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Wolves take hockey series lead in play-offs

The Chicago Wolves seized a 2-0 series lead in the Central Division Finals with a 4-3 Game 2 victory over the Iowa Wild on Thursday night at Allstate Arena.

Forwards Brooks Macek, Matt Weis and Tobias Lindberg and rookie defenseman Zach Whitecloud scored for Chicago (5-2) while forward Daniel Carr collected his second consecutive two-assist performance. Netminder Oscar Dansk (4-1) recorded 22 saves, including 11 in the final period, to earn his fourth win in a row.

“I think Oscar has played outstanding in these last number of games,” said Wolves head coach Rocky Thompson. “Those two elimination games (against Grand Rapids) and he had a really good Game 1 as well. I thought he played really well again (tonight).”

Luke Kunin tallied a pair of goals for Iowa (3-4) while Gerald Mayhew added his third goal of the series. Goaltender Andrew Hammond (3-4) stopped 26 shots.

For the second night in a row, Macek opened the scoring for the Wolves when he capitalized on a rebound in front of Hammond. Macek sent a centering pass out from behind the Iowa net, which reached defenseman Griffin Reinhart at the left point. Hammond got a piece of Reinhart’s one-timer, but couldn’t hang on and Macek put away the loose puck at 1:29 for a 1-0 Chicago lead.

Weis tallied his first postseason goal as a professional at 4:42 to make it a two-goal lead, ripping a shot from the right circle after forward Stefan Matteau picked off a pass just inside the Iowa blue line and sent a no-look pass to Weis.

Iowa scored a pair of goals in the back half of the first period, with Mayhew scoring on the Wild power play at 10:15 before Kunin evened the score at 17:50 during a scramble in front of Dansk.

The Wolves responded before the horn to go into the intermission with a lead. Whitecloud scored his second of the playoffs at 18:28 as he streaked into the slot for a centering pass from Macek, then sent a quick shot over Hammond’s glove for a 3-2 advantage.

Lindberg widened the Wolves’ lead 6:07 into the second period, scoring from the left faceoff dot after Matteau skated coast to coast with the puck and dished a cross-ice pass to Lindberg. The eventual game-winner was Lindberg’s first career postseason goal.

Kunin cut the lead 4-3 at the 19:02 mark of the second, sending a shot in from the Wild bench that found its way through traffic, but the Wild were unable to convert on the momentum in the final period and fell back 2-0 in the series.

The series shifts to Des Moines for the next three games. The Wolves and the Wild meet at 3 p.m. Sunday at Wells Fargo Arena and Game 3 will be streamed on AHLTV (TheAHL.com/AHLTV). If necessary, the Wolves’ next home game will be Game 6 on Monday, May 13. For the best ticket deals, visit ChicagoWolves.com or call 1-800-THE-WOLVES.

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Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A critic of mainstream news media bias, Hanania advocates for peace & justice for Israel & Palestine, & the empowerment of Arabs in America.

Click here to listen to Ray's Political Podcast.

Hanania's columns are archived on his personal website at RayHanania.com. Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.