Brendan Perlini scored three goals and added an assist to propel the Chicago Wolves to a 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Monsters on Friday night in Cleveland.
David Farrance and Joseph LaBate each added a goal and an assist and Pyotr Kochetkov made 39 saves to earn the win in goal as the Wolves claimed the first of back-to-back games in Cleveland.
The defending Calder Cup champion Wolves struck first on Perlini’s second goal of the season. Jack Drury carried the puck into the Cleveland zone and moved it to Farrance who then found Perlini open in the slot. The veteran winger took the feed and one-timed it past the glove of Monsters goaltender Pavel Cajan.
Cleveland answered later in the period on a score by Tim Berni to knot the score at 1-1.
Late in the opening period, Perlini struck again with the Wolves holding a two-man advantage. Jamieson Rees picked up an assist when Perlini took advantage of the open ice, took a pass from his teammate and wired a shot from between the rings into the back of the net.
Early in the second, the Monsters evened the score at 2-2 on a goal by Tyler Angle but the Wolves came back 18 seconds later to take the lead on Farrance’s first goal of the season. The defenseman’s wrist shot from the left circle beat Cajan to the glove side.
Perlini earned the Wolves’ first hat trick of the season – and the second of his AHL career – off an odd-man rush. He took a terrific backhand pass from William Lagesson just inside the left circle and chipped it into the net. Josh Melnick also had an assist, marking the fourth consecutive game in which he has had a helper.
LaBate capped the scoring with an empty-net goal in the waning moments.
Kotchekov improved to 2-2-1 on the season while Cajan (21 saves) suffered the loss.
The Wolves snapped a two-game losing skid and evened their record to 3-3-1-0. Cleveland fell to 4-5-0-0.
Next up: The teams will meet again Saturday night in Cleveland (6 p.m. CT; AHLTV).
For information on Wolves ticket plans for the 2022-23 season — everything from single-game tickets to Flex Packs to group outings — visit ChicagoWolves.com or call 1-800-THE-WOLVES.
