ROSEMONT, Ill. – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Head Coach Todd Richards said after the Game 1 his team needed to play a tighter checking game as they have done all season. After a tough start they did, but the results were the same after the Chicago Wolves defeated the Penguins by the score of 4-2 in the second game of Calder Cup Finals. With the win the Wolves took a 2-0 lead in the series that now heads to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for, potentially, three games.
The scoring started exactly like the last game with Chicago scoring the first three goals of the game. At the 7:35 mark Wolves Captain Darren
Photos by Naomi Viso
Just under six minutes later Haydar rewrote the record books again. Curry made the initial toe save that slowly rebounded just a few feet to his right. Haydar, who was perched next to the goal, scooped the puck and pulled it in for the goal. This point not only added to the record he had just broken, but also put him ahead of the 119 points record in the playoffs that was held by AHL Hall of Famer Willie Marshall since 1971.
“I think he likes to win,” said Chicago Wolves Coach John Anderson of his captain. “He is so tired of being pushed around and stuff like that. He said I am going to make a statement. “I’m Darren Haydar and I am small. There is not much to me but I am going to be the best player that I can be”. And he really picks our team up and that is why he is the captain.”
From the time of Haydar’s second goal through most of the second period nothing much happened. Both teams played the puck physically but the play on the ice was back and forth. This is what the coaches expected in the first game, a situation where the teams should have started the game to feel the plays out. The cautious play almost put a lull into the game but the hard-checking kept the 7,023 in attendance interested almost all the
Photos by Naomi Viso
Suddenly at the 14:03 Wolves winger Colin Stuart spotted the puck in front of Curry and elevated it over the netminder for Chicago’s third straight goal of the game. Stuart crawled off the ice in a dazed state earlier after Ryan Stone checked him hard on the chest in open ice that caused him to fall flat on the ice. At this point the Wolves were up three to nothing and they were playing solid defensively.
“No question, I think we saw room for improvement,” said Anderson. “But I guess that’s just me being a perfectionist. I think we might have held them to thirteen shots in the first two periods. That is good for us. We want to keep them under twenty-five so we did the best we could. I thought they played way harder, I thought we played way harder. It was a tougher game.”
But suddenly in the third period the Penguins got a break as the Wolves were called for two penalties giving the Penguins a two-man advantage for almost 30 seconds. The opportunity paid off quickly to get the Penguins back into the game. Wilkes-Barre scored two goals within the span of both power plays. Both were caused when traffic was finally created in front of the net for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Defenseman Mark Ardelan scored the first goal as the team peppered Ondrej Pavelec. Just 37 seconds later team playoff goal leader Tom Brent shot his 12 goal of the playoffs to bring the Penguins within one with three-quarters of a period still left to play. Despite the quick scores, Pavelec was solid and
Photos by Naomi Viso
“He was spectacular tonight,” said Anderson as he praised Pavelec. “The goals they scored on… I mean he is only so big. He can only cover so much of the net. The way they scored those two goals,” said Anderson in reference to the penalties that were called to allow the Penguins to get back into the game.
But the Penguins couldn’t do anything with the momentum as team Captain Nathan Smith was called for two penalties late in the period to take away any advantages that the team could muster. Obviously frustrated, Richards fumed, “You are spending your energy trying to kill penalties instead of trying to get that goal…. no further comment.”
The Wolves padded their lead when Joel Kwiatkowski picked up his sixth power play goal in as many games with helpers from Haydar and Joey Crabb.
Due to the improved defensive play there was a drop in shots. Curry stopped 24 of 28 while Pavelec shutdown 21 of 23 that he faced.
“(It’s) better than being down two zip,” said Anderson about the win. “We only played two games, all you can be. Especially with the format 2-3-2 it is almost imperative that we win the first two games and we do what we have to do.”
Game Notes:
Anderson believes injured forwards Brett Sterling and Joe Motzko will be in the lineup for Game 3 on Wednesday night.
“Again they are day to day,” said Anderson. “I’m glad we have a couple days off because I think they will both be in on Wednesday. It is sorely needed at this point. The guys have filled in and just done everything we asked them. I really appreciate that. We pushed them right to the limits there. When we get both those guys back on Wednesday, it will just change everybody’s roles back to what they were supposed to be. I think it will help us out defensively even more.”
With the two losses in Chicago, Wilkes-Barre has lost their last eight Calder Cup Finals games dating back to 2001. In that year they lost Games 5 and 6 to the Saint John Flames and were swept by the Milwaukee Admirals in 2004. Current coach Richards was an assistant with the Admirals. The league record for consecutive games lost in the finals is ten games.
With an assist on Brent’s goal, Alex Goligoski tied the AHL record for points in a playoff season at 25 for defensemen.
Wolves goaltender Ondrej Pavelec now has the sole lead in this season’s playoffs in wins with 13.
Photos by Naomi Viso
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