2018-19 Chicago Wolves Game Notes CHICAGO AT SAN ANTONIO MARCH 5, 2019 10:30 a.m. AHLTV 2018-19 WOLVES LOVE TO RISE AND SHINE TALE OF THE TAPE This marks the Chicago Wolves’ fifth and final morning start this season -- and things couldn’t have gone much better in the first four. The Central Division-leading Wolves head into this morning’s con- REGULAR-SEASON SERIES test with a 4-0-0-0 record in day games while outscoring opponents 20-7 in these midday/midweek 3-1-0-0 San Antonio | 1-3-0-0 Chicago contests. The Wolves won their first day game, a 6-2 home victory over Cleveland on Oct. 24, thanks to center Gage Quinney’s hat trick and linemate Brooks Macek adding a pair of goals and assists in the win. When the Wolves traveled to Milwaukee on Nov. 7, Daniel Carr became the first of two AHL players this season to score four goals in a game while Macek became the second AHL player in three seasons to 26-26-6-0 33-18-5-1 produce five assists in one game as the Wolves beat Milwaukee 5-3. LEADING SCORERS IN SERIES The Wolves scored three first-period goals against Texas on Dec. 18 en route to a 6-1 victory that fea- SAN ANTONIO CHICAGO tured rookie defenseman Zach Whitecloud’s first two-goal game as a pro. Texas came back to town Skater G A Pts Skater G A Pts on Feb. 21 and the Wolves came from behind to earn a 3-1 victory in front of 15,432 fans, the largest x MacEachern 3 0 3 Quinney 1 1 2 home crowd this season. Reinke 2 1 3 x Brännström 1 1 2 Wotherspoon 1 2 3 x Pirri/Hyka 1 1 2 THE NUMBERS TELL THE STORY Nolan 2 0 2 Tynan 0 2 2 If the Chicago Wolves had allowed one power-play goal on Saturday night at Texas instead of two, then they’d be one of just four AHL teams that ranks among the top 10 in four crucial categories: goals SERIES GAME-BY-GAME for, goals against, power-play conversion rate and penalty-kill percentage. Date Location Result SF-SA PP PK Oct. 28 AT&T Center L, 2-3 27-20 1-4 4-7 North Division leader Syracuse, Pacific Division leader Bakersfield and second-place North Division Dec. 1 Allstate Arena L, 3-5 22-15 1-3 3-3 squad Rochester are the three that rank among the top 10 in all four categories. The Wolves rank sixth Jan. 4 Allstate Arena L, 0-3 31-22 0-3 3-3 in goals per game (3.35), fourth in goals-against per game (2.75), ninth in power-play conversion rate Jan. 5 Allstate Arena W, 3-1 23-23 1-6 4-5 (20.5 percent) and 12th on the penalty kill (81.5 percent). March 5 AT&T Center 10:30 a.m. March 16 Allstate Arena 7 p.m. The Wolves technically share first place in the Central Division with Iowa at 72 points apiece, but the March 23 AT&T Center 7 p.m. Wolves have two games in hand. Grand Rapids sits one point back in third while Texas and Rockford March 26 AT&T Center 7 p.m. are tied for fourth with 63 points. THROWING IT BACK TO 2000 San Antonio has gone 3-5-2-0 in its last 10 games and currently sits at the bottom of the Central On March 5, 2000, the Wolves solved Long Beach Division with 58 points. The Rampage played at home just once in the month of February (a 2-0 win goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin five times to earn over Grand Rapids), so their annual rodeo road trip might explain their recent struggles. San Antonio a 5-3 win before 10,208 at Allstate Arena. Steve is 6-20-4-0 in road contests compared to a 20-6-2-0 record at AT&T Center -- good for the third-best Maltais, Steve Larouche, Niklas Andersson, Glen home winning percentage in the AHL. The Rampage allow just 2.14 goals per game at home and have Featherstone and current Wolves assistant coach Bob Nardella scored as the Wolves earned their posted four shutouts. sixth straight win in a streak that went all the way to 12. What else was happening in the world around TEXAS TWO-STEP this time? SATURDAY, MARCH 2 (at) TEXAS 4, CHICAGO 2 • The United States was two days from “Super Tues- • The Wolves scored the game’s first two goals but surrendered four unanswered tallies, including day” for the 2000 presidential primaries. Sixteen states -- a record at the time -- held their primaries two power-play goals, to the Stars. on March 7 and George W. Bush and Al Gore dominat- • Forwards Tye McGinn and Matthew Weis scored first-period goals for the Wolves. ed the polls to clinch their nominations. • Goaltender Oscar Dansk saved 24 of 28 shots. • The Tim Floyd-coached Chicago Bulls suffered an 100-94 loss against the Charlotte Hornets on March FRIDAY, MARCH 1 CHICAGO 2, (at) TEXAS 1 (OT) 5 -- their eighth straight defeat that dropped their • Daniel Carr rocketed home the game-winning goal 1:04 into overtime to cap the Wolves’ late record to 12-46. Eventual Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg pumped in 20 points for the losers. rally and earn the team’s sixth win in a row. • Forward Keegan Kolesar scored with 2:31 left in regulation to pull the Wolves even while ALL-TIME RECORD BREAKDOWN forwards Brooks Macek and Curtis McKenzie set up Carr’s victorious power-play tally. Seasons Home Road Overall • Goaltender Max Lagace stopped 20 shots to pick up his fifth straight win. 2009-2018 10-12-2-2 10-11-3-0 20-23-5-2 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 3.24 3.46 0.22 Goals Against 2.82 2.67 0.15 ings as Chicago owns the top three spots and four of the top five.Daniel Carr continues to 3 lead the AHL with his +35 rating while linemate Gage Quinney is second at +34. Rookie defensemen Zach Whitecloud ranks third at +32 while Nic Hague is part of a three-way tie for fifth RECORD BY DIVISION at +25. Record Win % Central 26-17-4-1 .593 The Wolves’ 4-2 loss to Texas on Saturday night was an aberration in at least one regard: North 2-0-1-0 .833 It marked the first time in seven outings that the Wolves allowed more than two goals in a Pacific 5-1-0-0 .833 6 game. Goaltenders Max Lagace and Oscar Dansk led for that six-game streak that hadn’t happened in the organization since the 2008-09 season, when Ondrej Pavelec went six straight games allowing two goals or fewer. RECORD BY MONTH Record Win % October 6-2-0-1 .722 Daniel Carr’s overtime goal against Texas on March 1 marked his 12th power-play goal November 4-5-2-0 .455 this season for the Wolves. Prior to the 2018-19 season, Carr had an AHL career total of December 10-3-1-0 .750 12 12 power-play goals, scoring three goals on the man-advantage in each of his first four January 4-4-2-0 .500 seasons. Carr owns 27 power-play points (12G, 15A), good for third among AHL skaters and the goal February 8-3-0-0 .727 also happened to extend Carr’s point streak to a career-high 12 games. March 1-1-0-0 .500 April 0-0-0-0 .000 The Wolves and their NHL partner, the Vegas Golden Knights, have been blessed with relatively good health this season, which is symbolized by the fact the Wolves have IN OVERTIME (7-5) 30 needed to use just 30 players to this point in the season. Center Tobias Lindberg became player No. 30 Friday night. If the Wolves don’t break in any more players this season, then Goaltender Saves-Shots SV% Oscar Dansk (3-2) 7-9 .778 they’ll tie the franchise record for fewest players set by the 1995-96 team. Max Lagace (4-3) 7-10 .700 The Wolves are outscoring their opponents by 34 goals this season (191-157), which trails only Syracuse and Bakersfield for the best goal differential in the AHL. Most of IN THE SHOOTOUT (0-1) 36 that advantage has been piled up during the first period, when Chicago has out- scored its foes 67-41. Nobody in the AHL is close to that +26 margin. The Wolves also outscore oppo- Shooter Goals-Chances SH% nents by 16 (60-44) in the third. Only Syracuse boasts a better differential. T.J. Tynan 1-1 1.000 Erik Brännström 0-1 .000 AHL All-Star left wing Daniel Carr enters tonight’s action with 18 points (9G, 9A) in Daniel Carr 0-1 .000 13 games since the All-Star break. For the season, he’s averaging 1.39 points per Reid Duke 0-1 .000 Brooks Macek 0-1 .000 97 game. If he maintains this pace over the team’s final 19 games, he’ll finish with 97 Stefan Matteau 0-1 .000 points this season.