2018-19 Chicago Wolves Game Notes MANITOBA AT CHICAGO APRIL 13, 2019 7 p.m. CW50 2018-19 THE CENTRAL DIVISION PLOT THICKENS The Chicago Wolves own the Central Division title and the division’s No. 1 seed when the 2019 Calder TALE OF THE TAPE Cup Playoffs start next week. The San Antonio Rampage have wrapped up last place in the eight-team REGULAR-SEASON SERIES division. 3-3-0-0 Manitoba | 3-3-0-0 Chicago As for spots 2 through 7, nobody solved anything during a wild Friday night in the Central Division when Iowa rallied for a 2-1 overtime win over the Wolves, Manitoba won 4-1 at Grand Rapids and Texas gave away a three-goal lead before winning 4-3 at San Antonio. Here’s what we know: There are two scenarios tonight where the other three Central Division playoff 38-29-5-2 spots can be decided. Neither one, however, clarifies which team the top-seeded Wolves will face in the 43-21-6-4 first round of the playoffs. LEADING SCORERS IN SERIES Scenario 1: Grand Rapids, Milwaukee and Iowa clinch if A) Milwaukee beats Grand Rapids; B) Chicago beats MANITOBA CHICAGO Manitoba in regulation and C) Iowa gets at least one point vs. Rockford. Skater G A Pts Skater G A Pts Griffith 3 5 8 Carr 4 3 7 Lipon 3 2 5 Macek 3 3 6 Scenario 2: Grand Rapids, Milwaukee and Manitoba clinch if A) Milwaukee beats Grand Rapids; B) Manito- Spacek 3 1 4 McKenzie 2 4 6 ba beats Chicago and C) Iowa loses in regulation at Rockford. Poolman 0 4 4 Kolesar/Tynan 1 4 5 TYNAN VYING FOR THE CROWN SERIES GAME-BY-GAME With two days left in the regular season, Wolves center T.J. Tynan leads the American Hockey League with 58 assists. He owns a 1-assist edge on Toronto right wing Jeremy Bracco. If Tynan holds on to Date Location Result SF-SA PP PK win the assist crown, then he becomes the fifth Wolves player to pace the AHL in assists since the Nov. 2 Bell MTS Place L, 4-5 36-20 2-7 3-5 organization joined the league prior to the 2001-02 season. Tynan seeks to join the company of Steve Nov. 3 Bell MTS Place W, 4-1 28-30 0-6 4-4 Nov. 18 Allstate Arena W, 4-2 43-19 0-5 4-4 Maltais (58 assists in 2002-03), Darren Haydar (81 in 2006-07), Jason Krog (73 in 2007-08) and Kenny Feb. 2 Allstate Arena W, 5-2 29-26 0-6 4-5 Agostino (59 in 2016-17). Feb. 13 Bell MTS Place L, 2-4 22-29 1-3 3-3 Feb. 15 Bell MTS Place L, 2-3 40-23 0-4 3-4 JOINING THE FRAY April 13 Allstate Arena 7 p.m. The Wolves are playing three games in three days for the third weekend in a row. With that in mind April 14 Allstate Arena 4 p.m. -- along with the fact Chicago already has clinched the Central Division crown -- Wolves general manager Wendell Young has brought in a pair of players today: Defenseman Josh Atkinson and THROWING IT BACK TO 2012 goaltender Jiri Patera. Exactly seven years ago on Friday the 13th, the Atkinson, a 26-year-old Alberta native, played two games for the Wolves during 2016-17. This season, Wolves were immune to jinxes as they wrapped up Atkinson has posted 5 goals and 21 assists in 54 games for the ECHL’s Allen Americans. Patera, a the Midwest Division title with a 7-5 win at Grand 20-year-old from Prague, Czech Republic, was drafted by the Vegas Golden Knights in the sixth round Rapids. The Wolves trailed 5-3 in the third before An- ton Rodin, Taylor Matson and Mark Mancari scored in of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. He posted a 22-20-2 record with a 3.31 goals-against average and .906 a 5:01 stretch. Eddie Lack earned the win while Tom save percentage this season for the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings. McCollum took the loss. What else was happening around that time? LAST TWO GAMES • Five days earlier, Bubba Watson seized his first major championship as he took The Masters on the FRIDAY, APRIL 12 (at) IOWA 2, CHICAGO 1 (OT) second playoff hole vs. Louis Oosthuizen. • Iowa captain Cal O’Reilly scored with 4:36 left in regulation, then 4:39 into overtime to give the • Roughly 100 tornadoes ravaged Oklahoma, Kansas Wild a much-needed win over the Wolves. and other Plains states. Six people were killed and • Center Gage Quinney broke the