 |
Power
Play |
20TH
- 15.2 |
Penalty
Killing |
5TH
- 84.7 |
FORWARDS |
TIM
BRENT |
18-43-61
(+11) |
KURTIS
McLEAN |
22-32-54
(+14) |
NATHAN
SMITH |
22-28-50
(-6) |
DEFENSEMEN |
ALEX
GOLIGOSKI |
10-28-38
(+15) |
MARK
ARDELAN |
7-20-27
(-2) |
BEN
LOVEJOY |
2-18-20
(+16) |
GOALTENDERS |
JOHN
CURRY |
24-12-3
(3 SO)
2.23 GA
.915 PCT |
|
DAVID
BROWN |
9-7-1
(0 SO)
2.34 GA
.913 PCT |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
WB/Scranton
at Chicago |
|
|
SCHEDULE |
| 1 |
MAY
29 |
WB/SCRANTON
4 - CHICAGO 5 |
SEED
1 |
2 |
JUN
1 |
WB/SCRANTON
2 - CHICAGO 4 |
SEED
1 |
47-26-3-4
(101) |
3 |
JUN
4 |
CHICAGO
6 - WB/SCRANTON 1 |
53-22-2-3
(111) |
| |
4 |
JUN
6 |
CHICAGO
2 - WB/SCRANTON 3 |
|
| |
5 |
JUN
7 |
CHICAGO
1 - WB/SCRANTON 5 |
|
| |
6 |
JUN
10 |
WB/SCRANTON
2 - CHICAGO 5 |
|
| |
7 |
JUN
12 |
WB/SCRANTON
at CHICAGO |
|
| Chicago
Wins Series 4-2 |
|
SERIES
PREVIEW
|
| by Matt Chin & Brian Jennings - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
The Chicago Wolves are back in the Calder Cup Finals after a few years’ hiatus in reaching their goal of getting their second AHL Calder Cup Championship since folding into the AHL. The team won two Turner Cup championships before the demise of the old International Hockey League the first in 1998 and the second in 2000.
Since joining the AHL the Wolves have only missed the playoffs once in franchise and have made two previous appearances in the Finals. They won it in 2000 in seven games against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and were swept out by the Philadelphia Phantoms in 2005.
Look for the Chicago Wolves to come out fast at home as they did throughout the playoffs. Of the ten games played at home the team has won eight. But the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have the Wolves number in holding them winless in the four times that the teams have faced each other since the Wolves joined the league in 2001, although the teams did not face each other during the 2007-08 regular season.
In goal for the Wolves will be rookie Ondrej Pavelec who has been the workhorse for all the playoff games winning 12 of the 18 games that he was in. He has played extremely well even in his losses and has only looked average in only three of the games. The Czech Republic-native has posted a 2.17 goals-against average with a .928 save percentage with two shutouts to date.
On defense look for veteran Joel Kwiatkowski to lead the team at the blueline as he is a premier scoring threat from the point. Kwiatkowski has scored a power-play tally in each of the last four games while holding the league postseason defensive lead at seven goals.
Up front two players have resume’s that goes a mile long with AHL MVP and Triple Crown winner Jason Krog, who couldn’t have picked a better time in the goal scoring column with nine goals in the last seven games with a total of 19 assists throughout the playoffs. Captain Darren Haydar tied the AHL record for most postseason goals at 51 and is only two points away from tying the all-time points-leader at 118.
In addition the club has Brett Sterling and Joe Motzko who hope to try to get healthy after missing the last few games due to injury. The fact the team last two talented players and still won shows you how much depth is on the team as teammates can step in at anytime and anywhere to pull up the slack of these.
The team’s special teams have been awesome in the playoffs. If Head Coach John Anderson had his way he would play the whole game on the power-play or even at times on the penalty kill. Twenty-seven of their 57 goals scored in the post season have been on the man-advantage with a 22.7 percent power-play efficiency rating. As for the penalty kill the team allowed only 12 goals in 111 chances but the problem number there is the amount of penalties. The team needs to stay out of the box. If they do so the game will play out to their advantage and the Wolves will not have given the Penguins any reason to get the upper hand.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Brian Jennings)
Penguins survive Pirates attack, hope to ambush Wolves
Scranton enters the Calder Cup finals by winning in dramatic fashion in the Eastern Conference finals over the Portland Pirates. The Penguins not only had to win Game 6 in come-from-behind fashion after being down 3-0 in the third period to not only tied the game at three, but then went on to win just 20 seconds into overtime. The Penguins also won Game 7 with only 31 seconds remaining in regulation as they took a 3-2 decision.
