Wolves skate past Hamilton, 4-1

HAMILTON, Ontario — Chicago Wolves forwards Darren Haydar and Tim Miller combined for three goals and four assists to lift the team to a 4-1 victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs at Copps Coliseum Tuesday afternoon.

Haydar (G, 3A), Miller (2G, A) and forward Nathan Longpre (2A) paced the Wolves offense, which scored two or more goals in a game for the second time this season in the win.

Chicago (5-5-0-2) opened a 2-0 lead just before the first intermission on Miller’s two shots that were scored 23 seconds.

Miller opened scoring at 18:25 when he held the puck in the far circle and sent a shot toward the net that deflected off a Bulldogs defender’s skate and past goaltender Nathan Lawson. He collected his second goal of the game 23 seconds later when he skated in the Wolves zone and attempted to drop a pass back to Haydar, but the puck ricocheted off a Bulldogs player and squirted past Lawson.

Hamilton (5-6-1-0) cut the Wolves lead to 2-1 when right wing Brian Willsie ripped a shot from the blueline that was redirected by forward Alexander Avtsin past Wolves netminder Matt Climie at 6:11 of the second period.

Climie (3-2-0) kicked out 26 of 27 shots.

Chicago regained its two-goal lead while on the power-play at 10:34 of the middle frame. Left wing Bill Sweatt picked up a loose puck below the goal line, extended in front of the net and snapped home a shot past Lawson, top-shelf.

Lawson (5-4-0) posted 30 saves.

Haydar’s empty net tally at 19:07 of the third period closed out scoring and sealed the win for Chicago.

The Wolves continue their five-game road trip with an Amtrak Rivalry contest against the Milwaukee Admirals at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Bradley Center.