Chicago Wolves Game Notes GRAND RAPIDS at CHICAGO FEBRUARY 23, 2019 7 P.M
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2018-19 Chicago Wolves Game Notes GRAND RAPIDS AT CHICAGO FEBRUARY 23, 2019 7 p.m. CW50 2018-19 TIME TO MAKE A MOVE TALE OF THE TAPE Last season on this same weekend, the Chicago Wolves found themselves in Manitoba with a direct chance to dig into the Moose’s Central Division lead. Chicago entered the weekend trailing Manitoba REGULAR-SEASON SERIES by 11 points, but earned a split that built some confidence and triggered a mad dash to the finish that 3-3-0-0 Grand Rapids | 3-2-1-0 Chicago ended with the Wolves capturing the Central Division crown. This weekend, the Wolves aren’t as far away from the top of the Central -- but Rocky Thompson’s crew finds itself with another direct opportunity to get closer to division-leading Grand Rapids. The Griffins picked up a shootout win over Texas on Friday night to take a 3-point lead over Iowa and a 6-point lead over the Wolves. Chicago, however, has played three fewer games than the Griffins and the Wild. 31-16-4-4 29-17-5-1 The Wolves already own a pair of wins to start their five-game homestand, so they’re looking for their LEADING SCORERS IN SERIES third straight win overall and third straight win over Grand Rapids. GRAND RAPIDS CHICAGO Skater G A Pts Skater G A Pts The Griffins lead the Central Division with 70 points, but the Wolves (64 points) and second-place Elson 4 2 6 Carr 2 6 8 Iowa Wild (67 points) have been closing in with some key wins. Rockford has won eight of its last 10, Puempel 4 1 5 Macek 4 2 6 jumping into fourth with 60 points, while Texas (58 points) and Milwaukee (57 points) are in fifth and Saarijarvi 1 3 4 Quinney 3 3 6 sixth, respectively. San Antonio and Manitoba share last with 55 points as the Central continues to be Camper 0 4 4 x Pirri 3 1 4 the AHL’s tightest division from top to bottom. It’s the only division where every team is above .500. SERIES GAME-BY-GAME Date Location Result SF-SA PP PK SPECIAL TEAMS NUMBERS Oct. 13 Allstate Arena W, 5-1 24-33 1-4 5-6 This season, the Griffins have scored just two power-play goals on the Wolves -- and they have not Oct. 20 Van Andel Arena L, 3-5 28-32 0-6 3-4 been able to capitalize on the man-advantage since October 20. The Grand Rapids power play ranks Nov. 24 Allstate Arena OTL, 3-4 30-31 0-3 4-4 last in the league as the Griffins convert at just 14.6 percent, but that drops to 8.7 percent on the road Nov. 28 Van Andel Arena L, 2-5 35-32 0-2 2-2 as the Griffins have scored nine power-play goals on 104 chances in opposing rinks. The Wolves kill Jan. 16 Allstate Arena W, 5-2 27-30 1-4 3-3 penalties at an 82.5 percent average, good for 10th in the league, and scored a short-handed goal on Feb. 10 Van Andel Arena W, 4-1 31-35 2-6 5-5 Thursday against the Texas power-play unit that ranks third in the AHL. The Wolves’ power play ranks Feb. 23 Allstate Arena 7 p.m. ninth in the league at 20.3 percent and is slightly better at home at 21.0 percent, while the Griffins are March 29 Van Andel Arena 6 p.m. killing penalties at a 79.9 percent rate. THROWING IT BACK TO 2014 Forward Daniel Carr, the league leader in points (64) and goals (28), also ranks near the top when it Five years ago today, AHL Goaltender of the Year comes to scoring on the power play. Carr leads the Wolves with 10 power-play goals and has added 13 Jake Allen rejected all 21 shots he faced to earn a assists on the man-advantage. Rookie defenseman Erik Brännström’s 12 power-play assists are tied 2-0 whitewashing of the Abbotsford Heat at Allstate Arena. Ty Rattie and Evan Oberg scored power-play for fourth among all league rookies while fellow defenseman Dylan Coghlan’s six power-play goals goals as the Wolves pushed their record to 31-17-4-2 are tied for fourth among AHL defenders. on the way to the Midwest Division title. What else was happening in the world around this time? • Canada defeated Sweden 3-0 in the gold medal THE HOMESTAND SO FAR game at the Sochi Olympics. Jonathan Toews, Sidney THURSDAY, FEB. 21 (at) CHICAGO 3, TEXAS 1 Crosby and Chris Kunitz scored while Carey Price posted 24 saves for the