CHICAGO -– The Wolves (5-4-1-0) ended a four-game home-stand on a positive note, just as the circus comes into town and forced them out of Allstate Arena for almost three weeks. A come-from-behind 4-3 win against the Rockford IceHogs (4-4-0-1) Saturday could be a sign of things to come. Wolves’ goalie Peter Mannino made his first start of the season after starting the year with the parent Atlanta Thrashers. Rockford jumped on top with two goals in the first period. Thirteen minutes into the game, Nick Leddy drove in towards the net and locked in on Mannino. Mannino committed, giving Leddy the easy pass over to center Brandon Pirri, who lifted the puck in on the open goal. Leddy doubled the lead when he rifled in a shot from the area between the near circle and blueline at 17:08 to end the first. But halfway through the game, the Wolves turned things in their favor. Chicago got on the board at the 13:21, as the top line of Nigel Dawes, Jason Krog, and Darren Haydar combined for a score. As Krog took possession of the puck, he spun an outlet pass to Haydar, who was in line with Dawes skating up on an odd-man rush. Haydar centered Dawes with a pass and was able to get the puck in on Alec Richards. With a minute and three seconds left in the period, defenseman Jaime Sifers knotted the score at two goals apiece. After a goal line save by the Wolves, center Jared Ross came out with the puck and went to the other end. He fired a shot that bounced off Richards shoulder and dropped to a point where Sifers collected it and got it in behind the net minder. Mannino gained the confidence he needed in the third. The Wolves also got more precise and physical as the checking game lead to more opportunities. Center Andrea Deveaux got the puck in on traffic around Richards during a power play. Haydar battled for the puck in the area in front of the net and took control and skated behind the goal where he spotted defenseman Mike Siklenka on the one-timer to sweep the goal in to give the Wolves the lead in the game with 5:12 remaining. But the lead wasn’t easy to maintain in the last five minutes in the game. The Wolves were called for two penalties that gave Rockford a 1:07 minute two-man advantage.With twelve second left, Rockford appeared to score, but the goal was waved off because the referee determined that the puck was deflected in by a hand. TWolves mustered 29 shots with Richards stopping 26 while Mannino went 22 for 24 shots. This closed out a week where the Wolves played four games while only gaining three points in the standings. Blame can be placed all around, but defensive mistakes have turned costly for the Wolves. Scoring has also been a problem especially with the top line with Krog and Haydar, but that looks like it is getting better with the addition of Dawes. Head Coach Don Lever will make no qualms in sitting anyone who does not perform as in the case of veteran defense. The team has a good core but because of rehab assignments the team had four different goaltenders start in the last five games. The team also needs some stability in the lineup and hopefully the team can work on that with five days off before the team embarks on an eight game road trip. It is always good to go on the road as the distraction of home does not weigh on the team and they can concentrate on what is in hand and that is winning games. Contact the author at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
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