Chicago Wolves Game Notes TUCSON at CHICAGO DECEMBER 15, 2018 7 P.M
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2018-19 Chicago Wolves Game Notes TUCSON AT CHICAGO DECEMBER 15, 2018 7 p.m. CW50 GOALS APLENTY 2018-19 The Chicago Wolves know a thing or two when it comes to scoring goals. The Wolves posted 12 goals TALE OF THE TAPE in three games last week and share third place in the AHL with 96 goals -- just two behind the Texas Stars and Toronto Marlies. Chicago averages 3.84 goals per game, the third-highest rate in the league, REGULAR-SEASON SERIES 0-0-0-0 Tucson | 0-0-0-0 Chicago and are outscoring teams 96-85 this year. Recently the Wolves have been a force on special teams, allowing just two power-play goals in the last six games, going 13-15 (.867) on the penalty kill in those contests. The Wolves have been dominant on the man-advantage as well, scoring nine goals on the power play while fashioning a streak of five straight games with at least one tally. Rocky Thompson’s group has converted at a 45.0 percent rate (9-20) to bump the season power-play rate to 21.7 percent. 15-6-2-1 13-9-2-1 Six Wolves are riding point streaks into the weekend, led by forward Brandon Pirri’s six straight LEADING SCORERS games notching a point. Defenseman Erik Brännström has a goal and six assists over the last five TUCSON CHICAGO games while forward T.J. Tynan has dished out helpers in four consecutive games. Defenseman Nic Skater G A Pts Skater G A Pts Hague and forward Daniel Carr have points in each of the last three games and defenseman Zach Garland 8 11 19 Pirri 13 21 34 Whitecloud has assists in the last two games. Capobianco 2 17 19 Carr 11 17 28 Helewka 8 10 18 Tynan 4 19 23 Bunting 6 12 18 Macek 15 7 22 PIRRI’S PILING UP THE POINTS Forward Brandon Pirri played an integral role in the Wolves’ three wins last week, collecting three SERIES GAME-BY-GAME goals and five assists in Chicago’s victories. Pirri dished out assists on all four Wolves goals on Date Location Result SF-SA PP PK Wednesday in Iowa and assisted Daniel Carr’s goal on Friday before exploding for his third career hat Dec. 15 Allstate Arena 7 p.m. trick on Saturday in Rockford. The eight-point week has Pirri leading all AHL scorers with 34 points. Dec. 16 Allstate Arena 3 p.m. Jan. 11 Tucson CC Arena 8 p.m. In addition to his lead in points, Pirri also shares the league lead in assists with 21 and tops the Jan. 12 Tucson CC Arena 8 p.m. league’s shooters with 103 shots. His three power-play assists on Wednesday are in a five-way tie for the most in a single game this season. Pirri has points in 20 of the Wolves’ 25 games this year and THROWING IT BACK TO 1995 Chicago is 12-7-1-0 in those games. On Jan. 21, 1995, the Wolves hosted a team from Ari- zona for the first time. The Phoenix Roadrunners (no relation to the Tucson Roadrunners) came away with DOUBLING UP a 4-3 shootout victory despite the fact the Wolves’ The Wolves will play Tucson again on Sunday, facing the same opponent back-to-back for the fourth Steve Maltais, Wendell Young and Todd Gillingham time this season. Chicago has been pretty successful on the previous three occasions, dropping just swept the Three Stars. What else was happening in one of six contests. The Wolves opened the season with a pair of wins in Colorado on Oct. 5-6 and fell the world at that time? to Manitoba on Nov. 2 but came back the next day to win decisively. Last week, Chicago played a pair • O.J. Simpson’s criminal trial was three days away of games in Iowa and rode away from Des Moines with two wins. from beginning in Los Angeles. Simpson was found not guilty on Oct. 3. • “Murder In The First,” a drama starring Christian Slater, Kevin Bacon and Gary Oldham, made its pre- LAST TWO GAMES miere on Jan. 20. Over the next month, classics such SATURDAY, DEC. 8 CHICAGO 4, (at) ROCKFORD 0 as “The Jerky Boys,” “Billy Madison” and “The Brady • The Wolves toppled Rockford in Illinois Lottery Cup action, securing the fourth game in franchise Bunch Movie” also made their debuts. history with both a shutout and a hat trick. • Boyz II Men’s “On Bended Knee” owned the top spot on the Billboard’s Top 100 in America, but future • Forward Brandon Pirri led the Wolves to a victory with his three goals while defenseman Nic Wolves staple “Cotton Eye Joe” by Rednex stood No. Hague also scored for Chicago. 