Wolves win Saturday 7-3; Hogs win Sunday 3-1

Rockford, Ill—The Rockford IceHogs dominated the Chicago Wolves in the second period here this afternoon to take back the momentum in the Western Division finals of the Calder Cup race, winning 3-1. The Wolves, who have a 28-5-2 regular season record versus opponents when they out shoot them, out shot the Hogs 11-7 in the first period and looked primed to take a nearly insurmountable 3-0 lead in the best of seven series.

But the Hogs came out in a second period of disciplined hockey, outshooting the Wolves 21-7 in the period. A rebound by Kris Versteeg put the Hogs ahead, and a power play goal late in the period by Derek Nesbitt put insurance on that goal.

It was only the second power play goal by Rockford in the post-season, both occurring against the Wolves. A drought in special teams scoring, which had been one-sided was broken Saturday at the Allstate Arena when Petri Kontiola put one by Ondrej Pavelec in the 7-3 Wolves victory.

The Wolves struggled to put a goal on the board throughout the game, putting 28 shots on Blackhawks prospect Corey Crawford, finally scoring with 1.16 remaining on the clock. The regular season play between the two teams saw a decided home ice advantage, with the Wolves taking just one of the five games played in the MetroCentre and the Hogs being shutdown at the Allstate Arena. Game three, on Wednesday, is played at the MetroCentre again, with a 1-1-1 format following that game.