Wolves Fall To Barons
The Chicago Wolves trailed by two after the first period and fell victim to an Alexandre Giroux hat trick, falling 5-2 against the Oklahoma City Barons at Cox Convention Center Saturday night.
Forwards Jason Krog and Tim Miller potted goals for Chicago (25-22-2-3).
Oklahoma City (26-17-2-5) opened scoring 1:21 into the game when Giroux roofed a shot over Chicago goaltender Peter Mannino.
Giroux scored again nearly four minutes later when he took a feed in the paint and slid it into the net to make the score 2-0.
Barons center Brad Moran one timed the puck into the net from outside the crease to bring Oklahoma City's lead to 3-0.
Mannino (12-12-2) stopped two shots in 8:22 minutes of play before being placed by Edward Pasquale.
The Wolves got on board with a power-play strike 12:08 into the first period when Krog ripped a shot from the slot beating Oklahoma City netminder Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers and making the score 3-1.
Oklahoma City increased their lead to 4-1 on the power-play when right wing Colin McDonald redirected the puck into the net behind Pasquale 17:54 into the second frame.
Miller ripped a shot that went off the boards and off of Drouin-Deslaurier's back and into the net 6:29 into the final frame, to push the score to 4-2.
Drouin-Deslauriers (8-8-2) recorded 31 saves for Oklahoma City.
The Barons responded 16 seconds after Miller's tally when Giroux popped the puck past Pasquale from the doorstep to complete his hat trick and close scoring to 5-2.
Pasquale blocked 25 shots in 51:25 minutes of relief duty.
The Wolves return to the Allstate Arena after the All-Star break to faceoff against the Abbotsford Heat on Fri., Feb. 4 at 7 p.m.
Chicago 1 0 1 -- 2
Oklahoma City 3 1 1 -- 5
First Period---1, Oklahoma City, Giroux 23 (Moran), 1:21; 2, Oklahoma City, Giroux 24 (Kytnar, McDonald), 5:19; 3, Oklahoma City, Moran 14 (Giroux, McDonald), 8:22; 4, Chicago, Krog 11 (Machacek, Haydar), 12:08 pp. Penalties---Valabik, Chicago (fighting), 10:18; Lord, Oklahoma City (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), 10:18; Belle, Oklahoma City (slashing), 11:43; Welch, Chicago (interference), 14:47.
Second Period---5, Oklahoma City, McDonald 24 (Giroux, Aiello), 17:54 pp. Penalties---Zubarev, Chicago (hooking), 7:05; Taylor, Oklahoma City (roughing), 10:22; Ross, Chicago (double minor-high-sticking), 17:10.
Third Period---6, Chicago, Miller 1 (Valabik, Pettersson), 6:29; 7, Oklahoma City, Giroux 25 (Moran), 6:45. Penalties---Zubarev, Chicago (hooking), 2:05; McDonald, Oklahoma City (interference), 2:43; Plante, Oklahoma City (hooking), 3:30.
Shots on goal---Chicago: 14-10-9--33. Oklahoma City: 8-13-11--32. Power plays---Chicago: 1-5. Oklahoma City: 1-5. Goalies--Chicago, Mannino (2-5), Pasquale (25-27). Oklahoma City, Drouin-Deslauriers (31-33). A---6,174. Referee---Ryan Fraser. Linesmen---Randy Sappo and Bill McGoldrick.