Former Portland Pirates star Tim Brent has led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton offense all playoff season long. Brent currently leads all playoff scorers with 11 goals (20 points). He along with Chris Minard is tied for second in the playoffs with three game winning goals each. Brent is second in power play goals (6) only to Chicago’s Darren Haydar (7).
The blueline has received a huge boost from Alex Goligoski who leads all defenseman in the playoffs with 20 points (3 goals). Marc Ardelan (3 goals) and Ben Lovejoy (1 goal) have also kicked in on offense and will be counted on to help counteract the Wolves high powered offense.
Speaking of offense, this series pits the two highest scoring teams in the playoffs. The Penguins have scored 61 to Chicago’s 57. Both teams have solid power play units. The Penguins are currently rated fourth at 18.9 percent, while Chicago is tops at 22.7 percent. If the Penguins have a weakness it is on the penalty kill. The Penguins currently rank fourteenth out of sixteen teams (79.7 percent) while Chicago is fifth (89.1 percent).
Scranton’s John Curry has been solid and has had to make the big save when the team needed it. Curry, a rookie, is eleventh is goals against average (2.47) and is tied for twelfth in save percentage (.908). If the Penguins are to win their first Calder Cup in team history Curry will have to be even better against the favored Wolves.
|
|
| Game
1 |
WB/Scranton
4 - Chicago 5 |
| by Matt Chin - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Chicago
Leads Series 1-0 |
Rosemont,
IL
- There was something very offensive going on in the west end of the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois Thursday night and not in a disgusting way. Of the nine goals that were scored, and one key disallowed goal late in the game, seven went in that net as the Chicago Wolves defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 5-4 in an uncharacteristic high-scoring game for a championship finals game.
In the first period the challenge was on for the offensive-minded Wolves and the defensive-touted Penguins. But after five minutes of "getting to know you," Chicago scored on what else, the power-play. Winger Jesse Schultz parked himself to the right of Penguins goaltender John Curry and waited as the puck was quickly two-passed. Schultz was uncovered and he had all the time in the world to sweep the goal in without being touched.
Minutes later the Wolves got a big confidence boost when they killed consecutive penalties that saw them down two men for almost a minute and a half.
With five minutes left in the period, Chicago rang up the meter with two more goals. The first one came when all the players started to converge around Curry and chaos broke out. The puck was going all over the place until center Kevin Doell punched it in. At the 18:31 mark, in almost the same fashion, the Wolves peppered the goal area with shots and rebounds that had the Penguins scrambling and diving to try to clear to puck out. Eventually the defenders left the goal area unattended as winger Jordan LaVallee was open to find a shot through the goal mouth to give the Wolves a seemingly commanding three-goal lead to end the period.
But the second period saw the tide change a bit for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton team. Defenseman Alex Goligoski was stellar for the Penguins as he got his team the first tally and he figured in every goal for his team. With 1:11 expired in the first period Goligoski received a centering pass as a Wolves defensemen was being split off by his teammates. Once in the clear the Penguins defender fired a wrister that got in past Wolves goaltender Ondrej Pavelec. Just a little over a minute and change later the Penguins scored on the power-play drew the game to within one from a goal by center Kurtis McLean.
But again the Wolves countered as defenseman Joel Kwiatkowski scored his eighth goal of the playoffs on a top shelf blister from the right side face-off dot from twenty feet out. The second period scoring finally ended when the Penguins Ryan Stone scored the team’s second power-play goal of the game with the team down just by a single goal after falling behind by three earlier in the game.
"I think coming out in the second we wanted to make a statement to ourselves and prove to ourselves that we can play," said Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Head Coach Todd Richards. "The first twenty minutes you know down three to nothing, they carried the play and they were the better team. But I think in the second we had some good opportunities, got ourselves back into the game and I think it proved to us that it gave us some confidence that we can play with these guys and if we can put together a good solid 60 minutes, we got a good chance in beating these guys."
The third period was pretty equal for both teams except for one call, which could have changed the game late in the period. The first goal and eventual game-winner was scored when Chicago was just coming off the penalty-kill and still on the attack. The puck came to the Wolves Bryan Little who fired a rebound that hit the crossbar and post before settling in behind the goal-line.
