Chicago Wolves beat Milwaukee again
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Chicago leads 6-0 to eliminate Admirals for second night in a row
The Chicago Wolves scored three goals in 93 seconds in the first period to set the tone for a 6-1 triumph over the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday night at Allstate Arena.
Forwards David Gust, Stefan Noesen, Maxim Letunov, Andrew Poturalski, CJ Smith, Stelio Mattheos scored for Wolves (2-1-0-0) as they beat their Central Division rivals for the second night in a row.
“When we play together and play the right way, the offense is going to come,” Wolves head coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “We have done a good job the last two nights. Even though it was 6-0 there, we wanted to continue playing with our identity, our competitiveness and our consistency.
The game featured the first female umpire in Wolves history. Lake Forest resident Samantha Hiller, one of 10 female referees hired by the American Hockey League this season, made her AHL debut on Saturday night, a week after Katie Guay became the first woman to officiate in a competition AHL or NHL.
Gust, a native of Orland Park, opened the scoring 16:46 from the first when he found himself open near the left corner between the goal line and the circle. He hit a sharp-angled wrist that beat Milwaukee goaltender Devin Cooley over his right shoulder. Rookie defenseman Artyom Serikov, 20, from Russia, earned his first North American professional point with the first assist.
Wolves increased their lead to 2-0 at 5:52 pm when Noesen pitched in past Cooley and had a perfect position to score the rebound after Cooley blocked defenseman Cavan Fitzgerald’s shot from the point.
Letunov completed Wolves’ first period series at 6:19 pm with his first goal for the team. Spencer Smallman accepted a pass to Sam Miletic’s left circle. When Cooley turned to Smallman and fell onto the ice, Smallman slid Letunov the puck into the lunge so he could hit the open net.
Wolves captain Poturalski increased the lead to 4-0 at 4:47 of the second period when the 2021 AHL scoring champion fired a shot from the top of the right circle for a power play goal.
Mattheos scored his first goal of the season 1:09 of the third to put Chicago at 5-0. He hit home a rebound moments after Wolves forward Jack Drury appeared to tear up a receiving shot through the goal line.
Smith added his team-high third goal of the season when he swept a Poturalski pass into the net just outside the crease.
Milwaukee (1-2-0-0) scored their only goal on Joseph LaBate’s tally with 1:09 left in regulation. Alex Lyon (1-1-0) repelled 17 shots to claim the victory.
Cooley (1-2-0) stopped nine of 13 shots before being substituted after Poturalski’s goal in the second period. Parker Gahagen made 22 relief saves.
The Wolves embark on a three-game road trip to Grand Rapids on Wednesday, but return to the Allstate Arena on Saturday, Nov.6 to host Manitoba because Saturday is hockey night in Chicago. For the best tickets to one of Wolves’ seven home games in November, visit ChicagoWolves.com or call 1-800-THE-WOLVES.
WOLVES 6, ADMIRAL 1
Milwaukee 0 0 1 – 1
Chicago 3 1 2 – 6
First period-1, Chicago, Rafale 1 (Serikov, Cotton), 16:46; 2, Chicago, Noesen 1 (Fitzgerald, Chatfield), 17:52; 3, Chicago, Letunov 1 (Smallman, Miletic), 18:19.
Penalties — Noesen, Chicago (now), 7:26; McLain, Milwaukee (holding), 7:26; Poturalski, Chicago (cross-reference), 13:14.
Second period — 4, Chicago, Poturalski 1 (Lajoie, Noesen), 4:47 pp.
Penalties — Davies, Milwaukee (high sticking), 4:41; Afanasyev, Milwaukee (skirmish), 8:59 am; Milwaukee (too many men, served by Harper), 5:22 pm.
Third Period — 5, Chicago, Mattheos 1 (Cotton, Drury), 1:09; 6, Chicago, Smith 3 (Poturalski, Jacobs), 13:57; 7, Milwaukee, LaBate 2 (Glass, Davies), 18:51.
Penalties — Mattheos, Chicago (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:48; McLain, Milwaukee (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:48.
Shots on Goal — Milwaukee 4-7-7—18; Chicago 10-12-15-37. Power play — Milwaukee 0-1; Chicago 1-4. Goalies — Milwaukee, Cooley (9-13), replaced at 24:47 by Gahagen (22-24); Chicago, Lyon (17-18). Referees — Jordan Samuels-Thomas and Samantha Hiller. Linesmen — Jameson Gronert and William Hancock.
Hanania also writes on Middle East issues for Arab News and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named “Best American Ethnic Columnist” by New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for Columnist.
Email Ray Hanania at [email protected]
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