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Morgan Geekie scored two goals for the second time in 24 hours as the Chicago Wolves earned a 4-1 victory over the Iowa Wild Sunday afternoon at the Wolves Training Facility.
Center Rem Pitlick added his sixth goal of the season and rookie goaltender Beck Warm posted 40 saves as the Wolves (7-0-0-0) set the record for fastest start in franchise history. The 2007-08 squad opened 6-0-0-0 on its way to the 2008 Calder Cup championship.
Chicago had to earn the record as Iowa (2-3-1), incensed by a record-setting 10-2 loss to the Wolves the night before, set a physical tone from the start and outshot the hosts 41-14 for the day. The Wolves finished just one shot shy of the organization’s single-game low.
“Got the 2 points, but not our best (game),” said Wolves head coach Ryan Warsofsky. “Thought we had a stretch in the first period that was pretty good; a shift or two here and there in the second and third. But for the most part, we were on our heels. Very good teaching moment in these young players’ careers.”
The Wolves jumped on top 8:25 into the game as defenseman Joey Keane, a 21-year-old Chicago native, launched a missile from the right point that banked off Geekie’s back side into the net.
Geekie made it 2-0 with a power-play rocket at 18:06 of the first. Keane set him up in the right circle and Geekie unleashed a blast into the top right corner past goaltender Joel Rumpel’s glove.
Pitlick tipped defenseman Frederic Allard’s shot to push the lead to 3-0 just 58 seconds into the second period, but Iowa answered with Mason Shaw’s goal at 11:54.
The Wild kept pushing and launched 19 shots in the third period, but the Wolves killed off two penalties in the final 10 minutes and added some insurance on Tanner Jeannot’s empty-net goal with 3.1 seconds to play.
Warm improved his record to 3-0-0 with his career-high 40 saves while Rumpel (0-1-0) posted 10 stops in his first AHL start since March 2016.
The Wolves hit the road to face Grand Rapids at 6 p.m. Friday for a game that can be seen for free on the American Hockey League’s Facebook page. The Wolves return to Hoffman Estates at 3 p.m. Sunday against the Griffins. To get your smiling face into the building, purchase a Wolves cutout and become a part of the Wolves Fan Gallery, presented by Hefty. To learn more, visit ChicagoWolvesStore.com.
