Wolves roar past Wild
Center Adam Cracknell netted a pair of goals and added an assist to lead the Chicago Wolves to a 4-0 victory over the Iowa Wild on Sunday afternoon at Allstate Arena. The Wolves set a franchise record by running their home point streak to 17 games.
Keith Aucoin scored a goal and assisted on Cracknell's tallies, while Ty Rattie added his team-leading 22nd goal.
Jake Allen stopped all 29 shots he faced to earn his fourth shutout of the season and help the Wolves (33-17-4-2) push their record to 15-0-2-0 in their 17 home games since Dec. 8. Allen (25-12-2) picked up his second shutout in eight days to stay tied with Toronto's Drew MacIntyre for the most wins in the American Hockey League.
"They came out hard on us right away," said Wolves coach John Anderson. "They had a couple chances early and Jake was outstanding very early and very late. Once we took over the game, we were a dominant team out there."
The Wolves (33-17-4-2) needed just 1:41 to open the scoring. With the puck lying in the crease and Iowa goaltender John Curry unable to corral it, Aucoin poked it home for his eighth goal of the season, as defenseman Evan Oberg and Cracknell earned assists.
Rattie increased the lead to 2-0 at 18:11 of the first when Chris Porter collected a pass in the corner and shoveled it behind the net to Alexandre Bolduc, He flipped a backhand pass on the doorstep to Rattie for a quick strike.
Cracknell's first goal gave the Wolves a 3-0 advantage at 4:51 of the second period. Aucoin carried the puck through the left circle and sent a backhanded pass into the crease, where it deflected off Curry and Cracknell into the net.
Cracknell's next goal came on a power play at 11:17 as he lurked just outside the crease and knocked home a rebound. Sebastian Wannstrom and Aucoin picked up assists.
Curry (7-6-2) stopped 26 shots as the Wild fell to 22-24-6-4.
The Wolves hit the road at 6 p.m. Wednesday for a Midwest Division showdown with Grand Rapids. The Wolves return home on March 15 and 16 to face Texas.