Four in a row; Wolves 4, Rivermen 2

In their best start in franchise history, the Chicago Wolves are now 4-0, defeating the Peoria Rivermen 4-2 at the Carver Arena Sunday in Peoria, Ill. The Wolves are now one of only two teams, the other is the Worcester Sharks, that have a perfect record this season.

The first Wolves goal of the period, a power play, was passed into the Rivermen zone by Nathan Oystick. Picked up by Steve Martins on the near circle, it was passed across ice to Jesse Schultz, the former Manitoba Moose, who beat Riverman goalie Jason Bacashihua to score.

The second goal of the first period was scored on a delayed penalty call as Andre Deveaux jammed the puck past Bacashihua from near the paint. The penalty created one of four power play opportunities in the first period for the Wolves in a period that saw no calls against the Wolves by referee Shaun Davis.

However, the Rivermen answered the Wolves goals before the end of the period as Julian Talbot battled almost from his own zone to behind the Wolves net with the puck against Karel Pilar and Joey Crabb and others. There the Wolves finally managed to poke it free, unfortunately right onto the stick of Julian Talbot who potted it for the score from between the far circle and the paint.

The score was 2-1, Chicago, at the end of the first period. The second period saw Fred Brathwaite hold the Chicago team in the game with a number of saves. Peoria received three 5:3 opportunities in the period amid five penalties against the Wolves. They dominated the period, putting 14 shots on goal versus just 7 for the Wolves. However, the Rivermen special teams failed in this period, and all night, with no power play goals against the Wolves. With a scoreless period, the game moved to its final 20 minutes with the Wolves holding on to their one point lead.

Talbot evened the score mid-way through the final frame on a two-man breakaway. From the near circle, Talbot found Brathwaite’s five hole to even the score. However, just 30 seconds passed before Joey Crabb battled against Trent Whitfield against the far boards for the puck. Popping it loose to Schultz, he one-timed it from the far circle for the game winning goal. In the closing seconds, Deveaux stripped the puck from Jeff Woywitka and passed cross ice to Colin Stuart. Stuart made the easy empty net for a 4-2 win.

Brathwaite received the win, stopping 28 shots. Bacashihua received the loss, stopping 18 shots.

Chicago 2 0 2 -- 4
Peoria 1 0 1 -- 2

First Period---1, Chicago, Schultz 2 (Martins, Oystrick), 11:25 pp; 2, Chicago, Deveaux 1 (Stuart, Doell), 13:10 extra man; 3, Peoria, Talbot 2 (Kariya, Linglet), 18:37. Penalties---Hellstrom, Peoria (interference), 2:14; Porter, Peoria (tripping), 6:46; Whitfield, Peoria (roughing), 10:44; Birner, Peoria (holding), 19:52.

Second Period---None. Penalties---DuPont, Peoria (hooking), 4:35; Fahey, Chicago (hooking), 6:25; Valabik, Chicago (roughing), 7:29; Kwiatkowski, Chicago (holding), 11:28; Anderson, Chicago (hooking), 13:16; Sipotz, Chicago (tripping), 13:48.

Third Period---4, Peoria, Talbot 3 (DuPont), 10:47; 5, Chicago, Schultz 3 (Crabb), 11:17; 6, Chicago, Stuart 1 (Deveaux), 19:52 en. Penalties---Porter, Peoria (elbowing), 3:07; Polak, Peoria (holding), 4:48; Fahey, Chicago (hooking) 8:01; Doell, Chicago (slashing), 19:54; Deveaux, Chicago (double minor roughing), 19:54; Benson, Peoria (double minor roughing).

Shots on goal---Chicago: 9-7-6--22. Peoria: 9-14-7--30. Power plays---Chicago: 1-7. Peoria: 0-7. Goalies--Chicago, Brathwaite (28-30). Peoria, Bacashihua (18-21). A---3,360. Referee---Shaun Davis. Linesmen---Chris Allman and Bryan Pancich.