ROSEMONT, Ill.—The red-hot Wolves ran their winning streak to three games with a 4-0 victory over the Rockford IceHogs on Saturday night at Allstate Arena.
Scott Morrow had a hat trick and Bradly Nadeau scored to provide the offense for Wolves goaltender Spencer Martin, who made 20 saves for his first shutout of the season. Josiah Slavin chipped in with two assists to help propel Chicago to its ninth win in its last 10 games.
“We started playing predictable and when we do that we know we take the game to the other team,” Martin said. “We really didn’t have too many gaps when we weren’t on our game. We brought it to them, we were in their end and we were smart on the blue lines.”
The Wolves took a 2-0 advantage into the first intermission when Morrow and Nadeau scored just 59 seconds apart late in the opening period.
First, Morrow tallied when the defenseman took a tremendous cross-ice pass from Noel Gunler and fired a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle past Rockford netminder Drew Commesso to the stick side. Gunler and Justin Robidas earned assists on the score.
With the crowd still buzzing, the Wolves scored again with Nadeau finding the back of the net. In his first action since returning from the World Junior Championship where he represented Team Canada, Nadeau received a nifty pass from Ryan Suzuki and beat Commesso to the glove side from a sharp angle. Suzuki and Slavin recorded assists on Nadeau’s seventh goal of the season.
Morrow struck again early in the second when the rookie cruised into the slot, Slavin found him with a backhand pass and Morrow ripped the puck by Commesso. Slavin and Skyler Brind’Amour assisted on Morrow’s goal that gave the Wolves a 3-0 lead after two.
Morrow’s empty-netter in the waning moments of the third capped the scoring.
It marked the second hat trick of the season for Morrow, making him the first American Hockey League defenseman with multiple hat tricks in the same season since T.J. Brennan did it with Toronto during the 2013-14 campaign.
The offensive outburst combined with Martin’s stellar effort kept the Wolves on a serious roll.
“When you’re winning games like this it’s a ton of fun,” Martin said. “Our team truly loves each other in the dressing room and our coaches are great people. It’s just a fun time to come to the rink.”
Martin earned the win in goal for the Wolves while Commesso (25 saves) took the loss for the IceHogs.
Chicago improved to 17-10-2-0 on the season while Rockford fell to 13-14-3-1.
Next up: The Wolves host the Rockford IceHogs on Sunday (3 p.m.) at Allstate Arena.
For information on Wolves ticket plans for the 2024-25 season—everything from single-game tickets to Flex Packs to group outings—visit chicagowolves.com or call 1-800-THE-WOLVES.
