2018-19 Chicago Wolves Game Notes MANITOBA AT CHICAGO NOVEMBER 18, 2018 3 p.m. THE U TOO TIME TO BATTLE BACK 2018-19 The Chicago Wolves and Manitoba Moose both must rally after enduring tough overtime losses on TALE OF THE TAPE Saturday night. The Wolves faced a pair of third-period deficits and forced overtime on Brandon Pirri’s power-play goal with 3:32 left in regulation -- only to fall when Iowa’s Gerry Fitzgerald scored 2:44 REGULAR-SEASON SERIES 1-1-0-0 Manitoba | 1-1-0-0 Chicago into extra time. Manitoba cut things even closer at Grand Rapids. The Moose pulled their goalie late and Tye McGinn came up with the equalizer with 35 seconds left in regulation -- only to fall when Grand Rapids’ Carter Camper scored 35 seconds into overtime. The Wolves and Moose are separated by only 1 point in the Central Division standings, but their 8-7-1-0 8-5-1-1 peripheral numbers differ significantly. While Chicago has outscored its opponents by 8 goals, Manitoba has been outscored by 14 goals -- tied for the worst differential in the Central Division. LEADING SCORERS MANITOBA CHICAGO NO LAG TIME FOR LAGACE Skater G A Pts Skater G A Pts Prior to Saturday night’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Iowa Wild, Chicago Wolves goaltender Max Lagace Appleton 7 8 15 Carr 9 13 22 had been out since Oct. 28 due to injury. Head coach Rocky Thompson expected Lagace to require Griffith 5 6 11 Macek 14 7 21 some time to knock off the rust, but that was not the case. Suess 6 3 9 Pirri 6 13 19 Shaw 4 4 8 Tynan 4 10 14 Lagace delivered multiple highlight-reel saves and kept the Wolves in the game when Iowa had five power-play opportunities in the second period. Put another way, Lagace’s official stats (23 saves on SERIES GAME-BY-GAME 27 shots) belied his impact. Date Location Result SF-SA PP PK Nov. 2 Bell MTS Place L, 4-5 36-20 2-7 3-5 “If not for Max Lagace playing so well, it could have been out of reach after two,” Thompson said. ”He Nov. 3 Bell MTS Place W, 4-1 28-30 0-6 4-4 was outstanding. He wasn’t rusty at all. He played really well. I was really happy with how he played.” Nov. 18 Allstate Arena 3 p.m. Feb. 2 Allstate Arena 7 p.m. Feb. 13 Bell MTS Place 7 p.m. CARR BEEPS PAST MACEK Feb. 15 Bell MTS Place 7 p.m. Left wing Daniel Carr earned assists on both of Brandon Pirri’s power-play goals Saturday night, April 13 Allstate Arena 7 p.m. which enabled Carr to leapfrog linemate Brooks Macek for the AHL’s scoring lead. Carr owns 22 April 14 Allstate Arena 4 p.m. points (9G, 13A) in 15 games while Macek stands second with 21 points. THROWING IT BACK TO 2005 Carr and Macek also rank 1-2 in plus/minus rating (+18 for Carr and +16 for Macek) while Carr shares the The Wolves and the Moose have met in the playoffs AHL lead for power-play goals (6) with Rochester’s Zach Redmond. Macek must console himself with four times -- and each time Chicago has taken the the AHL’s goal-scoring lead -- his 14 rank two ahead of Cleveland’s Zac Dalpe -- and his overwhelming series. Let’s flash back to May 25, 2005, the last lead in shooting percentage. He’s at 51.9 percent and Syracuse’s Taylor Raddysh sits at 33.3 percent. postseason meeting when the Wolves wrapped up a Calder Cup Western Conference Final sweep. Here was the the rest of the world as we knew it: LAST TWO • Paul Konerko cracked a 3-run homer to lead the SATURDAY, NOV. 17 IOWA 4, (at) CHICAGO 3 (OT) White Sox to a 4-2 win at Anaheim -- pushing their • The Wolves rallied from a pair of one-goal deficits in the third periof to force the first-place Wild division lead to 6 games on the way to the World into overtime, but the visitors scored 2:44 in the exta session to earn the extra point Series title. • The NHL lockout prevented the league from • Forward Brandon Pirri whistled home a pair of power-play goals while Reid Duke added his crowning a Stanley Cup champion for the first time fourth goal of the season since 1919 (when the Spanish flu epidemic forced the • Goaltender Max Lagace stopped 23 of 27 shots Seattle Metropolitans and Montreal Canadiens to stop after five games). • “Madagascar” was among the many movies two SUNDAY, NOV. 11 MILWAUKEE 7, (at) CHICAGO 2 days away