2020-21 Chicago Wolves Game Notes CHICAGO AT ROCKFORD APRIL 17, 2021 6 P.M. AHLTV.COM STREAKING AND LEAVING 2020-21 American Hockey League players rank among the hungriest professional athletes on the planet. They TALE OF THE TAPE have to work and scrap to earn a place in the world’s second-best league — then remain motivated because they know they can reach the pinnacle of their sport if they just keep battling and striving. REGULAR-SEASON SERIES 1-6-0-0 Rockford | 6-1-0-0 Chicago That’s certainly how it’s working for so many Chicago Wolves this season. When the Wolves head to LAST MEETING April 7, 2021 Rockford tonight for their eighth meeting of the year with the IceHogs, they’ll be without their top two scorers due to recent recalls that were sparked by significant streaks. Forward Tanner Jeannot scored goals in eight straight AHL appearances from Feb. 21 to April 7, including four goals against the IceHogs. Jeannot also owns a 12-game point streak that remains 7-13-1-0 15-4-0-1 active. But before he could put either of those streaks on the line again, Jeannot and his 10 goals and 11 assists were recalled by the NHL’s Nashville Predators on Sunday. SERIES LEADERS Rookie forward Phil Tomasino, meanwhile, built a six-game point streak from March 28 to April ROCKFORD CHICAGO 10 that featured two goals and seven assists. Once linemate Jeannot moved to the NHL, Tomasino Skater G A Pts Skater G A Pts became the Wolves’ leading offensive player. But on Wednesday, the 19-year-old earned a recall from Barratt 2 4 6 x Jeannot 5 5 10 Nashville, too, so his seven goals and 13 assists will not be available tonight either. Wilkie 2 4 6 x Tomasino 4 5 9 Franson 1 5 6 Novak 0 6 6 Without Jeannot, Tomasino, Seth Jarvis, Rem Pitlick and Morgan Geekie on the roster, the Wolves x Kalynuk 2 3 5 Suzuki 3 2 5 are missing five forwards who’ve combined for 36 of the team’s 86 goals this season. SERIES GAME-BY-GAME BUT THERE’S GOOD NEWS, TOO Date Location Result SF-SA PP PK While Jeannot and Tomasino have moved to Nashville to join four former Wolves teammates on the Feb. 6 Rockford MetroCentre W, 5-4 36-32 1-5 3-6 Predators roster — forward Rem Pitlick and defensemen Alex Carrier, Jeremy Davies and Tyler Feb. 9 Wolves Training Facility W, 5-2 27-25 1-6 8-9 Lewington — the Wolves have added a handful of players to restock the roster. Feb. 16 Rockford MetroCentre W, 3-2 36-39 1-4 5-5 March 27 Wolves Training Facility W, 6-2 37-26 2-5 1-1 On Wednesday, Nashville returned center Tommy Novak to the Wolves after an 11-day stay on the March 28 Rockford MetroCentre W, 5-4 33-24 0-3 2-5 Predators’ taxi squad. Before his recall, Novak had been serving as the Wolves’ first-line center and April 3 Wolves Training Facility W, 4-2 35-33 1-1 3-3 produced three goals ad 13 assists in 14 games. April 7 Rockford MetroCentre L, 3-4 33-17 1-2 4-4 April 17 Rockford MetroCentre Defenseman Joey Keane, meanwhile, returned to Chicago Monday after spending four weeks on the April 21 Wolves Training Facility Carolina Hurricanes’ taxi squad. The 21-year-old Chicago native will get to play his first game since May 14 Rockford MetroCentre March 14 in Iowa. Before Keane joined the Canes, he delivered eight assists in 13 games. May 15 Wolves Training Facility The Wolves also dipped into the collegiate ranks and signed Northeastern University captain Zach ALL-TIME RECORD BREAKDOWN Solow to an Amateur Tryout Contract (ATO). Solow led the Huskies in scoring this season with 11 goals Seasons Home Road Overall and 13 assists in 21 games. The Naples, Florida, native piled up 44 goals and 60 assists in 132 games 2007-21 49-21-5-3 28-37-5-5 77-57-10-8 for Northeastern. WE ARE THE WOLVES LAST TWO GAMES With 5:26 left in Nashville’s 7-2 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning SATURDAY, APRIL 10 CHICAGO 5, (AT) IOWA 4 (OT) on Tuesday night, Tanner Jeannot broke to the net • Center Sean Malone knocked in a rebound of Jamieson Rees’ shot 1:43 into overtime to give the and knocked home the rebound of a Yakov Trenin shot Wolves the victory at Wells Fargo Arena and reclaim the best record in the AHL. to earn his first NHL goal. • The Wolves fell behind 2-0, but forwards Anthony Richard, Phil Tomasino, Dominik Bokk and Sheldon Rempal reeled off four