Chicago Wolves power past Iowa Wild
The Chicago Wolves converted three of their four power-play chances to trigger a 6-2 victory over the Iowa Wild on Sunday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.
Forwards Dominik Bokk, Tanner Jeannot and Phil Tomasino and defensemen David Warsofsky, Max Lajoie and Josh Healey scored for the Wolves (10-2-0-1), who became the American Hockey League leader with 21 points.
Rookie goaltender Jeremy Helvig (4-0-0) earned the win with 29 saves and the Wolves’ penalty-kill unit stopped all three of Iowa’s power plays while also earning a short-handed goal.
Bokk produced the Wolves’ first goal for the third game in a row — a power-play tally — as the 21-year-old prospect from Germany tapped home a Jeannot rebound at 3:01 of the first.
Iowa (3-7-2-0) knotted things at 13:46 of the first when Damien Giroux went top-shelf from close range, but the Wolves re-established a 2-1 lead during the final minute of the first period on Warsofsky’s blast from the point just 11 seconds into a power play.
Jeannot pushed Chicago’s lead to 3-1 with a short-handed tally at 2:14 of the second. Sheldon Rempal poked the puck out of the defensive zone ahead to Jeannot, who dragged the puck around an Iowa defender and stuffed it through goaltender Hunter Jones (23 saves).
Lajoie’s goal came at 5:30 of the second as the Wolves took advantage of an odd-man rush. Spencer Smallman raced the puck into the offensive zone, then fed Lukas Craggs on the right wing. Craggs spied Lajoie flying into the zone down the left side and fed him for a quick blast that made it 4-1.
Iowa’s Gerry Mayhew cut the margin to 4-2 late in the second, but Healey came through with his first of the season to give Chicago a 5-2 cushion with 17:20 to play. Tomasino, a 19-year-old rookie, added some power-play insurance midway through the third as he placed a shot bar-down to make it 6-2.
The Wolves continue their four-game road trip with a visit to Grand Rapids at 5 p.m. Friday. Chicago’s next home game is slated for Saturday, March 27, against the Rockford IceHogs.
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