2018-19 Chicago Wolves Game Notes CHICAGO AT IOWA APRIL 12, 2019 7 p.m. AHL TV 2018-19 POTENTIAL PLAYOFF OPPONENTS The Chicago Wolves have controlled their own fate when it comes to the postseason, clinching a playoff TALE OF THE TAPE spot on March 29 with a victory in Grand Rapids before securing the Central Division title for the third REGULAR-SEASON SERIES year in a row on April 6 with a win over Colorado. The only question mark now is the Wolves’ first-round 3-2-2-0 Iowa | 4-2-1-0 Chicago opponent. Six teams can still wind up as the No. 4 seed as no other team in the Central Division has claimed a spot in the race for the Calder Cup. Grand Rapids sits in second with 87 points with two games remaining and needs just one point to reach the postseason. Milwaukee’s 84 points are good for third and its magic number to clinch a playoff berth is four, but an overtime loss to Rockford on Tuesday put the Admirals in a vulnerable position with the 35-26-8-5 rest of the field so close on their heels. 43-21-5-4 LEADING SCORERS IN SERIES Iowa moved into fourth with 83 points, just one point back from Milwaukee, with a win over Grand Rapids on Wednesday. Manitoba is fifth with 81 points but has a game in hand over Milwaukee and Iowa as well IOWA CHICAGO as the tie-breaker with 35 regulation or overtime wins. Texas and Rockford are tied with 80 points and Skater G A Pts Skater G A Pts both have a magic number of eight, so both need to sweep their final two games and get a little help O’Reilly 0 5 5 Carr/Tynan 2 5 7 x Kloos 1 4 5 x Pirri 2 5 7 from others to move into a playoff spot. Rau 2 2 4 Hague 4 1 5 CARR’S AN ALL-STAR Fitzgerald 3 0 3 Coghlan 2 3 5 The American Hockey League announced Thursday that Chicago Wolves left wing Daniel Carr has earned a place on the 2018-19 AHL First All-Star Team. Carr ranks among the AHL leaders in goals (30), SERIES GAME-BY-GAME points (71) and plus-minus rating (+35) despite being out of the lineup since March 5 due to injury. Date Location Result SF-SA PP PK Though he has played just 52 games, the 27-year-old Sherwood Park, Alberta, native stands third in Nov. 17 Allstate Arena OTL, 3-4 32-27 3-8 4-6 the league in points and plus-minus rating and shares sixth in goals. He paces all skaters with 1.37 Dec. 5 Wells Fargo Arena W (OT), 4-3 30-19 3-6 2-2 points per game. Dec. 7 Wells Fargo Arena W, 5-4 26-26 1-2 1-1 Dec. 31 Wells Fargo Arena L, 1-3 21-23 0-5 4-5 Jan. 2 Allstate Arena L, 1-3 29-26 0-4 4-4 “I think it’s very deserving,” said Wolves head coach Rocky Thompson. “In addition to his skill as a Feb. 17 Allstate Arena W (OT) 2-1 13-32 0-4 2-2 player, he’s an extremely hard worker. He came to the rink every day doing everything he could to March 9 Allstate Arena W, 4-1 33-29 1-3 4-5 get better. He competes — that’s his best attribute. He played for us in all situations. He was very April 12 Wells Fargo Arena 7 p.m. consistent from the beginning of the season to his last game. That’s what you want. His consistency was a result of his work ethic.” THROWING IT BACK TO 2015 Carr owns a spot on the AHL First All-Star Team alongside Syracuse center Carter Verhaeghe, Toronto Exactly four years ago today, the Wolves topped right wing Jeremy Bracco, Hartford defenseman John Gilmour, Rochester defenseman Zach Redmond Iowa in a 1-0 contest at Allstate Arena. Center Pat and Charlotte goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic. Carr is the only player from the Central Division to appear Cannone scored the game-winning goal midway on either the First or Second team as voted on by the AHL’s coaches, players and media. through the second period and goaltender Jordan Binnington posted a 16-save shutout to earn the Wolves their 10th win in 12 games. What else was LAST TWO GAMES happening around that time? SUNDAY, APRIL 7 COLORADO 3, (at) CHICAGO 2 (SO) • Jordan Spieth won his first major title by four • The Wolves overcame a two-goal deficit to force extra time, but eventually fell in the fourth strokes at the 79th Masters. Spieth set a record for round of a shootout in the final regular-season meeting with the Eagles. the