Wolves snap skid with 4-3 win over Stars

Defenseman Jordan Schmaltz's slick backhand in the first

round of the shootout lifted the Chicago Wolves to a 4-3 victory over the

Texas Stars Thursday afternoon at Allstate Arena.

Forwards Jordan Caron, Eriah Hayes and Zach O'Brien scored in

regulation for the Wolves (12-10-1-2), who snapped a three-game slide.

"I just thought we worked a little harder, gave that little extra

today," said Wolves head coach John Anderson. "We poked pucks away from

them, steal pucks and re-attack really quickly. I thought we deserved to

win."

Buoyed by a boisterous School-Day Game crowd, the Wolves scored 3

goals in the opening 14 minutes to build a 3-0 lead.

Chicago opened the scoring 2:21 into the game as Ty Rattie slalomed

through the Texas defense and flipped a shot from the slot that Stars

goaltender John Muse blocked, but Caron attacked the net for the rebound

and swatted it home.

Chicago pushed ahead 2-0 at 8:39 on Hayes' power-play goal. Rattie

held the puck along the left boards and fed a pass into the slot just as

Hayes flashed there for a redirect past Muse.

The Wolves made it 3-0 on O'Brien's goal at 13:53 as Chicago took

advantage of a turnover at center ice that led to a three-man breakaway.

Ivan Barbashev controlled the puck in the Texas zone and fed it ahead to

Yannick Veilleux, who dished to O'Brien racing down the right side for the

goal. The Stars then replaced Muse with backup Jack Campbell.

Texas (14-10-2-2) started its counterattack midway through the third.

Right wing Brett Ritchie ripped a shot over Wolves goaltender Pheonix

Copley's glove for a power-play goal at 11:28, then center Greg Rallo

notched a power-play goal at 13:32 to cut the Wolves' lead to 3-2.

The Stars pulled even with 2:26 to play on defenseman Mattias

Backman's goal. Justin Dowling won a puck battle behind the net and fed it

to Backman for a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle.

Schmaltz, a 22-year-old rookie, made his first professional shootout

attempt a winner as he linked multiple fakes before lifting a backhand

top-shelf.

Copley (6-6-1) stopped 37 of 40 shots during regulation and overtime

as well as all three Texas shootout attempts to earn the win. Campbell

(3-4-3) rejected all 28 shots during regulation and overtime, but managed

just 1 of 2 saves in the shootout.

The Wolves host Epilepsy Awareness Night, presented by Heidenhain, at

7 p.m. Saturday as the Rockford IceHogs visit for an Illinois Lottery Cup

game. The first 2,500 fans receive a T-shirt courtesy of Heidenhain.