Pickard, Monsters blank Wolves
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Lake Erie goaltender Calvin Pickard made 34 saves, several spectacular, and the Chicago Wolves suffered a 1-0 defeat Sunday afternoon at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Wolves, who played without high-scoring forwards Pat Cannone, Ty Rattie and Magnus Paajarvi because of injuries, pulled goaltender Matt Climie with two minutes to go in their effort to get the equalizer.
The Wolves (28-22-6-1) attacked in the waning moments, but Pickard (15-12-5) was up to the challenge.
The last-place Monsters (26-23-5-3), which pulled within 3 points of the Wolves in the Midwest Division standings, scored the only goal at 7:23 of the first period. After a Wolves turnover in the defensive zone, Monsters defenseman Reid Petryk controlled the puck along the left half-wall and fed it to Andrew Agozzino in the high slot. Agozzino unleashed a one-timer that whistled between the skates of the screened Climie.
Climie (9-10-3) stopped 24 of 25 shots in his first start since Jan. 16. Rookie Jordan Binnington's franchise-record streak for consecutive starts ended at 18 games.
The Wolves return to Allstate Arena at 7 p.m. Wednesday to host North Division-leading Utica.