lowest score through the first two rounds at 14-under-par. • Forwards Stefan Matteau and Tye McGinn scored goals in regulation for the Wolves while center • “The Fault in Our Stars,” “Neighbors” and “The Maze tallied a goal in the shootout. Gage Quinney Runner” each took home three honors from the 2015 • Goaltender Max Lagace stopped 30 of 32 shots. MTV Movie Awards. The stars of all three films also took home multiple individual awards. SATURDAY, APRIL 6 (at) CHICAGO 3, COLORADO 2 • NASA’s spacecraft MESSENGER concluded its four- • While the Wolves only needed to get to overtime to clinch their third straight Central Division year mission orbiting Mercury, eventually crashing into the planet at 3:25 p.m. on April 30. crown, center Gage Quinney scored with 1:13 left in regulation to wrap it up. • Rookie defenseman Dylan Coghlan and forward Keegan Kolesar pulled the Wolves even in the first two periods before Quinney provided the team’s only lead of the night. ALL-TIME RECORD BREAKDOWN • Goaltender Oscar Dansk recorded 30 saves. Seasons Home Road Overall 2013-2018 19-6-2-1 19-5-2-1 38-11-4-2 2018-19 Chicago Wolves Game Notes 2018-19 HOME-ROAD CONTRASTS BY THE NUMBERS Regular Season Home Away Difference The Wolves are allowing the third-fewest goals per game in- Goals For 3.19 3.46 0.27 the AHL, giving up an average of 2.59 goals each contest. That Goals Against 2.72 2.46 0.26 means this year’s squad has a remote chance to break the fran- chise2.59 record of 2.51 GAA set by the 2013-14 Midwest Division champs. If the Wolves al- RECORD BY DIVISION low one goal over their final three regular-season games, then they’ll set the team record. Record Win % Central 34-19-4-3 .625 The Wolves’ prowess during even-strength play shows up in the league’s plus/minus rat- North 2-1-1-0 .625 ings as Chicago owns the top three spots. Center Gage Quinney holds the lead at +38 while Pacific 6-1-0-1 .812 3 rookie defenseman Zach Whitecloud owns second at +36 and veteran forward Daniel Carr stands third at +35. Arturs Kulda (+46) set the franchise record in 2009-10. RECORD BY MONTH Left wing Daniel Carr became the eighth Wolves player to be named to the AHL First All- Record Win % Star Team since the franchise joined the AHL in 2001. He joins left wing Kenny Agostino October 6-2-0-1 .722 8 (2016-17), center Wade Megan (2016-17), goaltender Jake Allen (2013-14), center Jason Krog November 4-5-2-0 .455 (2007-08), left wing Brett Sterling (2006-07), right wing Darren Haydar (2006-07) and defenseman December 10-3-1-0 .750 Travis Roche (2004-05). January 4-4-2-0 .500 February 8-3-0-0 .727 March 9-3-0-2 .714 Rookie defenseman Dylan Coghlan produced his 15th goal of the season on Saturday April 1-1-0-1 .500 night in the first period. That’s the fourth-highest total for an AHL defenseman this 15 season -- trailing only Rochester’s Zach Redmond (21), Hartford’s John Gilmour (20) and IN OVERTIME (8-5) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Ethan Prow (18). Coghlan leads all AHL rookie blueliners in goals and has become the first Wolves defenseman since Paul Postma in 2009-10 to score 15 goals. Goaltender Saves-Shots SV% Oscar Dansk (4-2) 7-9 .778 Max Lagace (4-3) 7-10 .700 The Wolves lead the American Hockey League in first goals as they’ve scored the opening marker in 46 of their 73 games this season. When the Wolves have scored IN THE SHOOTOUT (0-4) 46 first, they’ve gone on to produce a 31-11-3-1 record, which breaks out to a .717 points percentage. When Chicago doesn’t score first -- such as Sunday’s shootout loss to Colorado -- its Shooter Goals-Chances SH% record stands at 12-10-2-3 (.537). Gage Quinney 1-3 .333 T.J. Tynan 1-4 .250 The Wolves are outscoring their opponents by 54 goals this season (243-189). Only Erik Brännström 0-1 .000 Daniel Carr 0-1 .000 Syracuse (+73), Charlotte (+60) and Bakersfield (+55) are better. Colorado led Chica- Reid Duke 0-1 .000 54 go after the first period on both Saturday and Sunday, which was a rare occurrence Brooks Macek 0-1 .000 for the Wolves as they lead the AHL with a +31 margin (81-50). Syracuse and Charlotte are next at +26.