Wolves Slide By IceHogs
ROCKFORD, Ill.---The Chicago Wolves pulled ahead in the second period and held on to grab a 4-3 win against the Rockford IceHogs at the Rockford MetroCentre Friday night.
Forwards Ryan Garbutt (G, 2A), Jason Krog and Tim Miller and defenseman Andrey Zubarev scored for Chicago.
Rockford (21-25-3-4) got on board first 14:07 into the game with a power-play marker when center Ryan Potulny one timed a shot down the slot, beating Chicago goaltender Drew MacIntyre glove side.
Chicago (29-23-2-4) answered 16:05 into the first frame to tie the score at one. Garbutt took a feed from center Angelo Esposito in the left faceoff circle and ripped a shot that flew by Rockford netminder Alec Richards.
Garbutt came streaking down the ice and drop passed the puck to Krog, who fired a shot from the high slot to give the Wolves a 2-1 lead, 3:08 into the second period.
The Wolves pulled to 3-1 with a power-play strike when Zubarev shot a blast that deflected off a Rockford player and bounced into the net behind Richards, 18:59 into the middle frame, and Miller redirected Garbutt's shot in the slot 44 seconds later to bring the score to 4-1.
Richards (11-18-1) recorded 24 saves for Rockford.
The IceHogs made the score 4-2 9:56 into the third period on the power-play when Potulny one timed a feed in the slot past MacIntyre, stick side.
Rockford left wing Kyle Beach found the rebounded puck in the paint and popped it past MacIntyre on the power-play to close out scoring, 4-3, 13:17 into the final frame.
MacIntyre (10-5-1) kicked out 29 shots in the win.
The Wolves return to the Allstate Arena to face the Texas Stars on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Chicago 1 3 0 -- 4
Rockford 1 0 2 -- 3
First Period---1, Rockford, Potulny 15 (Connelly, Taffe), 14:07 pp; 2, Chicago, Garbutt 14 (Esposito, Pettersson), 16:05. Penalties---Welch, Chicago (holding), 13:02; Huxley, Chicago (fighting), 14:17; Hagel, Rockford (fighting), 14:17; LeBlanc, Rockford (holding), 16:53.
Second Period---3, Chicago, Krog 12 (Garbutt, Welch), 3:08; 4, Chicago, Zubarev 2 (Deveaux, Ross), 18:59 pp; 5, Chicago, Miller 3 (Garbutt, Sifers), 19:43. Penalties---Miller, Chicago (hooking), 3:51; Bohmbach, Rockford (hooking), 18:12.
Third Period---6, Potulny 16 (Taffe, Pirri), 9:56 pp; 7, Beach 12 (Connelly, Taffe), 13:17 pp. Penalties---Zubarev, Chicago (hooking), 9:50; Kulda, Chiago (hooking), 12:29; Cullimore, Rockford (slashing), 17:53; Deveaux, Chicago (fighting), 20:00; Hagel, Rockford (fighting), 20:00.
Shots on goal---Chicago: 10-14-4--28. Rockford: 7-11-14--32. Power plays---Chicago: 1-3. Rockford: 3-4. Goalies--Chicago, MacIntyre (29-32). Rockford, Richards (24-28). A---5,403. Referee---Francis Charron. Linesmen---Judson Ritter and Matt MacPherson.
