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Manitoba native Jermaine Loewen’s first AHL goal sparked the Chicago Wolves to a 4-2 victory over the Manitoba Moose on Saturday night at Bell MTS Place.
Defenseman Dylan Coghlan and forwards Reid Duke and Lucas Elvenes also scored for the Wolves (11-14-2-0), who earned their first victory this season when outshooting their opponent. Goaltender Oscar Dansk (6-6-0) rejected 25 shots in the win.
Manitoba (13-13-0-0) took a 1-0 lead at 11:40 of the first. While skating away from the net, right wing Kristian Reichel fired a wrister from 10 feet inside the blue line. The puck zipped between two Moose and two Wolves battling in front of the crease and wound up in the back of the net.
Loewen, the 21-year-old Jamaica native adopted by an Arborg, Manitoba, family when he was five, pulled the Wolves even with 1:08 left in the first. Coghlan sent a wrister toward the net, where Loewen fought off a defenseman and redirected Coghlan’s shot over goaltender Griffin Outhouse’s left shoulder.
Just 32 seconds later, Coghlan pounced on a bouncing puck above the right faceoff circle and ripped a riser that flew through traffic and past Outhouse just under the crossbar for a 2-1 Wolves lead.
Duke gave the Wolves a 3-1 lead 6:50 into the second period. Valentin Zykov collected the puck at the red line, escaped two defenders while carrying the puck into the offensive zone and teed it for Duke to deliver a rising blast from the top of the right circle.
The Wolves added an important insurance goal after Manitoba’s Seth Griffith took a high-sticking double minor midway through the third period. Elvenes capitalized with 4:07 left when he snapped a top-shelf shot from the right faceoff circle. The rookie’s power-play tally pushed the lead to 4-1 as he knocked Outhouse’s water bottle off the net to the ice.
Manitoba’s JC Lipon tipped home a shot with 2:33 remaining to cut the Wolves’ margin to 4-2. The Moose removed Outhouse from the ice in the waning seconds to try to get closer, but Chicago held firm. Outhouse (1-1-0) finished with 32 saves.
The Wolves wrap up their four-game road trip Friday at Milwaukee before returning to Allstate Arena on Saturday, Dec. 14, for Star Wars Night.
