Wolves Snow Milwaukee
ROSEMONT, Ill.---The Chicago Wolves offense ignited for five goals and goaltender Drew MacIntyre shut the door the rest of the way to help the Wolves to a 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals before a crowd of 8,523 at the Allstate Arena Saturday night.
Left wing Nigel Dawes (2G, A) and right wing Spencer Machacek (G, A) led a pack of five Wolves with multiple points, while centers Jason Krog and Patrice Cormier tallied the other goals for Chicago (16-15-2-0).
MacIntyre (1-3-0), who was playing in his first game since Nov. 16, stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced to collect his first win of the season.
"It was the best team game we've played all season," said Wolves Head Coach Don Lever. "There was no selfishness, MacIntyre had a couple great saves and the power play came together. It was a great team game overall."
The Wolves took an early lead, 1-0, with a tally from Cormier at the 12-minute mark of the first period. Left wing Michael Davies sent a pass across the high slot to defenseman Paul Postma, who wound up and slapped that shot that Cormier deflected in front of the air and past Milwaukee netminder Jeremy Smith.
Machacek made the Wolves lead two, 6:18 into the second period. Dawes cranked a shot down the slot, which hit an Admirals player and bounced out in front of the net for Machacek to flip home.
A five-on-three power play gave Chicago a 3-0 edge with one second remaining in the middle period. Machacek collected a rebound out of a flurry of action in front of the net and flung a shot at Smith, which the netminder stopped. The rebound squirted back out to Machacek, who picked it up and backhanded a pass to Krog, who snapped it past Smith from the left face-off circle.
The Wolves scored again, 34 seconds into the third period to take a 4-0 lead. Krog took an initial shot, which Smith stopped, but the rebound eluded the Admirals trying to clear it from the crease and Dawes stepped in and popped it into the net.
Milwaukee (16-9-2-4) got on the board 4:26 into the third period when left wing Linus Klasen sprung out on a breakaway, deked and deposited a backhanded shot past MacIntyre to make the score 4-1.
Dawes pushed the Wolves lead to 5-1 midway through the third period with his second goal of the game. Machacek moved the puck up the ice to Jared Ross, who spun around and slipped a pass to a streaking Dawes, who cranked it past Smith.
Smith (5-4-0) turned aside 32 shots for the Admirals.
The Wolves host Milwaukee in another Amtrak Rivalry matchup on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Milwaukee 0 0 1 -- 1
Chicago 1 2 2 -- 5
First Period---1, Chicago, Cormier 2 (Postma, Davies), 12:00. Penalties---Van Guilder, Milwaukee (hooking), 0:36; Hunt, Chicago (holding), 6:23; Esposito, Chicago (tripping), 15:02.
Second Period---2, Chicago, Machacek 13 (Dawes), 6:18; 3, Chicago, Krog 7 (Machacek, Ross), 19:59 pp. Penalties---Laakso, Milwaukee (tripping), 19:33; Blum, Milwaukee (interference), 19:33.
Third Period---4, Chicago, Dawes 12 (Krog, Postma), 0:34 pp; 5, Milwaukee, Klasen 14 (Mueller, Santorelli), 4:26; 6, Chicago, Dawes 13 (Ross, Machacek), 10:40. Penalties---Ford, Milwaukee (roughing), 12:18; Deveaux, Chicago (roughing), 12:18; Esposito, Chicago (goaltender interference), 12:18.
Shots on goal---Milwaukee: 7-5-11--23. Chicago: 10-15-12--37. Power plays---Milwaukee: 0-3. Chicago: 2-3. Goalies---Milwaukee, Smith (32-37). Chicago, MacIntyre (22-23). A---8,523. Referee---Jamie Koharski. Linesmen---Brian Oliver and Al Stensland.