Late in the period the Penguins seemingly lulled to Wolves to sleep with their up-and-down play. The Penguins pulled to within one when they scored by drawing Pavelec out of the goal, which enabled McLean to take the guided puck from Stone for the easy score to draw the team back to within one.
With 2:20 left it looked like the Penguins tied it up but the goal was waived off by referee Brian Pochmara. Pochmara ruled the puck had been kicked into the goal by using an intentional motion and by rule was not allowed. Despite the ruling Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had an excellent opportunity again as they finished the game on the power-play but they couldn’t get the job done on that opportunity.
"Watching it on the JumboTron it doesn’t look like it (was kicked in), said Richards. "Looking at it on replay it’s a tough call. His ruling on the ice was that he kicked it. Still watching the replay there’s doubt in my mind that it was a kicking motion. [It] looked like he was coming in to stop, but that’s the call. That wasn’t the difference in the game [or] difference in tying it up. It doesn’t help when you spot a team three goals in the first period and you’re a good team."
With the win the Wolves take a one-game lead in the series despite that fact the Wolves have room for improvement.
"We have got to play much better defensively, I wasn’t happy with that," said Chicago Head Coach John Anderson. "There were a lot of chances on both ends and I know that they will tighten up defensively because that is one of their fortes and I know that we can play better defensively. The truth is the scouting reports were bang on with them. We knew what to expect but again we have been off a little bit, we haven’t played them [this year]. Until players see exactly what is happening out there, they don’t believe you so now they will believe us, hopefully we will do better next game."
From the goaltending standpoint Curry stopped 31 of the 36 he faced while Pavelec was almost even going 30 stops on 34 shots. Curry also stopped Wolves center Steve Martins on a penalty shot opportunity in the first period which almost got past the netminder.
The Wolves were 50% on the power-play going with four chances while the Penguins scored on two of their seven chances.
Game Notes:
While top forwards Brett Sterling and Joe Motzko missed Game 1 for Chicago, they might be back on the ice soon.
"(They are) day to day, I think probably I could have played both of them today," said Anderson. "I want to make sure, maybe Sunday. I want to make sure a player is absolutely ready because if he goes in and plays two or three shifts and then can’t go on that hurts the team since it takes someone out of the lineup, so somebody else has to double shift. I want to make 100% sure that they are correct, and I think they appreciate that. I know they want to play, but I want to make sure that we’re all set that they can play a full game."
Before the game, a moment of silence was observed for Vancouver Canucks defenseman Luc Bourdon who saw AHL action with the Manitoba Moose. Bourdon was killed in a motorcycle accident earlier in the day.
The win by the Wolves over the Penguins was the first in five meetings since Chicago joined the AHL.
With a point tonight, Wolves Captain Darren Haydar is one point away from tying the AHL’s playoff points leader.
With tonight’s goal, defenseman joel Kwiatkowski picked-up his fifth power-play goal in as many games.
Going into tonight’s game, both rookie goalies were tied with twelve postseason wins.
In the playoffs this season Chicago has three players amongst the top 15 leading point scorers while Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has six.
Contact the author at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
|
|
| Game
2 |
WB/Scranton
2 - Chicago 4 |
| by
Matt Chin - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Chicago
Leads Series 2-0 |
Rosemont,
IL
- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Head Coach Todd Richards said after the Game 1 his team needed to play a tighter checking game as they have done all season. After a tough start they did, but the results were the same after the Chicago Wolves defeated the Penguins by the score of 4-2 in the second game of Calder Cup Finals. With the win the Wolves took a 2-0 lead in the series that now heads to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for, potentially, three games.
The scoring started exactly like the last game with Chicago scoring the first three goals of the game. At the 7:35 mark Wolves Captain Darren Haydar took a neutral zone turnover and lifted the puck up over Peguins goaltender John Curry’s glove shoulder for the game’s first tally. With the score Haydar broke the AHL playoff goal record of 51 goals that was previously held by Jody Gage, who is currently the general manager of the Rochester Americans.
Just under six minutes later Haydar rewrote the record books again. Curry made the initial toe save that slowly rebounded just a few feet to his right. Haydar, who was perched next to the goal, scooped the puck and pulled it in for the goal. This point not only added to the record he had just broken, but also put him ahead of the 119 points record in the playoffs that was held by AHL Hall of Famer Willie Marshall since 1971.
“I think he likes to win,” said Chicago Wolves Coach John Anderson of his captain. “He is so tired of being pushed around and stuff like that. He said I am going to make a statement. “I’m Darren Haydar and I am small. There is not much to me but I am going to be the best player that I can be”. And he really picks our team up and that is why he is the captain.”
