CHICAGO, Ill – The Chicago Wolves (4-2-1-0) are trying to piece together another championship team and getting mixed results. Sunday night, the Wolves faced the Milwaukee Admirals for the third time and remained undefeated against their divisional rivals, notching a 4-3 win. The Wolves started out the scoring in the first period. With time winding down on the power play, defenseman Noah Welch fired a shot towards the net that went wide. Forward Jared Ross collected the puck while battling on his knees and passed it back to Fredrik Pettersson, who one-timed it in to the far side of the net past Chet Pickard. The goal was Pettersson’s first professional goal in North America. Previously, the Wolves have struggled to score in the first period. Of the seven games played so far this season, the only other goal scored in the first stanza was the night before in Rockford. The Wolves then poured on unanswered goals in the latter half of the second period. Ross rifled a shot that whistled in to the back of the net at the 13:59 mark. Just over a minute and a half later, Jason Krog had all the time to choose who to pass the puck to. Defenseman Paul Postma was rushing to the net which distracted the Admirals enough to have Krog slip the puck to Darren Haydar who was sitting just behind the net for the goal. The Wolves struck again on the power play with 2:12 left in the period. Nigel Dawes was positioned at the far boards. He passed the puck back to Krog at the point. Krog reared back and fired a shot, and Andre Deveaux was able to sweep the rebound in. The Wolves got complacent and yet again could not play a straight 60 minutes of hockey as Milwaukee came charging back only to let an interference call stop their chances at tying the game in the waning moments. During the offseason, General Manager Wendell Young brought back Haydar to match him up with longtime linemate Jason Krog and bring back the scoring magic that the pair had during Chicago’s Calder Cup run in 2008. The pair has been average to say the least this season and seemed to be missing someone with the likes of Brett Sterling, who could be the antagonist in front of the net. The parent Atlanta Thrashers’ decision to send forward Nigel Dawes to the Wolves so far has made an impact; in two games, Dawes notched a goal and an assist. Also making a return to the Wolves are centers Andre Deveaux and Jared Ross, who were free agent signings in the off season by the Thrashers. They offer a physical and offensive minded depth to that position which is already deep up and down the line. A pleasant surprise in the season so far is the play of 19-year-old netminder Edward Pasquale. Due to injuries, the Atlanta Thrashers fourth choice (117th overall) in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft was called in to play. And play he did. In the five games he started he has a 4-1 record, 2.13 goals against average with a 0.923 save percentage. The Chicago Wolves have three more home games this week before the circus comes to town forcing them on the road for eight games. Contact the author at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
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