2018-19 Chicago Wolves Game Notes CHICAGO AT TEXAS MARCH 22, 2019 7 p.m. AHLTV 2018-19 EVERY POINT COUNTS The Chicago Wolves earned a crucial point in a 2-1 shootout loss on Wednesday at Rockford, which TALE OF THE TAPE kept the Wolves two points ahead of the pack in the Central Division race as the Grand Rapids Griffins REGULAR-SEASON SERIES fell 6-3 to Texas the same night. 2-4-1-0 Texas | 5-2-0-0 Chicago The Wolves lead the division, as well as the Western Conference, with 82 points while the Griffins and Iowa Wild are tied in second with 80 points. Rockford sits in the final playoff spot with 72 points, but Texas is in contention just one point back. If the Wolves win tonight and the Colorado Eagles defeat the Manitoba Moose in regulation, the Wolves’ magic number to clinch a playoff berth drops to 7. EXAMINING THE SPECIAL TEAMS 32-27-4-3 37-19-5-3 The Wolves special teams both rank in the top 15 among AHL teams despite recent struggles to score LEADING SCORERS IN SERIES on the power play. The Wolves have been without two key cogs in the man-advantage since defense- man Erik Brannstom, who tallied three goals and 13 helpers on the power play, was traded to Belleville TEXAS CHICAGO and forward Daniel Carr, who owns 12 goals and 15 assists on the man-advantage, has been sidelined Skater G A Pts Skater G A Pts due to injury. Regardless, the power play still ranks 13th at 19.2 percent and has a promising record Condra 3 7 10 Carr 5 4 9 Mersch 2 3 5 x Pirri 3 4 7 this year when matched up with the Stars. Against Texas, the Wolves power play improves drastically Gleason 0 5 5 McKenzie 1 5 6 to 35 percent (7 of 20). Caamano 3 1 4 Macek 1 5 6 The Chicago penalty kill ranks 12th and has been performing at an 82.3 percent rate this season, im- proving slightly to 82.8 percent in the month of March, allowing just six goals on 35 opportunities as SERIES GAME-BY-GAME of late. On Wednesday, Wolves center Gage Quinney scored his third short-handed goal of the season Date Location Result SF-SA PP PK -- the sixth of the year for Chicago. Oct. 26 H-E-B Center W, 4-3 31-33 1-4 4-4 Dec. 2 Allstate Arena L, 4-7 22-34 3-5 4-6 Dec. 18 Allstate Arena W, 6-1 24-24 2-4 3-4 MEET THE NEW GUY Feb. 21 Allstate Arena W, 3-1 24-39 0-1 1-1 The Wolves announced the signing of center Reid Petryk to a PTO (professional tryout contract) Feb. 24 Allstate Arena W, 4-2 29-40 2-4 3-5 on Thursday afternoon. Petryk met the team in Texas and will be available when the Central Divi- March 1 H-E-B Center W (OT) 2-1 22-21 1-3 4-5 sion-leading Wolves face off against the Stars. March 2 H-E-B Center L, 2-4 20-28 0-3 2-3 March 22 H-E-B Center 7 p.m. Petryk, a 26-year-old Edmonton native, has produced 19 goals and 25 assists in 52 games for the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads this season. His nine power-play goals rank ninth in the league while his 19 THROWING IT BACK TO 2008 goals own second on Idaho and his 44 points stand third. Eleven years ago, Wolves head coach John Anderson recorded his 500th regular-season win behind the Petryk boasts four years of AHL experience, playing the last three seasons with the San Antonio Chicago bench with a 3-1 win over San Antonio. It Rampage. He also played half of the 2014-15 campaign with the Lake Erie Monsters. His career AHL also happened to mark his 300th AHL victory. What numbers show 36 goals and 42 assists in 205 games. If he suits up tonight, then he’ll become the 621st else was happening in the world? Let’s find out! player in Wolves history. • French swimmer Alain Bernard set the world record of 47.50 for 100m freestyle long course while win- ning the European Championships. In the semifinals LAST TWO GAMES the day prior, he already had broken the world WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20 (at) ROCKFORD 2, CHICAGO 1 (SO) record with his time of 47.60. He went on to break • The WOlves overcame a second-period deficit but were unable to capitalize during the three- the 50m freestyle world record on March 23. round shootout to overtake the IceHogs. • Usher’s “Love In This Club” was in its second of three • Forward Gage Quinney scored his third short-handed goal of the season for