Chicago Wolves Game Notes
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2017-18 !!!!!CHICAGO!WOLVES ! GAME!NOTES CHICAGO at SAN DIEGO JANUARY 10, 2018 9 p.m. AHL LIVE 2017-18 WINTER!WARM?UP TALE!OF!THE!TAPE The Chicago Wolves are looking for the team’s fifth consecutive victory in the month of January. If met, their 5-0-0-0 record would be Chicago’s hottest start to a calendar year since 2012 when that 2017-18 REGULAR-SEASON SERIES squad also went 5-0-0-0 from Jan. 6 to 13. Those five games included contests against the Charlotte 0-1-0-0 San Diego | 1-0-0-0 Chicago Checkers, Lake Erie Monsters, Milwaukee Admirals, Peoria Rivermen and Rockford IceHogs. The Wolves kicked off 2012 with a win in Peoria and then took four straight games at Allstate Arena. STREAKING!UP!THE!STANDINGS Since the Chicago Wolves began their point streak, they’ve been the hottest team in the American Hockey League. Since Dec. 9 — when the streak began — the Wolves have collected 26 of a possible 28 points and accrued a 12-0-1-1 record with a .929 winning percentage. Who’s No. 2? San Diego has produced a 9-2-0-0 record (.818) since losing on Dec. 6 at Allstate Arena. Next on the list is the AHL’s 18-13-1-0 18-12-5-2 best team, the Manitoba Moose, who in the same time span are 8-1-2-1 with 19 points and a .729 win percentage. Prior to the point streak, Chicago was ranked 29th in the league and owned a 6-12-4-1 LEADERBOARD record with 17 points and a .370 win percentage. SAN!DIEGO CHICAGO TRIPLE!THREAT Skater G A Pts Skater G A Pts Through their franchise record 14-game point streak, the Chicago Wolves have used three netminders: Sabourin 1 0 1 Lough 0 2 2 Hults 0 1 1 Barbashev 1 0 1 Max Lagace, Michael Leighton and Kasimir Kaskisuo. Abbott 0 0 0 Bennett 1 0 1 LAGACE Boyle 0 0 0 Wong 1 0 1 Returned to the Wolves on loan by the Vegas Golden Knights on Dec. 10, the 24-year-old Lagace has Several more at 0 Three at 0 1 1 been a workhorse. He has appeared in 10 of the 14 contests and strung together an 8-0-2 record. Lagace has kept opponents at bay with a .918 save percentage and 2.36 goals against average. GAME-BY-GAME LEIGHTON Leighton was perfect in the game that began the point streak on Dec. 9 against the Cleveland Date Location Result SF-SA PP PK Monsters. The 36-year-old veteran — since recalled from loan by the Arizona Coyotes and traded to Dec. 6 Allstate Arena W, 3-1 31-16 0-4 1-1 the Pittsburgh Penguins organization — stopped 24 shots through 60 minutes to earn the first of two Jan. 10 Valley View Casino Center - - - - streak shutouts. KASKISUO ALL-TIME RECORD Kaskisuo has appeared in three games and earned three wins, including the other shutout. His Season Home Road Overall Record 32-save shutout came Jan. 6 against the Grand Rapids Griffins. It was the second time this season 2017-18 1-0-0-0 0-0-0-0 1-0-0-0 Kaskisuo blanked the Griffins; the first was a 33-save performance on Nov. 3 at Van Andel Arena. In his three contests during the point streak, Kaskisuo owns a .938 save percentage and 1.67 goals-against average. SIX DEGREES OF RETO BERRA GAME!REWIND The last time San Diego Gulls goaltender Reto Berra SATURDAY, JAN. 6 (at) CHICAGO 2, GRAND RAPIDS 0 showed up at Allstate Arena, he scored an empty-net • The Wolves matched a franchise record 14-game point streak that was set in 2007. goal against the Wolves for the Lake Erie Monsters. Berra’s tally at 18:34 of the third helped the Monsters • Captain Paul Thompson netted both Chicago goals. take a 5-1 win. Among Berra’s teammates that night • Goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo posted a 32-save shutout, his second of the season against the was forward Andrew Agozzino, who spent last season Griffins. helping the Wolves win the Central Division. The only Wolves player that night who’s still on the team’s FRIDAY, JAN. 5 (at) CHICAGO 4, MANITOBA 3 (OT) roster is defenseman Petteri Lindbohm. And why was Berra even playing for Lake Erie? Because he was • Chicago extended its point streak to 13 games with an overtime win over the league leaders. on a conditioning stint, which required Calvin Pickard • Forward Teemu Pulkkinen scored the game-winning goal just 49 seconds into the extra frame. to move up to the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. Three • 2018 All-Star selection Brandon Pirri nettted his second career three-goal performance. months ago, the Vegas Golden Knights traded Pickard • Manitoba’s Buddy Robinson also collected a hat trick. to the Toronto Maple Leafs to bring Tobias Lindberg • Goaltender Max Lagace made 21 saves in the victory. to the Wolves. 