consecutive goals to build a 4-2 lead in the third. The 23-year-old Jeannot became the six Wolves alum • Goaltender Antoine Bibeau rejected 35 shots in regulation to earn the win. to score his first NHL regular-season goal this season (joining Erik Brannstrom, Alex Carrier, Keegan FRIDAY, APRIL 9 (AT) IOWA 4, CHICAGO 1 Kolesar, Jake Walman and Zach Whitecloud). • Iowa scored in the opening minute and added a pair of power-play goals in the first period to set the tone for the victory at Wells Fargo Arena. Jeannot also became the 267th Wolves alum to • Forward David Cotton scored in the second period to pull the Wolves within 3-1. Forward Phil score an NHL goal. The active leader in goals (among Tomasino and defenseman Joakim Ryan earned assists — the latter his first point with Chicago. current or former Wolves) is Winnipeg Jets forward • Goaltender Connor Ingram posted 32 saves in his Wolves debut. Bryan Little, who owns 217 goals in 843 regular-sea- son games. 2020-21 Chicago Wolves Game Notes 2020-21 BY THE NUMBERS HOME-ROAD CONTRASTS Regular Season Home Away Difference If the Wolves play all 33 games on their current regular-season schedule, this season will only Goals For 4.82 3.67 1.15 be 43 percent as long as the normal 76-game American Hockey League slate. Nonetheless, Goals Against 2.36 3.11 0.75 1 it’s still impressive that this year’s squad is well on its way to shattering the franchise record for most goals per game. These Wolves have scored 86 goals in 20 games — a league-leading average RECORD BY OPPONENT of 4.30 per outing. The only Wolves team that has averaged more than 4 per game is the 2006-07 Record Win % crew that paced the AHL with 4.14 per game. Cleveland 0-1-0-1 .250 Grand Rapids 4-1-0-0 .800 Because the Wolves have been juggling so many players from the Carolina Hurricanes and Iowa 5-1-0-0 .833 Nashville Predators organizations, equipment manager Ryan Shoufer has needed to create Rockford 6-1-0-0 .857 6 several new jerseys to accommodate everyone. So far, the Wolves have debuted six new numbers. Rookie forward Patrick Harper (43), defensemen Frederic Allard (46), Alex Carrier (47) RECORD BY MONTH and Joakim Ryan (48), rookie forward Phil Tomasino (50) and since-released rookie defenseman Record Win % Matt Murphy (52) have made history this season by becoming the first to wear those numbers. February 8-1-0-0 .889 March 4-1-0-1 .750 Rookie forward Zach Solow, who signed with the Wolves on Monday, will become the first to wear No. April 3-2-0-0 .600 53 whenever he makes his debut. Prior to this season, the Wolves hadn’t introduced a new uniform May 0-0-0-0 .000 number since Jake Chelios was given No. 42 before making his AHL debut on April 11, 2014, at Iowa. When Wolves forward Tanner Jeannot scored April 7 at Rockford, it extended his goal streak IN OVERTIME (1-0) to eight games. He became just the fifth American Hockey League player since the 2012-13 8 season to register an eight-game goal streak. He joined the company of Toronto’s Chris Goaltender Saves-Shots (3-3) SV% Antoine Bibeau (1-0) 3-3 1.000 Mueller (Feb. 1 to March 17, 2019), Albany’s Mike Sislo (Feb. 6-24, 2016), Grand Rapids’ Teemu Pulkkinen Jeremy Helvig (0-0) 0-0 .000 (Dec. 19, 2014, to Jan. 7, 2015) and Charlotte’s Drayson Bowman (Oct. 19 to Nov. 4, 2012). The next time Beck Warm (0-0) 0-0 .000 he suits up for the Wolves — which might not happen for a while because he has made an impact in the Nashville Predators’ lineup each of the last two games — he can tie Brett Sterling’s franchise IN THE SHOOTOUT (0-1) record for the longest goal streak. Sterling produced 13 goals during his nine-game spree from Dec. 2 to Dec. 29, 2006. Jeannot also can tie the AHL’s longest streak over the last 11 years. Norfolk’s Tyler Shooter Goals-Chances (0-3) SH% Johnson reeled off a nine-game goal streak March 3-24, 2002. Dominik Bokk 0-1 .000 David Cotton 0-1 .000 Tommy Novak 0-1 .000 Of the 41 players to compete for the Wolves this season, 13 also have played in the NHL this year: Frederic Allard, Alex Carrier, Jeremy Davies, Morgan Geekie, Tanner Goaltender Saves-Shots (2-3) SV% 13 Jeannot, Tyler Lewington, Sean Malone, Max McCormick, Petr Mrazek, Rem Pitlick, Antoine Bibeau (0-1) 2-3 .667 Sheldon Rempal, Drew Shore and Cole Smith.