Team effort boosts Wolves over Hamilton

Left wing Darren Archibald delivered the game’s first 2 goals and the Chicago Wolves held on for a 4-3 victory over Hamilton on Thursday night at the Allstate Arena.

Captain Darren Haydar added his second goal in as many games, and defenseman Peter Andersson scored his first goal in North America for the Wolves (11-9-2-1). Matt Climie posted 34 saves to earn a win for the second game in a row.

“We did a lot of things well tonight and were able to hold off a late charge with a solid penalty kill,” Wolves coach Scott Arniel said. “It was a big win for us, and you never can criticize a win.”

The Wolves opened the scoring two seconds after the game’s first power play ended when Archibald scored at 19:44 of the first period.

Archibald took possession of the puck below the goal line near the crease and banked a shot off Hamilton goaltender Cedrick Desjardins’ skate into the net. Defensemen Chris Tanev and Brad Hunt earned assists.

Archibald gave the Wolves a 2-0 lead with a power-play goal at 9:24 of the second period. Jordan Schroeder centered a pass to Andrew Gordon in the slot, but Gordon’s deflection wound up just outside the crease. Archibald dove for the puck and flipped a backhand past Desjardins while crashing to the ice.

Left wing Bill Sweatt set up Haydar’s goal at 1:25 of the third period when he zipped behind the net and tried to stuff a wraparound past Desjardins. Haydar lifted the rebound over Desjardins to give Chicago a 3-0 lead.

Hamilton’s Joonas Nattinen broke up Climie’s shutout bid 6:14 into the third period, but Andersson answered 45 seconds later with a shot from the point. The Bulldogs (9-11-1-1) added a Michael Bournival power-play goal at 13:31 and Nathan Beaulieu tapped home a rebound with one minute left for the final margin.

Climie (4-7-0) went the route for the sixth game in a row. Desjardins (5-3-0) finished with 21 saves.

The Wolves travel to Lake Erie on Saturday for a 6:30 p.m. game before returning to the Allstate Arena on Wednesday for an 11 a.m. School-Day contest against Abbotsford.