Wolves skate to 6-3 win
Defenseman Derek Joslin scored his first 2 goals in a Wolves uniform and right wing Andrew Gordon added 2 goals as Chicago won 6-3 over Oklahoma City on Sunday at the Allstate Arena.
Left wing Brett Sterling contributed a goal and 2 assists to give him 401 points in his 420-game American Hockey League career. Sterling’s breakaway goal at 7:36 of the third period snapped a 3-3 tie and sent the Wolves (15-12-3-2) on their way.
Defenseman Brad Hunt scored a goal, Darren Haydar added a pair of assists, and goaltender Matt Climie (7-11-1) made a season-high 43 saves to snap a personal five-game winless streak.
“We needed something like that to get us going,” Wolves coach Scott Arniel said. “To score 6 goals and to get some bounces we haven’t been getting was very nice.”
Oklahoma City (18-13-1-3) triggered a freewheeling contest with center Josh Green’s goal at 4:27. Green claimed the puck at the blue line, skated in and fired a slapshot from the near circle that beat Climie on the stick side.
The Wolves evened the score at 10:36 when Sterling controlled the puck below the goal line and fed it to Gordon in the far circle. Gordon winged a wrist shot past Barons goaltender Yann Danis for his seventh goal.
Joslin gave the Wolves a 2-1 lead with 17:54 gone in the first when he wristed a shot from the near point that deflected off an Oklahoma City defenseman’s skate. Mark Matheson and Alex Friesen earned assists on the play.
Hunt boosted Chicago’s margin to 3-1 with a power-play goal at 10:40 of the second period. Hunt rifled a shot from just inside the blue line that Danis couldn’t handle as Haydar and Sterling picked up assists.
Green’s second marker of the day, a power-play goal set up by Taylor Fedun at 14:04 of the second, pulled the Barons within 3-2. Oklahoma City made it 3-3 at 3:14 of the third period when Teemu Hartikainen collected the rebound from Green’s shot and backhanded it past Climie.
The Wolves regained the lead for good at 7:36 when Haydar fed the puck ahead to Sterling for a breakaway. Sterling raced in on Danis and placed the puck under his arm for his team-leading 10th goal.
Joslin earned an insurance goal at 13:04 when he fired a shot from the near point and benefited when the puck ricocheted off two Oklahoma City players’ skates and trickled across the goal line. Gordon’s empty-net goal with 14 seconds left wrapped up the scoring.
Danis (13-10-3) posted 33 saves while taking the loss.
The Wolves travel to Abbotsford, British Columbia, for games Friday and Saturday before returning to the Allstate Arena on Jan. 16, for a 7 p.m. game against the Texas Stars.