Chicago Wolves win with strong lead over Iowa Wild

The Chicago Wolves scored four goals in the first eight minutes to trigger a 10-2 victory over the Iowa Wild on Saturday night at the Wolves Training Facility.

The Wolves tied the franchise record for victory margin and reached double figures in goals for just the fifth time in 27 seasons. Chicago fell one goal shy of the team’s single-game mark set Dec. 30, 2005, versus Peoria.

Forwards Morgan Geekie, Anthony Richard, Ryan Suzuki and Rem Pitlick scored in the opening 7:26 as head coach Ryan Warsofsky’s Wolves (6-0-0-0) tied John Anderson’s 2007-08 Calder Cup champions for the fastest start in franchise history.

Geekie, Pitlick and 19-year-old Seth Jarvis finished with two goals apiece while Tom Novak posted one goal and three assists as 15 Wolves notched points. Goaltender Jeremy Helvig (3-0-0) parried 35 shots in the win.

Chicago Wolves courtesy of the Chicago Wolves

“I thought we had a really strong game,” Warsofsky said. “Our start was outstanding — something we talked about (before the game). Our effort from puck drop to the buzzer was really good. We got good goaltending and, again, our first period was outstanding. It helps when you get a big lead there.”

Geekie, loaned to the Wolves on Thursday by the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, waited just 19 seconds to get on the board. After defenseman Frederic Allard wristed the puck toward the net, Geekie knocked home the ricochet.

The Wolves then scored three goals in an 89-second stretch as Novak fed Richard perfectly for a back-door score, then Cole Smith and Jamieson Rees worked hard in the corner to set up the 19-year-old Suzuki just outside the crease at the 6:41 mark. Pitlick capped the spree with a power-play snipe set up by Geekie.

Chicago added five goals in the second period as Jarvis, the AHL leader with six goals and nine points in six games, opened the run with a wrister from just inside the goal line and capped it with a shorthanded backhand. The latter goal gave the Wolves a 9-0 lead at the 12:27 mark of the second.

Iowa goaltender Hunter Jones (0-2-1) posted 21 saves in the first two periods before giving way to Josh Rumpel, who notched 12 stops.

The Wolves and Wild return to the Hoffman Estates ice at 3 p.m. Sunday. To get your smiling face into the building, purchase a Wolves cutout and become a part of the Wolves Fan Gallery, presented by Hefty. To learn more, visit ChicagoWolvesStore.com.

WOLVES 10, WILD 2

Iowa 0 0 2 — 2

Chicago 4 5 1 — 10

First Period—1, Chicago, Geekie 1 (Allard, Davies), 0:19; 2, Chicago, Richard 2 (Novak, Bokk), 5:57; 3, Chicago, Suzuki 2 (Smith, Keane), 6:41; 4, Chicago, Pitlick 4 (Geekie, Jeannot), 7:26 pp.

Penalties—McLain, Iowa (tripping), 7:03; Thompson, Iowa (unsportsmanlike conduct), 9:41; Richard, Chicago (boarding major, game misconduct), 9:41; Allard, Chicago (holding), 11:20; McLeod, Iowa (boarding, roughing), 18:35; Geekie, Chicago (roughing), 18:35.

Second Period—5, Chicago, Jarvis 5 (Jeannot, Novak), 1:40; 6, Chicago, Geekie 2 (Allard, Cotton), 2:05; 7, Chicago, Pitlick 5 (Jeannot), 6:00; 8, Chicago, Smith 1, (Novak, Keane), 8:59; 9, Chicago, Jarvis 6 (Keane, Fitzgerald), 12:27 sh.

Penalties—Jeannot, Chicago (high-sticking), 6:09; Boudrias, Iowa (fighting), 10:47; Jeannot, Chicago (fighting), 10:47; Lajoie, Chicago (tripping), 11:20; O’Rourke, Iowa (hooking), 14:53; Rees, Chicago (tripping), 19:01.

Third Period—10, Iowa, Sokolov 3 (Giroux), 4:50; 11, Iowa, McLain 1 (Dumont, Boudrias), 8:07; 12, Chicago, Novak 2 (Davies, Allard), 13:04 pp.

Penalties—Pitlick, Chicago (tripping), 5:09; Atkinson, Iowa (hooking), 12:41; Gordeev, Iowa (cross-checking major, game misconduct), 13:59; Rees, Chicago (slashing), 14:22.

Shots on goal—Iowa 12-12-13—37; Chicago 13-17-13—43. Power plays—Iowa 0-6; Chicago 2-6. Goalies—Iowa, Jones (21-30), replaced at 40:00 by Rumpel (12-13); Chicago, Helvig (35-37). Referees—Conor O’Donnell and Jake Rekucki. Linesmen—Andrew Bell and Jeff Pacocha.

#WEARETHEWOLVES#

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Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion 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.

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