Harper, Wolves rally past Admirals

MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Chicago Wolves rallied for 4 third-period goals, including a pair from leading scorer Shane Harper, to produce a 4-1 victory over Milwaukee on Friday night at the Bradley Center.

Not only did the streaking Wolves (38-26-6-1), who have won nine of their last 10 games, cut their magic number to 4 for a Calder Cup playoff berth, they clinched the Amtrak Rivalry trophy with their seventh win over the Admirals in the 12-game series.

Rookie Wolves goalie Jordan Binnington (23-14-4) posted a career-best 39 saves, including multiple stops on breakaways.

The Admirals (33-28-7-6) opened the scoring 8:59 into the game when right wing Viktor Arvidsson - recently named to the AHL's all-rookie team - capitalized on a turnover and blistered a wrister off the crossbar and in for his 20th goal of the season.

The Wolves tied it at 1-1 just 2:20 into the third on Doty's second goal with the teams. Defenseman Jani Hakanpaa rushed the puck up the ice, rebounded his own blocked shot and carried it beneath the goal line, where he saucered a pass that Doty redirected past Admirals goaltender Marek Mazanec (18-18-8, 30 saves).

The Wolves took the lead on Harper's power-play goal at 10:40 as the team took advantage of a high-sticking double minor on Mark Van Guilder. Brent Regner worked the puck to Magnus Paajarvi at the right faceoff dot and he punched a pass toward the crease where Harper swooped in to redirect it over Mazanec's glove.

Paajarvi again set up Harper for an insurance goal with 2:25 to play. Paajarvi raced out of the defensive zone with the puck, angled toward the right circle and dropped a pass back to Harper for a one-timer over Mazanec's glove.

The Admirals pulled Mazanec after the ensuing faceoff, and Cracknell scored an empty-net goal that sealed the win.

The Wolves have four regular-season home games remaining, including today at 7 p.m. against Oklahoma City and Sunday at 4 p.m. against Iowa.