ROSEMONT, Ill.—The Chicago Wolves reached the American Hockey League All-Star break riding a four-game winning streak after dismantling the Manitoba Moose 6-0 on Saturday night at Allstate Arena.
Bradly Nadeau and Sahil Panwar each scored twice while Austin Wagner and Noel Gunler also tallied to lift the Wolves. Justin Robidas chipped in with two assists as Chicago won for the fifth time in its last six games.
“We had pace from the start,” Panwar said. “We were the faster team and we played according to our system and were rewarded. It’s a good feeling and now we have some time to rest.”
Wolves goaltender Spencer Martin made 19 saves before being ejected for his role in a third-period skirmish and settled for a share of the shutout with Ruslan Khazheyev (six saves).
The Wolves rode the hot stick of Nadeau to take a commanding 3-0 lead into the first intermission.
The 19-year-old forward notched the first two Wolves goals to extend his points streak to four games. First, Nadeau received a nifty cross-ice pass from fellow rookie Scott Morrow and ripped a shot from the bottom of the right circle that beat Manitoba netminder Kaapo Kahkonen. Morrow and Robidas were awarded assists.
Nadeau kept coming and tallied again, this time by crashing the net and having a Robidas pass deflect off his skate and into the goal. The marker, assisted by Robidas and Nick Swaney, was Nadeau’s fourth goal in the last two games, fifth in the last four and eighth in his last eight contests.
Panwar’s first goal of the season late in the opening period extended Chicago’s lead to three scores. Defenseman Ronan Seeley carried the puck from deep in his own end and into the offensive zone before finding Panwar with a pass. The forward gathered the puck in the high slot and beat Kahkonen from long range. Seeley and Aleksi Heimosalmi recorded assists.
“I just decided to take it to the middle,” Panwar said. “I didn’t even see it go in—it just went in.”
Domenic DiVincentiis replaced Kahkonen in goal for the Moose to start the second period and Wagner greeted him with a blast from the left dot that sailed past the netminder to the glove side. Nikita Pavlychev and Ty Smith picked up assists on Wagner’s sixth goal of the season.
The rout was on when Gunler made it 5-0 a short time later. The forward skated into the Moose zone and unleashed a wicked wrist shot from the right circle that DiVincentiis couldn’t handle for Gunler’s 11th tally of the season. Skyler Brind’Amour and Domenick Fensore notched assists.
The Wolves kept their foot on the gas in the third and Panwar struck for his second of the game early on. The forward pounced on a loose puck between the circles and fired a shot by DiVincentiis’ glove for an unassisted tally.
“It was a good forecheck by (Danny) Katic and (Yanick) Turcotte,” said Panwar, who had failed to find the back of the net in his first 25 games with the Wolves. “I got a gift right in the slot. I’ll take it.”
While Martin earned the win for the Wolves, Kahkonen made 10 saves and DiVincentiis 18 in the Moose’s loss.
Chicago moved to 23-16-2-0 on the season while Manitoba dropped to 12-25-1-1.
Next up: The Wolves travel to Bakersfield to face the Condors on Friday night (9 p.m.).
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.
