Chicago Wolves Game Notes CHICAGO at SAN ANTONIO MARCH 26, 2019 7 P.M
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2018-19 Chicago Wolves Game Notes CHICAGO AT SAN ANTONIO MARCH 26, 2019 7 p.m. AHLTV 2018-19 STILL FIGHTING FOR EVERY POINT The Chicago Wolves will set out to become the first Central Division team to clinch a spot in the Calder TALE OF THE TAPE Cup race later this week -- the Wolves need just four points to secure a postseason berth -- but will REGULAR-SEASON SERIES need to get through San Antonio first. 4-3-0-0 San Antonio | 3-3-0-1 Chicago San Antonio is at the bottom of the division with just 61 points and a 2-7-0-1 record over their last 10 games, but the Rampage are tough to beat at AT&T Center with a 21-9-2-1 home record. San Antonio won the first three games of the season series with the Wolves, outscoring Chicago 11-5, but Chicago has buckled down to go 3-0-0-1 over the last four meetings while holding San Antonio to four goals. 27-33-6-1 If the recent success the Wolves have been having continues, preparations for a long Calder Cup run 39-19-5-3 shouldn’t be far off. Chicago has gone 12-2-0-2 over the last 16 games, posting nearly double the goals LEADING SCORERS IN SERIES (46-24) as its opponents and pitching two shutouts in the span. The Wolves’ excellence has vaulted them to the top of the Central Division with 86 points, two points clear of Grand Rapids and six ahead SAN ANTONIO CHICAGO of third-place Iowa. The Griffins and Wild meet tonight in Des Moines. Skater G A Pts Skater G A Pts Reinke 3 2 5 Tynan 0 7 7 x MacEachern 3 0 3 McKenzie 3 3 6 DANSK NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK Nolan 3 0 3 Kolesar 3 1 4 A huge piece of the puzzle for Chicago has been the men between the pipes. Wolves goaltender Oscar Kyrou 2 1 3 Hyka 2 2 4 Dansk was recognized for his stellar play on Monday when the league named him the CCM/AHL Player of the Week. The 25-year-old Stockholm, Sweden, native started all three Wolves games last week, allowing just two goals on 84 shots for a 2-0-1 record with a 0.65 goals-against average and a .976 SERIES GAME-BY-GAME save percentage. Date Location Result SF-SA PP PK Oct. 28 AT&T Center L, 2-3 27-20 1-4 4-7 Dansk recorded 28 saves in a 2-1 shootout loss at Rockford on Wednesday before stopping 23 of 24 Dec. 1 Allstate Arena L, 3-5 22-15 1-3 3-3 Jan. 4 Allstate Arena L, 0-3 31-22 0-3 3-3 shots in a 4-1 win at Texas on Friday. Dansk posted a 31-save shutout, his second blank slate of the Jan. 5 Allstate Arena W, 3-1 23-23 1-6 4-5 season, during a 5-0 victory Saturday at San Antonio. He has appeared in 35 games for Chicago this March 5 AT&T Center SOL, 1-2 17-17 0-6 3-4 season and built a 22-9-4 record to go with his 2.52 goals-against average and .908 save percentage. March 16 Allstate Arena W, 6-2 26-33 1-2 2-2 March 23 AT&T Center W, 5-0 17-31 0-1 1-1 NEXT MAN UP March 26 AT&T Center 7 p.m. No matter who is scratched from the lineup or which line is on the ice for Chicago, the scoring threat is always real. The Wolves scored 10 goals last week (which isn’t unusual considering the Wolves av- THROWING IT BACK TO 2014 erage 3.33 goals per game) off the sticks of eight different players while 14 tallied at least one point. The Wolves have won the last four times they’ve played on March 26 -- highlighted by a fierce rally to The Wolves succeeded last weekend despite missing their top three goal-scorers this season for both defeat the Lake Erie Monsters 6-5 in a shootout in games (Daniel Carr, Brooks Macek and Brandon Pirri) and their No. 4 goal-scorer (Gage Quinney) for 2014. The Wolves trailed 5-3 late, but the legendary Saturday’s win at San Antonio. Keith Aucoin scored with 3:04 left and Michael Da- vies came through with 1:58 left to force extra time. Ty Rattie and Adam Cracknell scored in the shootout LAST TWO IN THE LONE STAR STATE to give the Wolves the win. What else was happening SATURDAY, MARCH 23 CHICAGO 5, (at) SAN ANTONIO 0 