Wolves' Streak Snapped In Rockford
ROCKFORD, Ill. --- The Chicago Wolves saw their three-game win streak come to a jarring halt Sunday evening as the Rockford IceHogs potted three second-period goals en route to a 4-2 Illinois Lottery Cup win at the MetroCentre.
Center Colin Fraser and defenseman Mathieu Brodeur scored as the Wolves (17-12-3-0) put up a fight with two tallies in the third period, but the visitors were unable to dig themselves out of the four-goal hole.
An evenly-matched first period saw Rockford (19-10-3-1) come out on top, despite the Wolves taking the edge in shots 10-8. The IceHogs opened scoring at 13:07 with a tally by center Denis Rasmussen. Left wing Pierre-Cedric Labrie took a shot from the blue line that was tipped first by a Chicago player and then by Rasmussen.
The IceHogs came out flying in the second period as they notched three goals in the opening 3:05 to take a commanding 4-0 lead over the visitors. Center Teuvo Teravainen collected the first goal off a rebound 53 seconds in and then dished out the primary assists on the next two for his first three-point game in the American Hockey League.
Defenseman Ville Pokka and center Mark McNeill gave Rockford the four-goal cushion as they collected goals at 1:47 and 3:05, respectively. Pokka pinched in, accepted a pass from a scrum behind the net, and buried it before McNeill added his on the power play to end rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington's night.
Playing on an energy line with Cody Beach and Ben Eager, Fraser got the Wolves on the board against his former team at 5:49. Eager fed a pass to the front of the net for Beach, who saw it poke-checked off his stick by goaltender Scott Darling. Beach recovered but saw his shot ricochet off the post and out to Fraser, who buried it over a sprawled Darling.
The Wolves cut Rockford's lead to two at 9:20 on Brodeur's fourth of the season. His shot from the point evaded a screened Darling to make it 4-2, but Chicago was unable to complete the late rally.
Binnington (10-5-1) stopped 11 of 15 shots in 23:05 of action while Matt Climie made 18 saves in relief. Darling (9-3-2) kicked out 33 of 35 shots.
The Wolves return to Allstate Arena at 7 p.m. Tuesday to face the Grand Rapids Griffins. A few days remain to take advantage of the holiday season's best special – the Howliday Gift Pack that includes 10 tickets, a puck, a scarf, a beanie and a Gameworks play card. Call 1-800-THE-WOLVES or visit ChicagoWolves.com.
-- Chicago Wolves