Special Teams Power Wolves Over Wild 4-1
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Goaltender Jake Allen saw his shutout bid spoiled with 1:35 remaining as the Chicago Wolves skated to a dominant 4-1 win over the Iowa Wild on Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
Center Alexandre Bolduc stepped up to lead the Wolves offense with two goals, including one shorthanded marker. Left wing Sergey Andronov opened scoring on the power play and right wing Shane Harper added a goal in the second period.
The Wolves (41-20-5-5) got on the board late in the opening period. On Chicago's first power play of the game, left wing Derek Nesbitt set up defenseman Joe Corvo for a rocket from the middle of the blue line. Andronov, stationed in front of the net, got his stick on Corvo's shot to redirect the puck past Iowa goaltender Cody Reichard at 16:41.
The special teams came through again for Chicago in the second period as they used a misplay by Iowa (27-34-6-4) to tally shorthanded at 8:24. A Wild forward caromed the puck off the boards in an attempt to hit a teammate, but it went to center ice instead. Bolduc used his speed to beat the Iowa defenders and scored blocker-side on a breakaway.
Chicago did not sit back as they took a three-goal lead one minute, 32 seconds later. Wild center Zack Phillips sent a pass through the middle of his defensive zone that was intercepted by Wolves center Pat Cannone. Cannone threaded a pass to Harper moving in on the net for a move to bury it top-corner.
Bolduc added his second of the night at 15:07 in the third period to make the score 4-0. Right wing Michael Davies intercepted a Wild pass and put a shot on net, which Bolduc chipped up and over a sprawled Reichard.
Iowa got on the board with a power-play goal from the crease by right wing Marc Hagel at 18:25 to thwart Allen's bid for his seventh shutout of the season and the Wolves franchise record.
Allen improved to 31-16-3 on the season with 22 saves while Reichard (1-1-0) made 31 stops in the loss.
The Wolves travel to Milwaukee for an Amtrak Rivalry showdown at 7 p.m. Saturday before hosting Rockford at 3 p.m. Sunday in an Illinois Lottery Cup game at Allstate Arena.
