5
|
Manitoba
2
The Chicago Wolves scored three goals early in the second period to pave the way for a 5-2 victory over the Manitoba Moose Saturday night at Allstate Arena.
Forward Tye McGinn scored twice while Gage Quinney, Lucas Elvenes and Valentin Zykov added goals for the Wolves (22-20-3-2). Goaltender Oscar Dansk notched 30 saves to earn the win on Oscar Dansk Bobblehead Night.
“I think our group has to give Oscar credit in the first – because we were getting outplayed in the first period,” said Wolves head coach Rocky Thompson. “Oscar kept it right there and then give the guys a lot of credit. They played well in the second.”
Not long after Wolves season-ticket holders Jason and Kara Needham of Hammond, Indiana, picked “Cadbury” – a bulldog mix — to make official the 1,500th adoption of the Wolves’ Adopt-A-Dog program, Chicago scored the game’s first three goals during a five-minute, 14-second stretch of the second period.
At 2:29, McGinn delivered the Wolves’ opening goal for the second night in a row. Defenseman Nic Hague blistered a one-timer from the right point that Moose goaltender Mikhail Berdin deflected with his blocker, but McGinn planted himself just outside the crease and Berdin’s block banked off McGinn’s hip into the net.
Quinney came through on the power play at 5:02. Brandon Pirri fed a pass to Curtis McKenzie at the right faceoff dot, then McKenzie spied Quinney alone near the far post and sent a quick pass across the slot that Quinney shoveled into the net.
Elvenes scored at 7:43 in a similar fashion. Pirri collected a Brayden Pachal pass between the right circle and the wall, noticed Elvenes alone by the far post and zipped a pass that Elvenes punched home.
Seth Griffith broke up Dansk’s bid for his third shutout with his slap shot at 7:26 of the third that pulled Manitoba (21-27-0-0) within 3-1.
The Moose pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker with four minutes to go and it paid off when Kristian Reichel scored in heavy traffic with 1:39 left. That pulled Manitoba within 4-2, but McGinn answered by driving for an empty-net goal with 1:00 remaining. Zykov added another empty-netter 16 seconds later to push the lead to 5-2.
Dansk (16-6-2) improved his record to 12-0-2 since Dec. 4 while Berdin (18-18-0) posted 20 saves.
The Wolves travel to Manitoba for games Thursday and Friday before returning to Allstate Arena on Thursday, Feb. 13, to face the Milwaukee Admirals on Craft Beer Night.