from release timed for the Memorial Day • Forwards Daniel Carr and Tyler Wong spotted the Wolves a 2-0 lead in the first period, but weekend. It earned $556 million worldwide. Milwaukee took control from there in front of 11,794 on Veterans Day at Allstate Arena. • Carr notched his league-leading sixth power-play goal of the year while Wong delivered his first ALL-TIME RECORD BREAKDOWN tally this season Seasons Home Road Overall • Goaltender Oscar Dansk rejected 20 of 25 shots 1994-2018 32-17-0-2-6 31-28-3-2-0 63-45-3-4-6 2018-19 Chicago Wolves Game Notes 2018-19 HOME-ROAD CONTRASTS BY THE NUMBERS Regular Season Home Away Difference The Chicago Wolves are a fast-starting team. How fast? Through 15 games, the Wolves have Goals For 4.00 3.75 0.25 taken a deficit into the first intermission just once this season -- Oct. 20 at Grand Rapids when Goals Against 3.86 2.88 1.02 1 a 2-0 deficit after 20 minutes turned into a 5-3 loss. The Wolves are outscoring opponents 22-11 in the first period, which is the best margin in the AHL. Charlotte ranks second at +8. RECORD BY DIVISION On the other hand, the Wolves have been outscored by 7 goals (24-17) during the middle Record Win % stanza. That ranks as the third-worst differential in the Western Conference as only Central 5-5-1-1 .500 7 Stockton (-18) and Texas (-9) have fared worse. North 1-0-0-0 1.000 Pacific 2-0-0-0 1.000 With eight healthy defensemen on the roster now that rookie Dylan Coghlan has returned to action after a three-week recovery period, head coach Rocky Thompson must make RECORD BY MONTH tough lineup choices every night and find a way to juggle playing time. On Saturday night 9 Record Win % against Iowa, that meant Jimmy Oligny and Zac Leslie sat out for the first time this season. That leaves the Wolves with nine players who have seen action in all 15 games: Forwards , October 6-2-0-1 .722 Daniel Carr Reid November 2-3-1-0 .417 Duke, Keegan Kolesar, Brooks Macek, Curtis McKenzie, Brandon Pirri, Gage Quinney and T.J. December 0-0-0-0 .000 Tynan and defenseman Nic Hague. January 0-0-0-0 .000 February 0-0-0-0 .000 Brooks Macek continues to lead the AHL with 14 goals as the 26-year-old from Winnipeg March 0-0-0-0 .000 has maintained nearly a goal-per-game pace over the season’s first six weeks. As word April 0-0-0-0 .000 14 has gotten out about Macek, teams are making it tougher on him to find room to deliver. Not only has Macek gone with a goal in the last two games (the first time that has happened since the first two games of the year on Oct. 5-6 in Colorado), he hasn’t taken a shot on goal in either IN OVERTIME (2-1) game. His 14 goals are not a franchise record for most goals after 15 games: Steve Maltais produced Goaltender Saves-Shots SV% 22 goals in the Wolves’ first 15 games of 1995-96. Oscar Dansk (2-0) 7-7 1.000 Max Lagace (0-1) 1-2 .500 The Wolves boast the AHL’s top three performers in plus/minus rating -- starting with left wing Daniel Carr at +18. Right wing Brooks Macek is next at +16 while center Gage 18 Quinney checks in at No. 3 with a +14 (tied with Rochester defenseman Lawrence Pilut). IN THE SHOOTOUT (0-1) To get a sense of how impressive it is for a trio of forwards to be leading the league in this category, a defenseman has won the AHL’s plus/minus crown each of the last six seasons. Shooter Goals-Chances SH% T.J. Tynan 1-1 1.000 If you’ve suited up for the Wolves, chances are better than 50/50 that you’ve Erik Brännström 0-1 .000 Daniel Carr 0-1 .000 also played in the National Hockey League. When Daniel Carr, Curtis Reid Duke 0-1 .000 353 McKenzie and Zach Whitecloud made their Wolves debuts on Oct. 5, they Brooks Macek 0-1 .000 became the 351st, 352nd and 353rd players (out of 615 Wolves all-time) who have competed for the Stefan Matteau 0-1 .000 Wolves and in the NHL. That 57.4 percent overall success rate is even higher among goaltenders. Of Brandon Pirri 0-1 .000 the 54 players who’ve tended the net for the Wolves over the years -- starting with original goaltenders Ray LeBlanc and Wendell Young and continuing through current Wolves Max Lagace Goaltender Saves-Shots SV% and Oscar Dansk -- 37 boast NHL experience (68.5 percent).