From the time of Haydar’s second goal through most of the second period nothing much happened. Both teams played the puck physically but the play on the ice was back and forth. This is what the coaches expected in the first game, a situation where the teams should have started the game to feel the plays out. The cautious play almost put a lull into the game but the hard-checking kept the 7,023 in attendance interested almost all the time.
Suddenly at the 14:03 Wolves winger Colin Stuart spotted the puck in front of Curry and elevated it over the netminder for Chicago’s third straight goal of the game. Stuart crawled off the ice in a dazed state earlier after Ryan Stone checked him hard on the chest in open ice that caused him to fall flat on the ice. At this point the Wolves were up three to nothing and they were playing solid defensively.
“No question, I think we saw room for improvement,” said Anderson. “But I guess that’s just me being a perfectionist. I think we might have held them to thirteen shots in the first two periods. That is good for us. We want to keep them under twenty-five so we did the best we could. I thought they played way harder, I thought we played way harder. It was a tougher game.”
But suddenly in the third period the Penguins got a break as the Wolves were called for two penalties giving the Penguins a two-man advantage for almost 30 seconds. The opportunity paid off quickly to get the Penguins back into the game. Wilkes-Barre scored two goals within the span of both power plays. Both were caused when traffic was finally created in front of the net for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Defenseman Mark Ardelan scored the first goal as the team peppered Ondrej Pavelec. Just 37 seconds later team playoff goal leader Tom Brent shot his 12 goal of the playoffs to bring the Penguins within one with three-quarters of a period still left to play. Despite the quick scores, Pavelec was solid and kept the Penguins from tying the game.
“He was spectacular tonight,” said Anderson as he praised Pavelec. “The goals they scored on… I mean he is only so big. He can only cover so much of the net. The way they scored those two goals,” said Anderson in reference to the penalties that were called to allow the Penguins to get back into the game.
But the Penguins couldn’t do anything with the momentum as team Captain Nathan Smith was called for two penalties late in the period to take away any advantages that the team could muster. Obviously frustrated, Richards fumed, “You are spending your energy trying to kill penalties instead of trying to get that goal…. no further comment.”
The Wolves padded their lead when Joel Kwiatkowski picked up his sixth power play goal in as many games with helpers from Haydar and Joey Crabb.
Due to the improved defensive play there was a drop in shots. Curry stopped 24 of 28 while Pavelec shutdown 21 of 23 that he faced.
“(It’s) better than being down two zip,” said Anderson about the win. “We only played two games, all you can be. Especially with the format 2-3-2 it is almost imperative that we win the first two games and we do what we have to do.”
Game Notes:
Anderson believes injured forwards Brett Sterling and Joe Motzko will be in the lineup for Game 3 on Wednesday night.
“Again they are day to day,” said Anderson. “I’m glad we have a couple days off because I think they will both be in on Wednesday. It is sorely needed at this point. The guys have filled in and just done everything we asked them. I really appreciate that. We pushed them right to the limits there. When we get both those guys back on Wednesday, it will just change everybody’s roles back to what they were supposed to be. I think it will help us out defensively even more.”
With the two losses in Chicago, Wilkes-Barre has lost their last eight Calder Cup Finals games dating back to 2001. In that year they lost Games 5 and 6 to the Saint John Flames and were swept by the Milwaukee Admirals in 2004. Current coach Richards was an assistant with the Admirals. The league record for consecutive games lost in the finals is ten games.
With an assist on Brent’s goal, Alex Goligoski tied the AHL record for points in a playoff season at 25 for defensemen.
Wolves goaltender Ondrej Pavelec now has the sole lead in this season’s playoffs in wins with 13.
Contact the author at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
|
|
| Game
3 |
Chicago
6 - WB/Scranton 1 |
| by
Matt Chin - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Chicago
Leads Series 3-0 |
Wilkes-Barre,
PA
- The Chicago Wolves are one game closer to sweeping the
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins after they took Game Three
of the Calder Cup championship by a score of 6-1. But
the game didn’t start off too cherry for the visiting
team.