shutout. • The Wolves scored three unanswered goals, including the game-winning short-handed tally from • Mexican marines and U. S. DEA forces teamed up center Gage Quinney, to best the Stars in front of 15,432 fans at Allstate Arena. to capture “El Chapo” during a surprise raid in • Forwards Curtis McKenzie and Daniel Carr also scored goals in the victory. Mazatlan. “El Chapo” broke out of two high-security • Goaltender Max Lagace posted 38 saves. prisons in Mexico, but earlier this month he finally was found guilty of multiple charges. SUNDAY, FEB. 17 (at) CHICAGO 2, IOWA 1 (OT) • “Dark Horse,” Katy Perry’s collaboration with Juicy J, ranked No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100. Pharrell • The Wolves toppled the Wild in extra time thanks to rookie defenseman ‘s Erik Brännström Williams’ “Happy” stood No. 2. second overtime winner of the season. • Forward Brooks Macek notched the other Chicago goal while forward Daniel Carr tallied a point ALL-TIME RECORD BREAKDOWN in his seventh consecutive game. Seasons Home Road Overall • Goaltender Max Lagace saved 31 of 32 shots in the win. 1996-2018 36-34-0-6-2 32-31-2-9-2 68-65-2-15-4 2018-19 Chicago Wolves Game Notes 2018-19 HOME-ROAD CONTRASTS BY THE NUMBERS Regular Season Home Away Difference Forward Gage Quinney scored the game-winning goal in Thursday’s 3-1 victory over Texas Goals For 3.30 3.58 0.28 Goals Against 3.00 2.69 0.31 while the Wolves killed off Keegan Kolesar’s second-period hooking penalty -- the second 2 time this season that Quinney has put away a short-handed goal. Quinney also scored on the penalty kill in a 3-2 loss in San Antonio on Oct. 28. RECORD BY DIVISION The Wolves’ prowess during even-strength play shows up in the league’s plus/minus ratings Record Win % Central 22-16-4-1 .569 as Chicago owns the top four spots. Veteran forward Daniel Carr continues to lead the AHL North 2-0-1-0 .833 4 with his +32 rating while linemate Gage Quinney is in second at +31. Rookie defensemen Pacific 5-1-0-0 .833 Zach Whitecloud (+30) and Nic Hague (+26) rank third and fourth, respectively. RECORD BY MONTH Daniel Carr’s eight-game point streak is the longest current stretch in the AHL (not in- cluding Brandon Pirri’s 10-game streak he owned when he left for the NHL’s Vegas Golden Record Win % Knights). The streak included a six-game goal streak that ranks among the longest in fran- October 6-2-0-1 .722 8 November 4-5-2-0 .455 chise history. Brett Sterling owns the franchise record with a nine-game run from Dec. 12-29, 2006. December 10-3-1-0 .750 Sterling piled up 13 goals during that stretch. January 4-4-2-0 .500 February 5-3-0-0 .625 The Wolves fired just 13 shots during Sunday’s 2-1 overtime win over Iowa, which tied March 0-0-0-0 .000 the franchise record for fewest shots in a game that was set on Oct. 20, 2010, during a April 0-0-0-0 .000 13 3-0 loss to the Abbotsford Heat at Allstate Arena. Chicago managed just 11 shots during regulation, but the team reached 13 with a pair of attempts in extra time -- capped by Erik Bränn- IN OVERTIME (6-5) ström’s game-winning goal 3:35 into overtime. Goaltender Saves-Shots SV% Oscar Dansk (3-2) 7-9 .778 The Wolves are outscoring their opponents by 31 goals this season (179-148), which is Max Lagace (3-3) 7-9 .778 the third-highest differential in the AHL. Almost all of that advantage has been piled up 31 during the first period, when Chicago has outscored its foes 63-38. Nobody in the AHL is close to that +25 margin. The Wolves have outshot their foes by 102 in the first period, but they’ve been outshot by 63 after the first period. IN THE SHOOTOUT (0-1) Shooter Goals-Chances SH% AHL All-Star left wing Daniel Carr enters tonight’s action with 11 points (7G, 4A) in T.J. Tynan 1-1 1.000 seven games since the All-Star break. For the season, he’s averaging 1.39 points per Erik Brännström 0-1 .000 game. If he maintains this pace over the team’s final 24 games, he’ll finish with 97 Daniel Carr 0-1 .000 97 Reid Duke 0-1 .000 points this season. He would become the AHL’s biggest point producer since 2009-10, when Hershey’s Brooks Macek 0-1 .000 Keith Aucoin scored 106 points and teammate Alexandre Giroux added 103.