scoreless tie midway through the third period with a power-play nearly $300 million in damage was done in four goal set up by forward Tye McGinn and defenseman Nic Hague. days. • Goaltender posted 35 saves. • “We Are Young” by fun. featuring Janelle Monae Max Lagace owned the top of the Billboard Hot 100, while Kelly SUNDAY, APRIL 7 COLORADO 3, (at) CHICAGO 2 (SO) Clarkson’s “Stronger” and Nicki Minaj’s “Starships” • The Wolves overcame a two-goal deficit to force extra time, but eventually fell in the fourth were part of the Top 5. round of a shootout in the final regular-season meeting with the Eagles. ALL-TIME RECORD BREAKDOWN • Forwards Stefan Matteau and Tye McGinn scored goals in regulation for the Wolves while center Gage Quinney tallied a goal in the shootout. Seasons Home Road Overall • Goaltender Max Lagace stopped 30 shots. 1994-2018 33-17-0-2-6 32-29-3-2-0 65-46-3-4-6 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 inthe AHL, giving Goals For 3.19 3.39 0.20 up an average of 2.58 goals each contest. That means this year’s squad has Goals Against 2.72 2.42 0.30 a remote chance to tie the franchise record of 2.51 GAA set by the 2013-14 Midwest2.58 Division champs. If the Wolves shut out Manitoba all weekend, then they’ll tie the team record. RECORD BY DIVISION The Wolves’ prowess during even-strength play shows up in the league’s plus/minus rat- Record Win % Central 34-19-5-3 .623 ings as Chicago owns the top three spots. Center Gage Quinney holds the lead at +38 while North 2-1-1-0 .625 3 rookie defenseman Zach Whitecloud owns second at +36 and forward Daniel Carr shares Pacific 6-1-0-1 .812 third at +35 with Syracuse’s Dominik Masin. Arturs Kulda (+46) set the franchise record in 2009-10. RECORD BY MONTH On Thursday, left wing Daniel Carr became the eighth Wolves player to be named to the AHL First All-Star Team since the franchise joined the AHL in 2001. He joins left wing Kenny Record Win % 8 Agostino (2016-17), center Wade Megan (2016-17), goaltender Jake Allen (2013-14), center October 6-2-0-1 .722 Jason Krog (2007-08), left wing Brett Sterling (2006-07), right wing Darren Haydar (2006-07) and November 4-5-2-0 .455 defenseman Travis Roche (2004-05). Carr has the potential to become the fourth Wolves skater to December 10-3-1-0 .750 earn the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s Most Valuable Player. The league will reveal the winner January 4-4-2-0 .500 February 8-3-0-0 .727 on Friday, April 19. March 9-3-0-2 .714 April 1-1-1-1 .500 Rookie defenseman Dylan Coghlan produced his 15th goal of the season on April 6 in the first period against Colorado. That’s tied for the fourth-highest total for an AHL defen- IN OVERTIME (8-6) 15 seman this season -- trailing only Rochester’s Zach Redmond (21), Hartford’s John Gilm- our (20) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Ethan Prow (18) and tied with San Antonio’s Joey LaLeggia. Goaltender Saves-Shots SV% Oscar Dansk (4-2) 7-9 .778 Coghlan leads all AHL rookie blueliners in goals and has become the first Wolves defenseman since Max Lagace (4-4) 13-17 .765 Paul Postma in 2009-10 to score 15 goals. The Wolves lead the American Hockey League in first goals as they’ve scored the IN THE SHOOTOUT (0-4) opening marker in 47 of their 74 games this season. When the Wolves have scored Shooter Goals-Chances SH% first, such as Friday’s 2-1 overtime loss at Iowa, they’ve gone on to produce a 31-11- Gage Quinney 1-3 .333 47 T.J. Tynan 1-4 .250 4-1 record that breaks out to a .713 points percentage. When Chicago doesn’t score first -- such as Sunday’s shootout loss to Colorado -- its record stands at 12-10-2-3 (.537). Erik Brännström 0-1 .000 Daniel Carr 0-1 .000 Reid Duke 0-1 .000 The Wolves are outscoring their opponents by 53 goals this season (244-191). Only Brooks Macek 0-1 .000 Syracuse (+77), Charlotte (+66) and Bakersfield (+56) are better. Colorado led Chica- Stefan Matteau 0-1 .000 53 go after the first period last Saturday and Sunday, which was a rare occurrence for Brandon Pirri 0-1 .000 the Wolves as they lead the AHL with a +31 margin (81-50).