Climie, Wolves blank Wild
DES MOINES, Iowa - The Chicago Wolves scored key goals late in the game and rode the strong goaltending of Matt Climie to capture a 3-0 win over the Iowa Wild on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
Right wing Shane Harper, center Philip McRae, and left wing John McCarthy tallied for the Wolves (19-14-4-0), who snapped a two-game losing streak. Climie made 20 saves to earn his second - and the Wolves' third - shutout of the season. Climie (9-8-3) has 9 shutouts since joining the Wolves.
The Wolves controlled the scoreless opening and held a 13-6 lead in shots over Iowa (13-22-1-1). In the second period, the Wolves opened the scoring with a power-play goal when Pat Cannone sent a feed to the side of the net for Harper. He scored his career-high 13th of the season.
The Wolves added an insurance goal with five minutes left in the game as McRae snapped a 5-game drought. After sending the puck deep into the offensive zone, Ty Rattie forced a turnover with an aggressive forecheck. Jeremy Welsh corralled the puck along the boards and sent a quick pass to McRae in front of the net for the 2-goal cushion.
McCarthy sealed it with a late empty-net goal late in the contest.
Iowa goaltender Johan Gustafsson (7-15-1) stopped 35 of 37 shots.
The Wolves return to Allstate Arena to face Lake Erie at 7 p.m. Friday and Rockford at 7 p.m. Saturday.