Cannone lifts Wolves past Wild in OT
DES MOINES, Iowa - All-star center Pat Cannone capped his second hat trick in 10 days with a slap shot 41 seconds into overtime to give the Chicago Wolves a 4-3 triumph over the Iowa Wild on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
Cannone dragged the puck deep into the Wolves zone, built up speed through the neutral zone and unleashed a blast from the top of the right circle for the Wolves (20-18-1-2).
Cannone finished with 4 points as he also assisted on Jordan Caron's game-tying tally with 2:39 to play. Danny Kristo earned assists on all three of Cannone's goals.
The Wolves captain gave the Wolves a 1-0 lead and extended his point streak to 8 games when he scored 3:10 into the second period. Kristo caught up to a Peter Harrold pass at the blue line, swerved toward the middle and sent a saucer pass toward the right faceoff dot to set up Cannone's well-placed shot.
Iowa's Michael Keranen pulled the Wild (11-27-3-3) even at 12:31 of the second with a power-play goal. He accepted a pass below the left circle, straddled the goal line and lifted a backhand shot past Wolves goaltender Jordan Binnington to make it 1-1.
Cannone answered with his second goal as he buzzed the crease and swatted a rebound out of midair to make it 2-1 at 15:11 of the second. Kristo circled the puck below the goal line to Caron, who carried it behind the net and ripped a shot that Iowa goaltender Jeremy Smith blocked only to have Cannone pounce on the carom.
The Wolves appeared in control until they took 2 minor penalties one second apart. Iowa took advantage of the 5-on-3 situation to even the score 2-2 at 10:07 of the third. Defenseman Christian Folin blasted a slap shot from the left point that Binnington slowed down, but not enough to keep it out of the net.
Forward Tyler Graovac gave Iowa its first lead with 7:37 to play as he swooped in behind the defense. Jordan Binnington stopped his first two point-blank attempts, but Graovac tracked down another rebound and roofed it home.
The Wolves forced overtime on Caron's power-play goal with 2:39 left. Defenseman Chris Butler was stopped at close range by Smith, but Caron pounded away from just outside the crease until he knocked the puck home to make it 3-3.
Binnington (9-6-2) posted 31 saves to pick up the win while Smith (4-13-3) stopped 38 of 42 shots in the loss.
The Wolves return to Allstate Arena on Saturday, Jan. 30, to face the Rockford IceHogs in an Illinois Lottery Cup clash.