Chicago Wolves tie series

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Down three games to two in the series, the Chicago Wolves needed a little something to get it done and it seems like the 2-3-2  format helped with a little home cooking and an added mix to the recipe to change things around. The Wolves added a little unexpected punch to the brew as goaltender Drew MacIntyre started his first game of the playoffs. How well did he do? MacIntyre shutdown the Texas Stars, shutting them out by a score of 2-0 to send the West Division Finals to a Game Seven on Tuesday.
 
Chicago Wolves Head Coach Don Lever has always been wary of starting MacIntyre in goal since he hadn’t had enough minutes to stay sharp. He did gain some playing time in the last game, coming in to relieve Peter Mannino with more than half the game remaining. He really didn’t get much work, stopping only six shots, but it was more than enough to convince Lever to make the change.
 
“That was playoff goaltending (and) you’ve got to hand MacIntyre a lot of credit,” Lever said. “We were fighting for our lives and playing desperate, but we did a nice job protecting the lead. It’s an even field now.”
 

The scoring started with the Wolves on the power play as Andrew Hutchinson was called for a hook. Tim Stapleton and Matt Anderson passed the puck back and forth, spreading the Texas defenders. Stapleton began to move in towards the goal line where he backhanded the puck in front of the goal to right wing Anthony Stewart who punched the goal passed Brent Krahn with 12:28 gone in the game. The goal was Stewart’s ninth of the playoffs with four coming against the Stars.
 
“We had some chances; just things didn’t go in there,” Texas Stars Head Coach Glen Gulutzan said. “It was a pretty tight hockey game. I thought MacIntyre played pretty good; he made some big saves for them and he was all jacked up. But we’ve got a game seven now.”
 
A few minutes later Krahn came out of the game and was taken to the hospital for evaluation. It appeared that he might have hit his head on the crossbar during a collision and suffered a possible concussion. His status in the Game Seven is unknown. Matt Climie came in to replace Krahn.
 
The game was played fairly even. But the Wolves added an insurance score 6:06 into the third as Stapleton and Anderson came with the helpers. Anderson lifted the puck up to a rushing Joey Crabb who knocked it out of the air towards the net, then charged in to get it past Climie to end the scoring in the game.
 
MacIntyre stood on his head, stopping all 28 shots. Some could have gone in and made a difference in the game. Before leaving the game, Krahn mad six saves on seven 7 shots and Climie had a respectable 26 saves on 27 shots in the game.
 
Four consecutive penalties in the first helped seal Texas ’ fate early as it was their momentum killer. The Stars went 0 for 5 on the power play as the Wolves converted on 1 for 6 and that one was the game-winner.
 
The Stars saw the return of Garrett Stafford (3 games on a hit to Kevin Doell) and Warren Peters (1 game on a hit to Spencer Machacek) from suspension. Doell is still out but Machacek returned to the lineup tonight.
 
Three Stars of the Game: Matt Anderson (Chicago), Third Star with two assists; Anthony Stewart (Chicago), Second Star with the game-winning goal; and Drew MacIntyre (Chicago) First Star with the shutout on 28 saves.
 
West Division Finals CHICAGO vs. TEXAS
Series Even at three games apiece
Game 1 – Fri Apr 30, TEXAS 4 at Chicago 3 OT Game 2 – Sun May 2, Texas 3 at CHICAGO 4 2OT Game 3 – Tue May 4, CHICAGO 5 at Texas 3 Game 4 – Wed May 5, Chicago 2 at TEXAS 3 3Game 5 – Fri May 7, Chicago 3 at TEXAS 5 Game 6 – Sun May 9, Texas 0 at CHICAGO 2 Game 7 – Tue May 11, 7:00pm Texas at Chicago
 
All Games Central Time
 
Contact the writer at matt .chin@prohockeynews.com