2017-18 !!!!!CHICAGO!WOLVES ! GAME!NOTES !!!!BY!THE!NUMBERS 2017-18 In the Chicago Wolves’ last two victories, just three players have accounted for all six goals. HOME-ROAD CONTRASTS On Jan. 5 against the league-leading Manitoba Moose, center Brandon Pirri registered his Home Away Difference E second career three-goal performance and forward Teemu Pulkkinen netted the game- Goals For 3.26 2.83 0.43 winning goal 49 seconds into overtime to end a eight-game goal drought. The next night, captain Goals Against 2.63 3.11 -0.48 Paul Thompson collected both Chicago goals as the Wolves blanked the Grand Rapids Griffins 2-0 with Kasimir Kaskisuo between the pipes for the second time this season. RECORD BY DIVISION Record Win % With his second shutout of the season on Jan. 6 against the Grand Rapids Griffins, Central 15-9-3-2 .603 Kasimir Kaskisuo became the 12th of 13 goaltenders to own a league-best two shutouts Pacific 3-3-2-0 .500 DE on the 2017-18 campaign. Hershey’s Vitek Vanecek was the 13th goaltender with a 29-save shutout on Sunday against Charlotte. Kaskisuo’s shutout set is unique as he is the only goaltender to RECORD BY MONTH post both goose eggs against the same team with the same score. In two games — Nov. 3 and Jan. 6 — Record Win % the 24-year-old has made 62 saves through 120 minutes against the Griffins en route to 2-0 victories October 3-4-1-0 .438 for the Chicago Wolves. Prior to this season, the Wolves had not shut out Grand Rapids since Jan. 29, November 2-6-2-1 .318 2010. Incidentally, that shutout was Game 3 of the Wolves’ 14-game point streak from Jan. 24 to Feb. December 9-2-2-1 .750 21 when the franchise record was reached for the second time. January 4-0-0-0 1.000 February 0-0-0-0 .000 Forward Tomas Hyka is the Chicago Wolves’ top point producer since Dec. 9 when March 0-0-0-0 .000 the team began its franchise-record point streak. Since that date, the 24-year-old has April 0-0-0-0 .000 DF accrued seven goals and eight assists for 15 points. That’s two points better than the team’s overall leading scorer, Brandon Pirri, who owns 13 points (8G, 5A) in the same span. Hyka has IN OVERTIME (3-2-5) appeared in 12 of the 14 games — missing two due to injury — and owns a 1.25 point-per-game pace. The Czech Republic native has also produced four multi-point performances since Dec. 15 Goaltender Saves-Shots SV% C.J. Motte 3-3 1.000 Center Brandon Pirri is the first Chicago Wolves player to reach the 30-point Max Lagace 5-6 .833 benchmark this season. With 15 goals and 15 assists for 30 points through 31 games, Oscar Dansk 4-5 .800 the 2018 AHL All-Star selection leads the team in points and goals and owns a team- Kasimir Kaskisuo 0-1 .000 EG Michael Leighton 0-2 .000 leading 0.97 points per game. The 26-year-old Toronto native ranks 17th in league scoring. The league’s best scorers, Chris Terry (18G, 22A) and Chris Bourque (11G, 29A), have a 10-point lead on Pirri. The six games Pirri has missed — Oct. 21 through Nov. 3 — were due to injury. IN THE SHOOTOUT (0-2) Shooter Goals-Chances SH% During their 14-game point streak, the Chicago Wolves own a 84.6 percent Brandon Pirri 1-2 .500 penalty kill. That percentage is 1.3 percentage points better than their Tomas Hyka 0-1 .000 HIJK season penalty kill rate that stands at 83.3 percent. In 14 games, the Teemu Pulkkinen 0-2 .000 Wolves have staved off 44 of 52 opponent power plays. Those numbers have helped elevate them to the No. 14 spot among the 30 AHL teams. Goaltender Saves-Shots SV% Max Lagace 1-3 .333 In the last 14 games, the Chicago Wolves have outshot opponents 432 to 397. C.J. Motte 1-3 .333 The 35-shot differential is modest as the Wolves have outshot their foes 1,212- IEL 1,058 over the course of the entire season. The largest margin occurs during RECORD BREAKDOWN the second period when Chicago outshoots opponents 440 to 364 for a 76-shot differential. The first When the Wolves... Record period shot differential is 60 in the Wolves’ favor: 397 to 337.