3
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Texas
2
Center Gage Quinney scored a pair of first-period goals to spark the Chicago Wolves to a 3-2 victory over the Texas Stars on Wednesday afternoon at Allstate Arena.
Center Patrick Brown also scored for the Wolves (3-3-1-0), rookie forward Lucas Elvenes assisted on both of Quinney’s tallies while Garret Sparks posted a season-high 39 saves.
“I thought (Sparks) was outstanding,” said Wolves head coach Rocky Thompson. “He made huge saves. But what I really liked most was that third period. We didn’t give up a ton of Grade A chances in the third, but we gave up volume – and they were hard shots from distance with traffic. He fought his way through it and he made difficult saves look easy.”
Texas (3-3-0-1) struck first with center Joel L’Esperance’s unassisted goal from the slot at 3:39, but Quinney answered for the Wolves just 76 seconds later. Racing down the center of the offensive zone, he accepted a pass from Elvenes and backhanded it past goaltender Landon Bow.
The Wolves seized a 2-1 lead at 10:21 of the first when Brown delivered his third goal in the last two games. After defenseman Brett Lernout fired a shot from the point, Brown pounced on the rebound behind the net, raced around to the right post and stabbed a backhand through Bow.
Quinney added his second goal of the first period at 16:38. After Elvenes feathered a pass ahead to Tye McGinn on the left wing, McGinn spied Quinney in the high slot for a one-time blast over Bow’s glove for a 3-1 lead.
Texas’ Rhett Gardner cut the margin to 3-2 with a goal at 3:08 of the second, but Sparks (2-2-1) shut the door from there. Bowl (2-2-0) finished with 21 saves.
The Wolves host the Manitoba Moose at 7 p.m. Saturday on Breast Cancer Awareness Night.
