Haydar leads comeback charge, but Wolves fail to seal deal

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -- The Chicago Wolves will have to wait at least one more day to claim their second Calder Cup.

Nathan Smith broke a tie with a third-period, power-play goal, and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins held on to edge the Wolves 3-2 in Game 4 of the Calder Cup Finals on Friday night.

The Wolves, who lead the series 3-1, can clinch the Cup in Game 5 here tonight.

"We have to elevate our game like they elevated theirs today," Wolves coach John Anderson said. "And I believe that we can, too."

Smith scored 2:21 into the third when his attempt at a cross-ice pass from the right-wing corner hit the skate of Wolves defenseman Brian Sipotz and ricocheted slowly across the goal line.

It was Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's third power-play goal on seven chances in the game.

"We had trouble covering their best player -- No. 36 with the striped sweater on," Anderson quipped, referring to referee Dean Morton.

The Wolves' best player, meanwhile, wore No. 20 in maroon and gold. It was Darren Haydar, the AHL all-time leader in career goals and points in the playoffs.

With the Wolves down 2-0 in the second period, Haydar netted a pair of power-play goals 10 minutes apart to even the score.

He finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play from Jesse Schultz and Jason Krog at the right post to make it 2-1 at 6:27 then walked out from the right-wing corner and backhanded a shot past goalie John Curry to make it 2-2 at 16:30.

"I don't think we played well enough to win," Haydar said. "One period isn't going to win us a game in the Calder Cup Finals. We didn't do the little things that won us the first three games."

The Wolves had two chances on the power play in the game's last 13 minutes but couldn't find the equalizer.

"We felt confident," Haydar said. "We felt like we had a great chance, but we simply got outworked on the power play at the end."