As we have seen all through the playoffs, scoring first
is always an important momentum builder especially when
you are playing on your own house and the Penguins did
that. Center Kurtis McLean took a centering-pass from
Tim Brent on the odd-man rush and was able to shoot the
puck on in low past Wolves netminder Ondrej Pavelec by
the near post at the 10:44 mark. The first period was
dominated by the Penguins as they were able to stay close
to the Wolves and pinch them away from the puck. Both
team showed discipline as only two penalties were called
with one given to each team. The Penguins dominated the
shots with a 12 to 5 margin.
But the Wolves didn’t give up, and boy did they not give
up. You almost felt the sorry for the 6,419 diehard fans
in the Wachovia Arena in Scranton as a large pin deflated
any chance for the team in the game as the Wolves put
up an amazing five spot on the board in the middle frame.
If we said that the Penguins dominated the first, what
can we say what the Wolves did in the middle frame? It
could be said they took out their weapons of mass destruction
and fired at will into the Penguins net.
The scoring onslaught began as defenseman Joel Kwiatkowski
registered a goal off a feed from Guillaume Desbiens.
This was Kwiatkowski’s sixth straight game with a goal
and his tenth of the playoffs.
In a play reminiscent of a jai-alia game, Bryan Little
took the puck over the blueline in the far lane with some
pressure. He spun around and lofted a backhanded pass
toward the net where Jesse Schultz scooped the puck in
the air in one motion and was able to get the puck in
the net past Wilkes-Barre netminder John Curry without
the biscuit ever hitting the ice. This goal gave the Wolves
their first lead of the game 6:20 into the period.
Just over seven minutes later, Schultz did it again as
Captain Darren Haydar drove to the net and made Curry
commit to the player and not the puck. At that point Haydar
dished a saucer-pass to Schultz who was waiting next to
the open net for the score.
Persistence and perseverance paid off for the Wolves as
the Penguins couldn’t get the puck out of their zone.
Chicago battered Curry in front of the net as Jordan LaVallee
poked the puck while diving over Deryk Engelland. Curry
made the initial save but as Engelland dove to move the
player, the rebound appeared to hit his stick and bounced
in over the goalie’s pads. The goal was given to LaVallee.
The scoring in the period ended as the Wolves fourth-line
got into the scoring action. Center Andre Deveaux drove
to the net with all the Penguins players trailing. He
got the shot off but the Penguin’s tried to clear the
puck out but in came center Matt Anderson who charged
toward the net and was able to force the puck in. This
was the third goal in a three minute timeframe.
What a difference this period was. After being out-shot
in the first, the Wolves came back with 19 shots on goal
to the Penguin’s 7.
In the third winger Mike Hamilton, making only his fourth
appearance in a Wolves uniform, took the puck from blueline
to blueline and headed toward the net. He put on the breaks,
slowed down and found his spot in past David Brown who
had replaced Curry at the start of the period.
P:avelec by far had one of his best games in this series
as he stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced, including two
spectacular one on one opportunities. On the other side
Curry had his worst as he was 19 of 24 while Brown stopped
7 of 8.
This game by far was the least penalized of the series
with each team having two power play chances with the
Penguins as the only team to score on the man-advantage.
A look at the names on the scoring table showed names
that you normally don’t see scoring. And for the Wolves
to score six goals with three important players out with
injuries is just amazing. With everyone else scoring,
league MVP Jason Krog hasn’t scored a goal in the last
five games but is able to assist as the team has pulled
together and taken any slack if that is considered the
only negative with the team.
Hamilton moved up a line and contributed to the only goal
of the third while Guillaume Desbiens came in for the
first time in the playoffs due to an injury to Steve Martins.
Brett Sterling and Joe Motzko were still held out of the
game as they are still day to day.
Game Notes:
Jesse Schultz, with his two goals, became the fifth Wolves
player to have a multiple goal game in this year’s playoffs.
The AHL made a scoring change in the last game and gave
an assist to Penguins defensemen Alex Goligoski on the
team’s first goal. That broke the league record for points
in a playoff season by a defenseman and with the addition
of one point tonight his total is 27. Goligoski has a
point in every goal scored by the Penguins in the series
while putting one in by himself.
This loss was the Penguins tenth consecutive loss in the
Calder Cup Final appearances which ties the futility record
set by New Haven.
With an assist tonight Jason Krog tied a Wolves record
in playoff points that is held by Rob Brown.
Contact the author at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
|
|
| Game
4 |
Chicago
2 - WB/Scranton 3 |
| by
Matt Chin - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Chicago
Leads Series 3-1 |
Wilkes-Barre,
PA
- Everyone says that the fourth game to win and sweep a series is always the toughest. That statement was proven once again as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defeated the Chicago Wolves by a score of 3-2 to send Calder Cup Finals to a fifth game.
