
The Chicago Wolves brought the momentum of three road wins back to Allstate Arena, defeating the Tucson Roadrunners 4-2 on Saturday night to run their winning streak to four games.
Defenseman Nic Hague and forwards Keegan Kolesar, Daniel Carr and Brandon Pirri scored for Chicago (14-9-2-1) in this season’s first meeting with Tucson (15-7-2-1).
Chicago scored twice on the power play, extending its streak to six games with at least one goal on the man-advantage, and held the Roadrunners scoreless on both of Tucson’s power-play opportunities.
“The power-play unit has been very good,” said Wolves head coach Rocky Thompson. “I think they go out every shift and look to play the game right. When you do that, the game will reward you.”
Hague opened the scoring on the power play for his fifth goal in four games, backhanding a shot past goaltender Hunter Miska at 5:44 of the first period. Carr’s shot from point-blank range was denied, but the forward spun and dished a pass across the slot to Hague in the right circle. Hague shot on his backhand and beat Miska’s glove.
Tucson tied the game at16:31 when Kyle Capobianco beat Wolves goaltender Oscar Dansk glove-side, but the Wolves quickly tallied another goal to finish the period with a lead. After Chicago broke out of its own zone, defenseman Zac Leslie carried the puck into the Tucson zone before cutting back and sending a pass to Kolesar at the left faceoff dot. Kolesar wound up and snapped a one-timer under Miska’s blocker at 17:55.
After a quiet second period with no goals or penalties, the Wolves picked up the scoring on Tucson’s second penalty of the night. Pirri controlled the puck on the left side, drawing Roadrunners over before passing to forward Brooks Macek who was sitting low in the zone. Macek immediately passed across the slot to Carr who one-timed a perfect shot over Miska at 7:48.
Tucson came within one at the 11:16 mark, but Pirri added an insurance goal at 15:37 to seal the win. T.J. Tynan controlled the puck along the right half-wall and spied Pirri just outside the crease. Pirri collected the pass, faked Miska into committing and lifted his 14th goal into the top of the goal.
Dansk (8-4-2) saved 28 shots in his second straight win while Miska (7-4-3) stopped 20 of 24 shots.
The Wolves return to Allstate Arena at 3 p.m. Sunday against Tucson for a Family Sunday promotion that features free Professional Bull Riders admission tickets for the first 1,000 kids and Photos with Santa.
