Wolves send huge crowd home with a final victory
The Chicago Wolves came out of the gates firing with four first-period goals and never let up, closing out their 15th season with a 5-2 win over the Rockford IceHogs before a season-high 16,019 fans at Allstate Arena Saturday night.
Chicago (38-37-3-2) snagged a season best four power-play tallies in the matchup, and tied a season high with four goals in the first frame against Rockford, the AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Left wing Brett Sterling (3A), defenseman Chad Denny (G, A), center Steve Martins (G, A), right wing Joe Motzko (G, A) and center Grant Stevenson (G, A) all capped off their seasons with multiple-point performances, while goaltender Brent Krahn turned in a 33-save night.
"The support is amazing among Wolves fans and the guys really fed off the energy from the crowd tonight," said Wolves Head Coach Don Granato. "Any time guys are stepping on the ice in front of a crowd like that is great motivation, and it makes my job easy as a coach. Guys took a lot of pride in their performance tonight."
A five-on-three power play early in the first period helped Chicago jump out to a two-goal lead, 5:21 into the game. Defenseman Chad Denny ignited scoring when he took a pass near the blueline and unleashed a rocket at IceHogs goaltender Antti Niemi, which sailed out of the netminder's reach at 3:39, and Martins wasted no time making the lead two, banging home a rebound 1:42 later.
Defenseman Clay Wilson tallied his 14th goal of the season at 11:01 of the first frame to make Chicago's lead three. Right wing Spencer Machacek carried the puck into the zone, worked it to the front of the net and Wilson buried the rebound. Stevenson pushed the Wolves lead to 4-0 with 42 seconds remaining the first frame, when a Rockford defenseman tripped and barreled into Niemi, knocking him over and leaving the net empty for Stevenson to deposit the puck.
The Wolves made it 5-0 working on another five-on-three power play late in the second period. Denny sent a pass across the crease to Motzko, stationed on the right side of the net, and the right wing corralled the puck and flung it past Niemi with 5:09 left to play in the frame.
Niemi (18-14-3) turned aside 41 shots for the IceHogs. Rockford (40-34-0-6) got on the board with 2:28 remaining in the second period when Akim Aliu sprung out on a breakaway and ripped a shot past Krahn to make the score 5-1 heading into the second intermission. Aliu added his second of the game when he pounded a one-timer from the corner of the crease, beating Krahn (6-6-0) to pull to 5-2 at 1:45 of the final frame.