This was the type of game that the Penguins have showed all season to their fans at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza as they played a close to the body, checking game that kept the Wolves from developing the offense that they are known for. Mainly because of that the home team did not disappoint the 6,718 in attendance tonight.
This was a contest that saw all five goals scored on the man-advantage. With so much at stake for each club the play was edgier as the number of goals was more than the total penalties called in Game 3 of the series.
The win also stopped an embarrassing streak of ten straight Calder Cup Finals losses for Wilkes-Barre. If the Penguins lost this game it would’ve been their second straight finals in which they would have been swept. The last time they were swept it was by the Milwaukee Admirals when current Wolves captain Darren Haydar was Milwaukee’s team leader.
The first period, like the game before, was dominated by the Penguins as they scored first on a face-off win that went to Chris Minard for his first goal of the series. The Wolves were down two players and a stick that was broken on the play, effectively making it a five-on-two advantage. The period showed that the Penguins had to throw everything out that they had if they wanted to continue on in the series. They came out firing on all cylinders and it showed in the chippiness and physicality of their play.
Would the second see the Wolves bring out the offensive power like they did with a five goal score outburst two nights before? Well they tried but the Penguins struck again to thwart Chicago’s plans. Center David Gove was in the right place at the right time when Ben Lovejoy fired a puck toward the net and Gove deflected it in. Just as it had on the first goal Colin Stuart’s stick broke leaving the Wolves to scramble.
Despite being down by a pair of goals the Wolves started and rally and were led on the attack by their captain. Wilkes-Barre gave the Wolves a power play when Tim Wallace was called for a trip. Down by a pair Chicago set-up their man advantage and attacked the zone. All five players on the ice touched the puck at least once as they zig-zagged the puck across the ice toward the net where Haydar had the last touch to get the puck past John Curry.
Suddenly the game was time when Haydar stuck again. The all-time AHL playoff points leader came out from behind the net and backhanded a shot to the far side into the net to tie the game up at two goals apiece. This goal tied Haydar for the team record in a single playoff season at 12 goals. Of the 12 goals, a record 10 were scored on the power play.
In the final frame, the Wolves did themselves in—and oddly enough it was Haydar who led to the final goal when he was called for a tripping. The Penguins got a prime goal from their captain when Nathan Smith had the puck in close behind the net. Smith tried to center a pass out but when Chicago defenseman Brian Sipotz went down to try the block the puck but it hit his skate and went into the goal.
Halfway through the period the Wolves had that one play that could have turned the game around. Pavelec made a save that fooled almost everyone in the arena as Tim Brent had a big empty net to get the puck in but the Wolves netminder stretched fully across the net to stop the puck. However the Wolves were unable to rally around the stop and the game ended as the Penguins never trailed at all in the night.
The shots in the game were pretty much at a minimum and the penalties were high and that is exactly how the Penguins like it. Curry was 17 of 19 in the save category while across the ice Pavelec went 20 for 23. Both goaltenders played well and Curry showed no ill affects from the bad period in Game 3 where he gave up five goals. On the power play, the Penguins converted 3 for 7 while the Wolves went 2 for 5.
Thanks to the win the Wilkes-Barre side will host Game 5 on Saturday in their arena in an attempt to send the series back to Chicago.
Game Notes:
Penguins defenseman Alex Goligoski’s point streak came to an end as he was held pointless in tonight’s contest. His 27 points in the season’s playoff broke the old record by a defenseman in the AHL. This is the first time in the series that he did not figure in a goal.
With an assist on Haydar’s first goal, Jason Krog broke the Wolves record for playoff points with 34. Haydar continued his current points streak at 12 games while linemate Krog continued at 13.
Wolves winger Brett Sterling finally returned to the lineup after a lower body injury that occurred in the last game of the Rockford series. Steve Martins and Joe Motzko are still out with injuries.
|
|
| Game
5 |
Chicago
1 - WB/Scranton 5 |
| Brian Jennings - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Chicago
Leads Series 3-2 |
Wilkes-Barre,
PA
- If the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins will just supposed to roll over and die in their own arena, and allow the Chicago Wolves to win the Calder Cup on their ice, someone forgot to tell the Penguins.