1 in the United Kingdom. • Goaltender Oscar Dansk recorded 32 saves for the team’s first shutout this season. • Eight days later, the San Francisco 49ers bounced FRIDAY, DEC. 7 CHICAGO 5, (at) IOWA 4 the San Diego Chargers 49-26 in Super Bowl XXIX as • The Wolves and the Wild swapped goals all night, but the Wolves scored first and last to secure MVP Steve Young threw a record 6 TD passes. back-to-back wins at Wells Fargo Arena. ALL-TIME RECORD BREAKDOWN • Forward Tyler Wong posted his first two-goal game as a pro, forwardTomas Hyka delivered the game-winner midway through the third and Daniel Carr and Nic Hague also scored. Seasons Home Road Overall • Goaltender Max Lagace recorded 22 saves. 2016-2018 1-1-0-0 1-0-1-0 2-1-1-0 2018-19 Chicago Wolves Game Notes 2018-19 HOME-ROAD CONTRASTS BY THE NUMBERS Regular Season Home Away Difference Goals For 3.67 4.00 0.33 Goaltender Oscar Dansk put on a 32-save shutout performance on Dec. 8 in the Wolves’ 4-0 Goals Against 4.00 2.85 1.15 victory against Rockford. It was the Wolves’ first shutout of the season as well as the third- 0 straight road win for Chicago. Dansk’s last shutout with the Wolves was in a 3-0 victory in San Antonio on March 2, recording 28 saves. RECORD BY DIVISION Record Win % With Gage Quinney unable to play on Dec. 7 at Iowa and Reid Duke recalled to Vegas last Central 10-9-2-1 .523 week, that reduced the number of Wolves who have played in all 24 games to six: Forwards North 1-0-0-0 1.000 6 Keegan Kolesar, Brooks Macek, Curtis McKenzie, Brandon Pirri and T.J. Tynan and Pacific 2-0-0-0 1.000 rookie defenseman Nic Hague. At this point last season, only four Wolves had appeared in the first 25 games. Tynan is the only repeater on the list. RECORD BY MONTH Defenseman continues to make his way up the scoring charts. Record Win % Erik Brännström October 6-2-0-1 .722 He earned another assist last Saturday night, which pushed his point streak to five November 4-5-2-0 .455 12 games (1G, 6A) and gave him 20 points (4G, 16A) in 23 games this season. He’s the only December 3-2-0-0 .600 defenseman ranked among the Top 20 rookie scorers. Among all AHL defensemen, he ranks second January 0-0-0-0 .000 in power-play points (12) -- trailing only perennial All-Star T.J. Brennan of Lehigh Valley. The Eksjö February 0-0-0-0 .000 native has been named to Sweden’s preliminary roster for the 2019 World Junior Championship, March 0-0-0-0 .000 April 0-0-0-0 .000 taking place Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia. Media reports say he has been cleared by the organization to join his national team. IN OVERTIME (3-2) The Wolves are outscoring opponents 38-22 in the first period this season, a 16-point differential that is the largest among AHL teams in the opening frame. The Wolves have Goaltender Saves-Shots SV% Oscar Dansk (2-1) 7-8 .875 16 collected a 10-4-2-0 record in the 16 games in which they have scored first and a 10-1-2-1 Max Lagace (1-1) 1-2 .500 record when leading after the first period. On the other side of the ice, Tucson has a 5-2-0-0 record when trailing after one, outscoring teams 36-21 in the second period. IN THE SHOOTOUT (0-1) Brandon Pirri keeps producing every night he’s on the ice. The 27-year-old scored three goals against Rockford on Saturday night, bumping his league-leading point Shooter Goals-Chances SH% 34 total to 34 (13G, 21A). He also paces the AHL with 21 assists. Pirri’s hat trick on Saturday T.J. Tynan 1-1 1.000 in Rockford was the Wolves’ fourth hat trick of the season (Daniel Carr, Brooks Macek and Gage Erik Brännström 0-1 .000 Quinney have the others). Texas’ Erik Condra sits in second with 30 points (13G, 17A). Daniel Carr 0-1 .000 Reid Duke 0-1 .000 Brooks Macek 0-1 .000 If you’ve suited up for the Wolves, chances are better than 50/50 that you’ve Stefan Matteau 0-1 .000 also played in the National Hockey League. When goaltender Eddie Pasquale Brandon Pirri 0-1 .000 354 won his NHL debut Dec. 4 for the Tampa Bay Lightning against the Detroit Red Wings, he became the 354th player (out of 616 Wolves all-time) who have competed for the Wolves Goaltender Saves-Shots SV% and in the NHL.