ROSEMONT, Ill.—Two of the top goaltenders in the American Hockey League staged a classic netminding duel when the Chicago Wolves faced the Milwaukee Admirals on Wednesday at Allstate Arena.
Behind Yaroslav Askarov’s 30 saves in regulation—and another 12 in the shootout—the Admirals prevailed over Pyotr Kochetkov and the Wolves 2-1 in the battle between Central Division teams.
Jamieson Rees scored a third-period goal for the Wolves but the Admirals prevailed when Michael McCarron finally solved Kochetkov (24 saves in regulation) in the shootout to help the Admirals to their fifth consecutive victory while snapping the Wolves’ three-game winning streak.
It marked the fifth game in a row that Kochetkov has allowed two or fewer goals.
“(Kochetkov) was lights-out,” Rees said. “He’s always playing well for us. We just didn’t get the job done (Wednesday). We were one goal short. We’re going to keep the points streak going and keep moving forward.”
After two scoreless periods, Rees found the back of the net with just over five minutes remaining in the third when the center shoveled in a rebound of a Ryan Suzuki shot for his 10th goal of the season. Suzuki and Josh Melnick recorded assists on the goal.
“Guys got the puck to the net and it found its way to me and I gave it a little whack and it found its way in,” Rees said
Markus Nurmi’s goal with just over two minutes remaining in the third sent the game to overtime and eventually the shootout.
Kochetkov fell to 7-4-1-1 on the season while Askarov improved to 18-9-3-2 for Milwaukee.
The Wolves moved to 18-22-3-2 and the Admirals upped their record to 29-15-1-2.
Up next: The Wolves host the Cleveland Monsters on Saturday at Allstate Arena (7 p.m.; My50 Chicago, AHLTV). It will be Star Wars Night as well as Adopt-A-Dog Night.
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.