After being blown out in Game 3 the ‘Pens turned the tables on Chicago and blew out the Wolves 5-1 to creep back into the best-of-seven series. With the win the Penguins sent the series back to Chicago to extend the hockey season at least a couple more days. After the Wolves and ‘Pens played to a scoreless first period, no one in the building could have thought that Scranton would win so convincingly, but it happened.
In the second period, the Wolves’ Bryan Little tucked home a backhand shot past Penguins goaltender John Curry after a mad scramble in front of the net to give Chicago a 1-0 lead at 11:20. For the rest of the second period, it was all Penguins as Scranton scored the game’s next three goals, the first one coming off of the stick of Dave Gove who also tucked home a rebound in front of Wolves goaltender Ondrej Pavelec to tie the game.
Connor James gave Scranton the lead when he went down the right wing and blew a shot by Pavelec for a 2-1 lead at 14:46. Then, with just 31 seconds left in the period, Mark Ardelan broke down the left wing and took advantage of a line change by Chicago while the Penguins were on the power play. Ardelan fought off a defender, cut in front of Pavelec, and lifted a backhand shot past him for a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.
The fun didn’t end there for the Penguins as Luca Caputi broke in on a two-on-one and snapped a shot past Pavelec for a 4-1 lead. Than Ben Lovejoy joined in on the power play and floated a shot in on net that just got the left corner for a 5-1 lead.
As the game wore on, tensions grew and grew as both teams took jabs at one another towards the end of the game, no doubt from Scranton’s end to let Chicago know the series is long from over.
After the game, Penguins Head Coach Todd Richards talked about the team’s turnaround in the second period after the Pens went down 1-0.
“(Chicago’s Darren) Haydar, (Jason) Krog, and (Jesse) Schultz had the puck for about 40 seconds, and John (Curry) made a few big saves on them. The response on the bench was much different than in Game 3. I don’t think there was any panic on our part. Our leaders said the right things, and did the right things. They were the guys that took over the team at that point.”
The real turning point in Richard’s eyes was the goal by James.
“James just makes a great individual play, bringing the puck down the ice, and scoring a great goal, it really got the crowd involved.”
After James’s goal and the Penguins took over the game, Richards knew the rest of the night would be tough sledding for Chicago.
“In our building, we play a physical style of play, a tight checking style of play, and when you’re down it can be demoralizing for any team coming into our building.”
Wolves Head Coach John Anderson knew that his team did not play well defensively, especially on James’s goal.
“We made two horrible defensive mistakes. We got caught on the one-on-one break. James made a great play on it going high over Pavelec. We had some opportunities, but just couldn’t score,” said Anderson. “It was a see-saw battle until they poured it on. It was probably the best game of the series up until the end there.”
The thought of still having to win the series after blowing Games 4 and 5 is not getting to Anderson, especially at the thought that it might be a historic comeback on Scranton’s part.
“I haven’t thought about it really,” said Anderson. “Who cares? I just want to win the series.”
Coming home to a raucous crowd in Chicago is music to Anderson, and the rest of the Wolves ears.
“We expect our fans to be great. They always are. Both buildings bring a lot of passion,” said Anderson “I think it’s wonderful. Both cities deserve a championship team.”
Amen.
Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com
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| Game
6 |
WB/Scranton 2 - Chicago 5 |
| by
Matt Chin - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Chicago
Wins Series 4-2 |
Rosemont,
IL
- With a win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins the Chicago Wolves are the 2008 American Hockey League Calder Cup champions. Chicago won the series by defeating the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins by the score of 5-2 and took the series four games to two. The winning effort was powered by center Jason Krog who had a hat trick and an assist to lead his team to its second AHL title and the team’s fourth league trophy in its fourteen year history.
In the first two periods the teams played pretty evenly throughout. The Wolves were the first to strike late in the first on their specialty, the power play. The Penguins Ben Lovejoy was sent off for a holding and as the infraction was winding down defenseman Nathan Oystrick fired a shot from the point that got past Penguins netminder John Curry at the 17:39 mark.
In the first two periods the shots were coming at the teams in a flurry. The play went up and down but when it settled, both netminders were subjected to a flash of shots in each single shift. Down by a goal already, a mistake proved costly to the Penguins when they tried to clear the puck out from behind their net. The puck was intercepted at the slot in front of Curry by Krog who sized up the goal and fired to puck on in for the second goal of the night for the Wolves at the 2:05 mark of the middle frame.