Chicago to knot the weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It game in the second period.. beat out Flo Rida’s “Low,” which had been No. 1 for 10 • Goaltender Oscar Dansk recorded 28 saves. straight weeks. • “Horton Hears a Who!” was the No. 1 movie at the SATURDAY, MARCH 16 (at) CHICAGO 6, SAN ANTONIO 2 box office for two weeks, averaging $11,384 per the- • The Wolves ran out to a 4-0 lead en route to a victory over the Rampage that saw forward T.J. ater on opening weekend and grossing $297 million Tynan record four assists. on a $85 million budget. • Forward Curtis McKenzie score two goals, including one on the penalty kill, while forwards Gage ALL-TIME RECORD BREAKDOWN Quinney, Keegan Kolesar, Tye McGinn and Brooks Macek all scored goals for Chicago. • Goaltender Oscar Dansk recorded 31 saves in the win. Seasons Home Road Overall 2009-2018 10-12-2-2 10-11-3-0 20-23-5-2 2018-19 Chicago Wolves Game Notes 2018-19 HOME-ROAD CONTRASTS BY THE NUMBERS Regular Season Home Away Difference The Wolves’ prowess during even-strength play shows up in the league’s plus/minus rat- Goals For 3.27 3.32 0.05 Goals Against 2.69 2.58 0.11 ings as Chicago owns the top three spots. Center Gage Quinney leads the league with his 3 +36 while his former linemate Daniel Carr and rookie defenseman Zach Whitecloud share second at +35. Rookie defenseman Nic Hague is in a three-way tie for fourth place with a +28. RECORD BY DIVISION Heading into tonight’s matchup, the Wolves need just 11 points in 12 remaining games to Record Win % Central 30-17-4-3 .620 clinch the franchise’s 20th playoff berth in 25 years. Only Bakersfield (6) has a lower num- North 2-1-1-0 .625 11 ber in the Western Conference. The magic number is reduced each time the Wolves earn Pacific 5-1-0-0 .833 points, as well as each time teams outside the playoff picture fail to earn points. The Wolves have held firm on their last 13 penalty kills -- a stretch that has lasted nearly RECORD BY MONTH four full games. Chicago hasn’t given up a power-play goal since Milwaukee’s Adam Record Win % 13 Helewka struck 2:16 into the March 10 game at Allstate Arena. The penalty-kill unit’s October 6-2-0-1 .722 recent excellence has pushed the Wolves into 12th place among the AHL’s 31 teams. Tonight will be a November 4-5-2-0 .455 test as Texas boasts the league’s No. 3 power play (23.9 percent). The Stars own seven PPG in seven December 10-3-1-0 .750 games against the Wolves this season. January 4-4-2-0 .500 February 8-3-0-0 .727 March 5-2-0-2 .667 Left wing Curtis McKenzie has been one of the most productive and most consistent April 0-0-0-0 .000 Wolves since the All-Star Break. In the team’s last 18 games, McKenzie has stacked up 19 nine goals and 10 assists as the Wolves have fashioned a 12-4-0-2 record. In Saturday’s IN OVERTIME (8-5) win over San Antonio, he rang up two goals and one assist to earn his third three-point performance of the season. Overall, he has looked remarkably similar to the standout who captained the Texas Goaltender Saves-Shots SV% Oscar Dansk (4-2) 7-9 .778 Stars to the Calder Cup Final last season and led all goal-scorers during postseason play. Max Lagace (4-3) 7-10 .700 The Wolves are outscoring their opponents by 42 goals this season (211-169), which trails only Syracuse and Bakersfield for the best goal differential in the AHL. Most of IN THE SHOOTOUT (0-3) 42 that advantage has been piled up during the first period, when Chicago has out- Shooter Goals-Chances SH% scored its foes 71-43. Nobody in the AHL is close to that +28 margin. T.J. Tynan 1-3 .333 Erik Brännström 0-1 .000 Wolves first-line center has racked up 113 points (27G, 86A) in 130 games Daniel Carr 0-1 .000 T.J. Tynan Reid Duke 0-1 .000 during his two seasons with the team. That puts him 27th on the franchise’s all-time Tomas Hyka 0-1 .000 113 scoring list -- and he’s in position to climb three more spots shortly. Next in his Brooks Macek 0-1 .000 sights are three Wolves favorites over the course of 25 years: former AHL All-Star defenseman Stefan Matteau 0-1 .000 Nathan Oystrick (114 points) and former NHL forwards Brian Noonan (115 points) and Guy Larose (115 Brandon Pirri 0-1 .000 points).