Wolves battle back, win in shootout

The Chicago Wolves defeated the Houston Aeros 2-1 in a shootout at the Allstate Arena on Saturday night.

The Wolves rallied in the third period to tie the game.

Matt Anderson, Andrew Kozek and Tim Stapleton scored in the shootout for the Wolves, while goaltender Peter Mannino stopped three of the four Houston shooters he faced. Stapleton picked up the Wolves' goal in regulation, his 26th of the year.

This was the third time in the last five games that the Wolves (42-19-1-5) have gone to a shootout. The Wolves used the 2 points from the win to increase their hold on first place in the West Division with 90 points.

"(The Aeros) are a tough team. Every game we've played against them has been very close," said Wolves coach Don Lever. "We are struggling offensively right now, but in the first part of the third period we played like we can play."

Houston (29-29-6-3) went up 1-0 when Duncan Milroy scored with 1:52 remaining in the first period. Nathan Smith controlled the puck behind the Wolves' net and chipped a pass out to Milroy in front, where the right wing knocked it beneath Mannino's pads and into the net.

Mannino (22-3-0) had 23 saves in regulation and overtime.

The Wolves broke a scoreless drought that spanned 138:44 with a goal from Stapleton 11:54 into the third period. The Wolves worked the puck down the ice from behind their own net, before Jason Krog spun around and got a pass to Stapleton near the right faceoff circle, and the forward ripped it past Houston goaltender Anton Khudobin.

Khudobin (11-16-3) stopped 27 shots in regulation and overtime and turned back 2 Wolves attempts in the shootout.