Down 2-0, the Penguins fought back as Wilkes-Barre captain Nathan Smith fired a shot from the near slot that hit Chicago defenseman Brian Fahey. Fahey, who was turned around to block another player, was hit in the back of the head by the shot and the puck arced over Wolves goaltender Ondrej Pavelec. The puck landed in front of that net and winger Luca Captuti tipped the puck in to cut the lead to one.
A couple of minutes later the Wolves were in another frequent dilemma the suffered during the playoffs, a two-man deficit. Wilkes-Barre Coach Todd Richards called a timeout which paid off as they scored when defenseman Mark Ardelan fired a shot in front of the blueline that got past a screened Pavelec. Both teams poured out the shots with the Wolves getting the advantage in the period 14 to 12 in the second period.
Early in the final period the Penguins almost had a chance on a shot but it nipped the post and deflected away. The shot was so close to going in Pavelec tapped the goal posts in gratification and relief. While one might think the Penguins would build on their chance, at that point the Wolves began their domination of the Penguins. At the 4:44 mark Krog got his second of the game as he fired the game-winner to the top-shelf right underneath the crossbar after he received a long pass from Jesse Schultz. Krog finished his trifecta when he was able to get the breakaway goal into the net and hats started to fly.
For safe measure winger Brett Sterling placed the bookend on Krog’s goals by topping the score with a little over two minutes remaining in the game.
The Allstate Arena crowd of 9,808 witnessed their second Calder Cup victory at home on the 10th year anniversary of the Chicago Wolves first ever championship in the IHL when they won the Turner Cup. Steve Martins was the one player who was on that team as well as this one.
On top of winning the AHL Regular Season MVP, Krog was named the Playoff MVP with 12 goals and 26 assists. Krog commented on how his team has played in the playoffs.
"Teams tried every way to beat us this year," said Krog. "No matter what they threw at us we seem to modify our game and come at them and be all right. The more we got pushed up against the wall or backed into the corner, the better we played."
"When you are playing with great players it elevates your game. The coaching staff here gives me every chance to play in every situation," said Krog. "I’m playing with another MVP (Darren) Haydar, [and others like] (Jesse) Schultz, (Brett) Sterling, (Joe) Motzko…you can go down the lineup also. When you are playing with guys like that your game is going to be elevated."
Both goaltenders were amazing in Game 6 and that is what you expect from a finals. Pavelec went 25 of 27 in the save department while Curry was 33 for 38. Pavelec’s record in the playoffs was 16-8. The total shots were 38 for Chicago and 27 for Wilkes-Barre. A total of only six penalties were called with each team going 1 for 2 on the power play.
This was Wilkes-Barre’s third trip to the finals in its nine years in the league and they have lost every series dating back to 2001.
Haydar was given a token of appreciation from AHL President/CEO Dave Andrews for breaking the playoff goal and points record this season.
"Obviously it starts from the back end out," said Wolves GM Kevin Cheveldayoff. "When you got a player like Pavelec in there at 20 years old, the poise and the confidence that he has in himself, it just translates outward to the rest of the hockey team. It became apparent that we were going to ride on his shoulders and that he was going to be the guy. The [team] just fed off that from the beginning, right to the end."
To see a guy like [defenseman Arturs) Kulda make that pass in the third period to spring Krog free for the goal. That’s amazing. That’s a 19-year-old kid, {he) comes in here and plays every single game in the playoffs. It’s a credit to the Atlanta scouting staff, it’s the credit to our coaching staff, and it’s the credit to the players. Really it’s all about the players."
Wolves fans could learn to take winning for granted, and the team is already looking forward to 2008-09.
"Absolutely (we have started planning for next year), you know it is a never-ending process here," said Cheveldayoff. "But we are going to enjoy this and training camp isn’t really that far away."
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|
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Power
Play |
3RD
- 20.8 |
Penalty
Killing |
7TH
- 84.4 |
FORWARDS |
JASON
KROG |
39-73-112
(+16) |
BRETT
STERLING |
38-33-71
(+7) |
JOE
MOTZKO |
37-43-70
(+10) |
DEFENSEMEN |
JOEL
KWIATKOWSKI |
21-29-50
(+23) |
NATHAN
OYSTRICK |
15-28-43
(+8) |
BRIAN
FAHEY |
14-23-37
(+13) |
GOALTENDERS |
ONDREJ
PAVELEC |
33-16-3
(2 SO)
2.77 GA
.911 PCT |
|
ROBERT
GHERSON |
8-6-0
(2 SO)
2.61 GA
.914 PCT |
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