Wolves blank Milwaukee Admirals 3-0 in Game 2

Chicago Wolves goaltender Peter Mannino stopped all 23 shots he faced to lead the Wolves to a 3-0 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals in Game 2 of the West Division Semifinal at the Allstate Arena Friday night. Chicago now leads the series, 2-games-to-0.

The blanking was the first professional postseason shutout for Mannino (2-0), who posted two shutouts in 38 regular-season appearances with Chicago this year.

Forwards Spencer Machacek, Johnny Pohl and Tim Stapleton provided the offense for the Wolves.

"It was a typical playoff game: hard-nosed, no one was giving an inch," said Wolves Head Coach Don Lever. "We got the break with that second goal and were able to hold on."

Machacek gave Chicago (2-0) a 1-0 lead with 70 seconds left in the first period. The right wing skated in from behind the net and attempted to stuff the puck between Milwaukee goaltender Mark Dekanich and the post, then picked up his own rebound and chipped it up over the goaltender's shoulder.

The Wolves pulled ahead, 2-0, with a marker from Pohl midway through the third period. Defenseman Arturs Kulda gained the puck after the face off and fired a long shot. Jason Krog and Pohl hacked at the rebound until Pohl was able to shovel it past Dekanich.

Dekanich (0-2) turned aside 28 of 31 shots for the Admirals.

Chicago solidified its lead, 3-0, at 15:14 of the third period when Stapleton cranked home a pass from right wing Joey Crabb as the two forwards drove down into the Admirals zone on a two-on-one break.

Milwaukee (0-2) will host Game 3 at the Bradley Center on Saturday at 7 p.m.