ROSEMONT, Ill.—In a possible postseason series preview, the Chicago Wolves defeated the Manitoba Moose 3-2 in a shootout Wednesday night at Allstate Arena.
Noah Philp and Noel Gunler each scored in the shootout and Viktor Neuchev and Felix Unger Sorum had goals in regulation to help the Wolves extend their points streak to four contests. Locked into second place in the Central Division, the Wolves await the result of the battle for third place between Manitoba and Texas to determine their opponent in the division semifinals.
The Wolves opened the scoring early in the first period on Neuchev’s ninth goal of the season. The forward staked his claim in front of the Moose crease and redirected a long shot by Charles Alexis Legault past Manitoba netminder Thomas Milic. Legault and Unger Sorum had assists.
A short time later, the Moose pulled even on a tally by Colby Barlow but again the Wolves pulled ahead when Unger Sorum struck.
A night after recording his first career NHL point with the Carolina Hurricanes, Unger Sorum flipped a shot from the point that bounced its way to the Manitoba goal and skipped by Milic to the glove side. Neuchev and Philp earned assists on Unger Sorum’s 17th goal of the season.
Manitoba knotted the score at 2-2 heading into the first intermission after Walker Duehr found the back of the net while on the power play late in the period.
Neither team scored in the second, third or overtime periods to set up the shootout where Gunler and Philp solved Milic.
Cayden Primeau (27 saves—two in the shootout) got the win in goal for the Wolves while Milic (18 saves) took the loss for the Moose.
Chicago moved to 34-21-8-7 on the season while Manitoba dropped to 34-28-5-2.
Up next: The Wolves host the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday night at Allstate Arena (7 p.m.).
