The Chicago Wolves reeled off six goals in a row to overcome an early deficit and earn a 6-1 exhibition victory over the Rockford IceHogs Wednesday afternoon at Triphahn Center in Hoffman Estates.
Rookie forwards David Cotton, Jason Cotton and Jamieson Rees combined for four goals in their professional debuts while Elmhurst native Lukas Craggs also scored and veteran forward Sean Malone contributed a short-handed goal and two assists in the Wolves’ lone exhibition before their opener Friday, Feb. 5.
Alexandre Carrier and Rem Pitlick added two assists apiece for the victors, who will play all of its home games this season at the Chicago Wolves Training Facility at Triphahn Center.
Rockford opened the scoring at 4:17 of the first on defenseman Chad Krys’ power-play goal. The Wolves pulled even at 1:28 of the second when the 19-year-old Rees knocked a rebound past IceHogs starting goaltender Scott Darling.
Malone gave Chicago the lead for good at 14:36 of the second period with a short-handed redirect against Rockford backup goaltender Cale Morris.
The Wolves pulled away in the third period starting with Cotton’s bar-down wrister at 3:22. Craggs scored at 7:19 to make it 4-1, then David Cotton — Jason’s younger brother — added a pair of goals four minutes apart to close the scoring.
Antoine Bibeau started in goal for the Wolves and picked up the win with 16 saves in the first two periods. Rookie Jeremy Helvig entered at the start of the third period and rejected all eight shots he faced.
The Wolves kick off their 27th season on Friday, Feb. 5, when they host the Grand Rapids Griffins. There can’t be fans in the building due to Illinois Department of Public Health safety guidelines, but fans’ smiling faces can be in the building with a personalized cutout placed in the Chicago Wolves Fan Gallery. To get yours, visit ChicagoWolvesStore.com or call 1-800-THE-WOLVES.
