Wolves skate into West Division finals

MILWAUKEE -- The Chicago Wolves, with goals from two unlikely suspects, used a 30-save shutout performance from goaltender Ondrej Pavelec to beat the Milwaukee Admirals 3-0 Saturday night and win their best-of-seven AHL West Division semifinal series 4-2.

The Wolves now face the Rockford IceHogs in the West Division final, with Games 1 and 2 at the Allstate Arena on Thursday and Saturday.

The second-seeded IceHogs eliminated the third-seeded Houston Aeros in five games.

Defensemen Boris Valabik (2) and Arturs Kulda scored for the Wolves -- the first professional playoff goals for both -- to give the team all it needed to advance past the first round for the 11th time in 13 postseasons.

"Every game could have gone either way," Wolves coach John Anderson said. "That's a testament to how great out division is.

"What can you say about Ondrej's performance? He was the difference. He was outstanding."

Pavelec earned his first postseason shutout in just his sixth Calder Cup playoff game. The rookie allowed just 1 goal in the final two games of the series while stopping 56 shots.

"We played like a team out there, everyone was battling for each other," Pavelec said. "It was a tight series, but our guys came through for each other. We're excited for the next round."

Kulda got the Wolves on the board with his first professional goal. The 19-year-old rookie took a pass from center Bryan Little on the blue line and flung it past Milwaukee goaltender Pekka Rinne high into the left corner 7:19 into the first period.

The Wolves rallied for a shorthanded goal to make their lead 2-0. Valabik picked up a loose puck at the top of key and took a wide shot on net. The puck hit the stick of an Admirals player attempting to block Jason Krog from striking on the rebound and careened in.

The 6-foot-7-inch Valabik added an empty-net tally with 33.6 seconds remaining to wrap up the victory.