Wolves 2 wins from championship; Haydar gets another crown

The Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins lost their second game at the Allstate Arena Sunday, putting them behind 2-0 in the seven game Calder Cup Championship series versus the Chicago Wolves. Darren Haydar put two goals in during the first frame. He is now the most prolific goal scorer in American Hockey League post season play, surpassing Jody Gage’s 51 playoff goals and Willie Marshall’s 119 post season points in the same game (53 goals and 121 points).

The physical game was scarred by an ugly Slap Shot style hit on Wolves player Andre Deveaux. He was checked into the Penguins bench during play, and Pens captain Nathan Smith apparently stuck his stick into Deveaux’s neck. Deveaux left the ice, returning later. Smith, on his next shift, was checking Nathan Oystrick into the far boards. Oystrick came up saying something to Smith and the two immediately dropped their gloves.

Several other Wolves also were taken down in a game that was spinning out of the control of referee Dean Morton. Especially of concern was Steve Martins, who went down behind the far net and didn’t move for about a minute following a hit from Ryan Stone.

WBS fan board predicted the Wolves will pay as the gritty Eastern Conference team becomes increasingly physical. However, it was discipline that marked the play of the Wolves, who held back their anger and the roar of the Allstate crowd, using the power play opportunities presented by the Penguins to gain the upper hand.

Like the first game, the Pens phoned in the first period of play, putting them behind the Wolves 2-0 at the start of the second frame. A third goal finally led to a goal spark, as the Pens regained two goals from the Wolves in less than 33 seconds. The power play goals started by a 5:3 Pens advantage.

Joel Kwiatkowski was able to scoop up a rebound, late in the period, and put it in for a fourth insurance goal. Despite pulling the goalie, the Pens were unable to gain any friction to threaten the Chicago position again.

The next three games move to the Wachovia Arena in Casey Plaza of Wilkes-Barre. The NHL network has been carrying the finals, as broadcast by the home team. Game time is 6:30 PM Wednesday.

Wolves win 1st game of finals 5-4

Chicago’s power play again dominated a game to allow the Chicago Wolves a 5-4 win against the Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton Penguins at the Allstate Arena Thursday night. Three unanswered first period goals by the Wolves and a penalty kill of a 5:3 power play led to the team being wildly applauded as they exited the ice at the end of the first frame. However, the baby Pens came back in the second period, scoring early in the period, with just a minute, 15 seconds between the first and second goals.

The second and third goals of the Pens effort seemed to be set plays, almost identical, even to the lines, although the credits for the goals were awarded to different players. Off the face-off, the Pens brought the puck back to the right side blue line, then passed cross ice where the puck was teed up and fired through traffic for the goal.

After being taken advantage of twice by the play, the Wolves didn’t allow it to happen again. Goals by Joel Kwiatkowski and Bryan Little kept the Pens at a distance. But a third period goal by the Pens brought them within one of the Wolves. Then a sloppy penalty by Kwiatkowski with less than two minutes to go, gave the Pens a final chance at the power play.

The WBS goalie, John Curry was pulled, allowing the Pens to put a 6:4 advantage against the Wolves. Still, it was a near thing, as the Wolves almost put a loose puck into the empty Pens’ net.

Once again, the heart of the team was team vet Steve Martins. Martins was awarded a penalty shot during the closing seconds of the first period when a turnover during the power play had to be stopped by Wilkes-Barre. Ondrej Pavelec had 30 saves for the win. Penguins rookie Alex Goligoski, who has had an outstanding post-season, had a goal and three assists in the game.

4-2 win puts Wolves in finals; Home Ice & PP leading factors in wins

A 4-2 win Friday night at the Allstate Arena against the North Division champs, the Toronto Marlies, is sending the Chicago Wolves to the American Hockey League championship game. It will be the third time the Wolves have played in the AHL championship finals since joining the AHL in the 2001-2 season.

The series, won 4-1 by the Wolves, started with a pair of convincing wins by the Wolves at the Allstate Arena and a pounding of the Marlies at the Ricoh Center earlier this week. However, the Marlies came back to crush the Wolves in the second game at the Ricoh Center. Home ice advantage has been a key factor, in the wins in the league, as only the opponents of the Portland Pirates, seeded third in their division, have not been able to win the series.

Portland is still in the playoffs, the last Cinderella team. They are tied 3-3 in the Eastern Conference finals with the Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton Penguins. The winner of a game seven, tonight at the Wachovia Arena in Wilkes Barre, plays the Wolves next week starting Thursday.

The power play was a key feature, again, in the Wolves victory over the Marlies on Friday. Each Wolves goal, except the final empty net goal, was on a power play. Toronto has been unable in this series to effectively use its man advantages against the Wolves. The Marlies, in fact, were leading the game 2-0 at the end of the first frame. It seemed a dangerous tipping point in the game as the first goal has also been a deciding factor in many of the post season games played, according to NHL analysts.

The discipline of the Marlies began to breakdown midway through the second period. An elbowing call on Phil Oreskovic at 7:52 was followed by a hooking call on Buffalo Grove-native Andy Wozniwski at 9:12, giving the Wolves a 5:3 advantage. The Wolves used it to score twice within sixteen seconds.

Joel Kwiatkowski’s power play, which broke the dam, was his fourth in as many games. The Marlies were given ample opportunities to catch the Wolves, including a five minute major called for kneeing against Andre Deveaux at about the six minute mark of the third frame.

However it was another of those soft penalties that Toronto has not learned from, called against Alex Foster at 14:47 into the period that put the game out of reach for the Marlies. Darren Haydar, assisted by Kwiatkowski and Jason Krog lit the lamp for the game winner. Later, Kevin Doell, on a breakaway, potted the empty insurance goal with 42 seconds remaining on the clock.

The Chicago Wolves have won three league championships since their first campaign in 1993-4. Two Turner Cups were won under the old International Hockey League. In their first season with in the AHL the team won the Calder Cup championship. The Wolves returned to the Calder Cup finals, in the lockout season, when they lost to a Philadelphia Phantoms team loaded with players who are now in the NHL.

John Anderson, the Wolves coach for each of their championships, also won a Colonial Cup championship in the United Hockey League (now the International Hockey League) behind the bench for the Quad City Mallards.