Line's reunion sparks Wolves
The Chicago Wolves overcame an error-filled stretch early in the second period with 4 straight goals Saturday night to knock off visiting Quad City 5-3 before 8,882 at Allstate Arena.
Sparking the rally from a 2-goal deficit was the reunion of a line that hasn't played together since last season.
Forwards Andre Deveaux (2 goals), Colin Stuart (3 assists) and Kevin Doell (2 assists) provided the bulk of the Wolves' offense.
"It's definitely our job to provide energy," said Deveaux, who scored his seventh and eighth goals. "That was our same job last year (in the playoffs)."
Deveaux opened the scoring for the conference-leading Wolves (43-14-2-2), then added his second goal to tie the game at 3-3 midway through the second period.
Deveaux's equalizer came just 20 seconds after a power-play score by Joe Motzko.
The Flames (29-25-2-7) had opened a 3-1 lead by scoring twice in the first five minutes of the period. Grant Stevenson scored on a power play for his team-high 26th goal, and Brett Sutter extended the lead two minutes later on a short-hander created thanks to a Wolves turnover at the Quad City blue line.
"For a while, it looked pretty scary there in the second period," said Wolves assistant coach Todd Nelson.
Head coach John Anderson was unavailable after the game because he was receiving treatment after a recent knee surgery.
Despite falling behind by 2 goals, Stuart said there was no sense of panic among the Wolves.
"We have so many different personnel (who can score)," Stuart said. "We knew we have the guys in the room to turn it around."
The Wolves took the lead at 13:25 of the third period as team captain Darren Haydar scored his 12th goal.
Quad City mounted a threat by drawing a penalty in the final three minutes. But the Wolves withstood what became a two-man disadvantage when the Flames pulled goalie Matt Keetley. Jordan LaVallee added an empty-netter to seal the win.
Wolves backup goalie Robert Gherson finished with 25 saves, coming up with several big stops in the third period.