in the world? Let’s find out! • Goaltender Oscar Dansk saved 31 shots in his fourth straight start to earn his second shutout of • North Korea tested a pair of medium-range ballistic the season in the victory over the Rampage. missiles capable of hitting such targets as South • Forwards Tye McGinn, Keegan Kolesar, Matthew Weis and Tomas Hyka and rookie defenseman Korea, Japan and China. South Korea did not appre- Nic Hague all scored for Chicago. ciate it and the sides exchanged military shells five • Forward Curtis McKenzie and defenseman Jake Bischoff each handed out a pair of assists in days later. the victory. • The Copenhagen Zoo was the focus of animal lovers’ outrage after killing four lions to make way for a FRIDAY, MARCH 22 CHICAGO 4, (at) TEXAS 1 new, young male lion. This came one month after the • The Wolves shrugged off an early 1-1 knot to produce a three-goal victory and finish the regular- zoo killed an 18-month-old giraffe named Marius and season series with a 6-2-0-0 record against Texas. dissected him before a crowd that included kids. • Defenseman Dylan Coghlan and forwards Ryan Wagner, Keegan Kolesar and Tomas Hyka ALL-TIME RECORD BREAKDOWN scored goals while T.J. Tynan and Curtis McKenzie handed out two assists apiece. • Goaltender Oscar Dansk posted 23 saves. Seasons Home Road Overall 2009-2018 11-12-2-2 11-11-3-1 22-23-5-3 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 3.39 0.12 Goals Against 2.69 2.45 0.24 ings as Chicago owns the top three spots. Center Gage Quinney and rookie defenseman 3 Zach Whitecloud share the league lead at +37 while forward Daniel Carr is third with a +35. Rookie defenseman Nic Hague is tied for fourth place with Syracuse’s Dominik Masin at +30. RECORD BY DIVISION Heading into tonight’s matchup, the Wolves need just 4 points in 10 remaining games to Record Win % Central 32-17-4-3 .633 clinch the franchise’s 20th playoff berth in 25 years. Only Bakersfield (3) has a lower num- North 2-1-1-0 .625 4 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 16 penalty kills -- a stretch that has lasted near- RECORD BY MONTH ly six full games. Chicago hasn’t given up a power-play goal since Milwaukee’s Adam Record Win % 16 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 eighth place among the AHL’s 31 teams. San Antonio’s November 4-5-2-0 .455 power play has increased markedly as the season has gone along and sits 10th in the league at 19.8 December 10-3-1-0 .750 percent. January 4-4-2-0 .500 February 8-3-0-0 .727 March 7-2-0-2 .727 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 20 games, McKenzie has stacked up 23 nine goals and 14 assists as the Wolves have fashioned a 14-4-0-2 record. He has been IN OVERTIME (8-5) particularly hot against the Rampage lately -- when the Wolves and Rampage met on March 16, he rang up two goals and one assist, adding another pair of assists to his total during last Saturday’s Goaltender Saves-Shots SV% Oscar Dansk (4-2) 7-9 .778 win. Overall, he has looked remarkably similar to the standout who captained the Texas Stars to the Max Lagace (4-3) 7-10 .700 Calder Cup Final last season and led all goal-scorers during postseason play. The Wolves are outscoring their opponents by 50 goals this season (220-170), which IN THE SHOOTOUT (0-3) trails only Syracuse and Bakersfield for the best goal differential in the AHL. Most of Shooter Goals-Chances SH% 50 that advantage has been piled up during the first period, when Chicago has out- T.J. Tynan 1-3 .333 scored its foes 75-44. Nobody in the AHL is close to that +31 margin. Erik Brännström 0-1 .000 Daniel Carr 0-1 .000 Reid Duke 0-1 .000 With high-scoring right wing Brooks Macek forced to sit out last weekend’s pair of Tomas Hyka 0-1 .000 games due to an injury -- his first absences from the lineup this season -- top line Brooks Macek 0-1 .000 66 left wing Curtis McKenzie becomes the only Wolves player who has suited up for all Stefan Matteau 0-1 .000 66 games this season.