Chicago Wolves Game Notes COLORADO at CHICAGO APRIL 7, 2019 3 P.M
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2018-19 Chicago Wolves Game Notes COLORADO AT CHICAGO APRIL 7, 2019 3 p.m. CW50 2018-19 WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE CLINCH? The Chicago Wolves wrapped up their third consecutive Central Division title with a 3-2 victory over the TALE OF THE TAPE Colorado Eagles on Saturday night at Allstate Arena. Center Gage Quinney’s goal with 1:13 left enabled REGULAR-SEASON SERIES the Wolves to clinch the 10th division crown in the franchise’s 25 years. 0-2-1-0 Colorado | 3-0-0-0 Chicago On the morning of Feb. 17, the Wolves stood in third place in the Central -- 7 points behind the Grand Rapids Griffins -- with 60 points in 50 games. Since that time, Chicago has gone on a 16-4-0-2 tear (a .773 pace) despite playing without leading scorers Daniel Carr, Brooks Macek and Quinney for lengthy stretches due to injury and losing top-scoring defenseman Erik Brännström in a late-February trade. 34-26-4-1 “I think it’s a great compliment to our guys -- their work and their effort,” said Wolves head coachRocky 43-21-5-3 Thompson. “To secure home ice and the top of the division is great. I give our guys a lot of credit. There’s LEADING SCORERS IN SERIES been a lot of adversity and this is good, but there’s a lot of work left to be done.” COLORADO CHICAGO What’s the next goal? Well, the Wolves own the best winning percentage in the Western Conference at Skater G A Pts Skater G A Pts .653 with four regular-season games to go. Pacific Division leader Bakersfield sits at .638 with three to Greer 2 0 2 Quinney 3 0 3 Kaut 0 2 2 Tynan 1 2 3 play. That means Chicago’s magic number is six to claim home-ice advantage in the Western Conference. Meloche 1 0 1 Hyka 0 3 3 Atlantic Division champ Charlotte (104 points) has earned home ice throughout the Calder Cup Playoffs. O’Connor/Shvyrev 1 0 1 x Pirri 0 3 3 TYNAN KEEPS SHARING SERIES GAME-BY-GAME It sounds weird to say Wolves top line center T.J. Tynan “only” handed out one assist in Saturday’s win, but that’s because Tynan has been averaging two assists per night for the last two weeks. With Date Location Result SF-SA PP PK his perfectly feathered pass to Keegan Kolesar in the second period, Tynan extended his point streak Oct. 5 Budweiser Events Center W (OT), 3-2 17-29 1-5 6-6 to eight games -- which consists of 15 assists. Oct. 6 Budweiser Events Center W, 5-1 31-26 0-9 7-7 April 6 Allstate Arena W, 3-2 27-32 0-2 3-3 April 7 Allstate Arena 3 p.m. It also marked Tynan’s 57th assist of the season, which kept him one ahead of Toronto’s Jeremy Bracco for the AHL lead. He also continued his climb of the Wolves’ single-season assist charts. His THROWING IT BACK TO 2000 57th helper tied Steve Larouche (1999-2000) and Steve Maltais (1997-98) for the ninth-most assists in one season. His next target is 2017 AHL Most Valuable Player Kenny Agostino, who stacked up 59 Nineteen years ago today, goaltender Wendell assists for the Wolves. Young racked up 29 saves to guide the Wolves to a 2-1 victory at Kansas City that improved Chicago’s record to 50-20-7. That squad, with Young and DANSK KEEPS WINNING Andrei Trefilov taking turns in net, finished on top of Goaltender Oscar Dansk earned his sixth win in a row Saturday night, which pushed his season the IHL with the Turner Cup championship. What else total to 26 wins -- good for a share of third in the AHL. He also moved into ninth place with his 2.47 was happening around that time? goals-against average. Over his last 10 games, Dansk has been one of the primary reasons the Wolves • Tim Floyd’s Chicago Bulls were less than two weeks rocketed to the top of the Central as he has posted a 9-0-1 record while allowing just 14 goals. That away from wrapping up a 17-65 season -- which breaks down to a 1.39 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage since March 9. actually was their best of the first three years of the post-Michael Jordan era. LAST TWO GAMES • Bob Pulford’s Blackhawks played their next-to-last game on April 7 as they played out the string in a SATURDAY, APRIL 6 (at) CHICAGO 3, COLORADO 2 33-37-10-2 season, which ended with the team’s third • While the Wolves only needed to get to overtime to clinch their third straight Central Division consecutive season without a playoff spot. crown, center Gage Quinney scored with 1:13 left in regulation to wrap it up. • The world was just eight days away from the world • Rookie defenseman Dylan Coghlan and forward Keegan Kolesar pulled the Wolves even in the premiere of “The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas.” first two periods before Quinney provided the team’s only lead of the night. Somehow, the $83 million movie managed to gross • Goaltender Oscar Dansk recorded 30 saves. just $59.5 million. • South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje was charged with fixing international matches against FRIDAY, APRIL 5 (at) MILWAUKEE 4, CHICAGO 3 India. He wound up admitting he had accepted • The Wolves pulled even 2-2 on Cody Glass’ first pro goal early in the third period, but the $100,000 in bribes and was banned from the sport. Admirals scored the next two to run their winning streak to seven in a row. ALL-TIME RECORD BREAKDOWN • Rookie center Cody Glass scored twice in his pro debut while Tomas Hyka also scored and T.J. Tynan handed out three assists. Seasons Home Road Overall • Goaltender Max Lagace notched 16 saves. 2018-19 0-0-0-0 2-0-0-0 2-0-0-0 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 3.23 3.46 0.23 the AHL, giving up an average of 2.58 goals each contest. That Goals Against 2.71 2.46 0.28 means this year’s squad is within striking distance of the fran- chise2.58 record of 2.51 GAA set by the 2013-14 Midwest Division champs. If the Wolves allow sev- RECORD BY DIVISION en goals or fewer over their final four 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 +39 while Pacific 6-1-0-0 .857 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 Rookie defenseman Dylan Coghlan produced his 15th goal of the season on Saturday Record Win % night in the first period. That’s the fourth-highest total for an AHL defenseman this October 6-2-0-1 .722 15 season -- trailing only Rochester’s Zach Redmond (21), Hartford’s John Gilmour (20) and November 4-5-2-0 .455 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Ethan Prow (17). Coghlan leads all AHL rookie blueliners in goals and has December 10-3-1-0 .750 become the first Wolves defenseman since Paul Postma in 2009-10 to score 15 goals. January 4-4-2-0 .500 February 8-3-0-0 .727 March 9-3-0-2 .714 Prior to Sunday’s puck drop, Wolves defenseman Zac Leslie (No. 37) will receive the April 1-1-0-0 .500 Tim Breslin Unsung Hero Award. Leslie earned the honor, in part, for his unselfish- 37 ness in shifting to the wing and to center when injuries left the team short up front. IN OVERTIME (8-5) Prospect High School senior Anelisa Marie Spagnola will receive the Breslin Memorial Scholarship. Goaltender Saves-Shots SV% Oscar Dansk (4-2) 7-9 .778 The Wolves lead the American Hockey League in first goals as they’ve scored the Max Lagace (4-3) 7-10 .700 opening marker in 46 of their 71 games this season. When the Wolves have scored 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 Saturday night’s win over Colorado -- its IN THE SHOOTOUT (0-3) record stands at 12-10-2-2 (.538). Shooter Goals-Chances SH% T.J. Tynan 1-3 .333 The Wolves are outscoring their opponents by 55 goals this season (241-186), which Erik Brännström 0-1 .000 ties Bakersfield for the third-best goal differential in the AHL. Only Syracuse (+73) Daniel Carr 0-1 .000 Reid Duke 0-1 .000 54 and Charlotte (+59) are better. Colorado led Chicago 2-1 after the first period Satur- Tomas Hyka 0-1 .000 day, which was a rare occurrence for the Wolves as they lead the AHL with a +32 margin (81-49). Brooks Macek 0-1 .000 Stefan Matteau 0-1 .000 Wolves top line left wing Curtis McKenzie sat out his first game of the season Saturday Brandon Pirri 0-1 .000 night, which means he became the final Chicago player to miss a game after battling in Gage Quinney 0-2 .000 71 the first 71.