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Chicago Wolves win exhibition game over Milwaukee Admirals

Murray scores game-winner while Miletic produces two goals during game Saturday Oct. 9, 2021

Rookie forward Blake Murray snapped the game’s final tie with 2:30 left in regulation to lead the Chicago Wolves to a 5-3 exhibition victory over the Milwaukee Admirals Saturday night at the Wolves Training Facility.

Forward Sam Miletic scored two goals, 2021 AHL scoring leader Andrew Poturalski recorded one goal and two assists and defenseman Josh Jacobs added one goal for the Wolves, who split their pair of preseason games with the Admirals. Next up: the Wolves’ 28th season Saturday, Oct. 16, when they host the Rockford IceHogs at Allstate Arena.

The Wolves dominated the first period as they built a 15-4 shot advantage. With the teams playing 4-on-4, Poturalski fed the puck ahead to Miletic for a breakaway and he whistled the puck past Milwaukee starting goaltender Parker Gahagen for a 1-0 lead at 14:16 of the first.

The Admirals evened the score at 3:59 of the second on forward Matt Luff’s goal, but the Wolves regained the lead on Jacobs’ tally 22 seconds into the third period. Center Maxim Letunov and Murray earned assists.

Miletic added an insurance goal at 10:17 of the third when he scored just six seconds into a power play — tipping defenseman Jalen Chatfield’s blast from the point. Poturalski also picked up his second assist of the night.

Chicago Wolves Hockey. Photo courtesy of the Chicago Wolves

Milwaukee notched its own power-play goal when forward Cole Smith, who played last year for Chicago, redirected a shot home at 12:10 to cut the Wolves’ lead to 3-2. Anthony Richard, who also played last year for the Wolves, knotted the game by banking a shot home from close range at 15:19.

Murray delivered the game-winner when he seized the rebound of a Stelio Mattheos shot and slammed it past Tomas Vomacka at 17:30. Poturalski added an empty-net goal from the Wolves defensive zone with 3.5 seconds to go.

Wolves goaltender Eetu Makiniemi (1-0-0) picked up the win with 20 saves.
Gahagen stopped 21 shots while playing the first 30 minutes for Milwaukee while Vomacka (0-1-0) posted 16 saves.

The Wolves’ 28th season begins Saturday, Oct. 16, when they welcome the Rockford IceHogs to Allstate Arena for Opening Night presented by Turtle Wax. The first 3,500 fans receive a Wolves Static Cling Schedule. The easiest way to get tickets is to visit Ticketmaster.com or call 1-800-THE-WOLVES.

WOLVES 5, ADMIRALS 3
Milwaukee 0 1 2 — 3
Chicago 1 0 4 — 5

First Period—1, Chicago, Miletic 1 (Poturalski), 14:16.
Penalties—Healey, Milwaukee (high-sticking double-minor), 12:13; Murray, Chicago (high-sticking), 13:47; Jaremko, Milwaukee (delay of game), 17:46.

Second Period—2, Milwaukee, Luff 1 (Farrance, Novak), 3:59.
Penalties—McLain, Milwaukee (fighting), 6:10; Smallman, Chicago (fighting), 6:10; Murray, Chicago (holding), 7:21; Harper, Chicago (high-sticking), 14:36; Healey, Milwaukee (roughing), 18:17.

Third Period—3, Chicago, Jacobs 1 (Letunov, Murray), 0:22; 4, Chicago, Miletic 2 (Chatfield, Poturalski), 10:19 pp; 5, Milwaukee, Smith 1 (Luff, Del Gaizo), 12:10 pp; 6, Milwaukee, Richard 1 (Neuber, Solow), 15:19; 7, Chicago, Murray 2 (Mattheos, Letunov), 17:30; 8, Chicago, Poturalski 1 (unassisted), 19:56 en.
Penalties—Blujus, Milwaukee (interference), 10:11; Boudens, Chicago (tripping), 11:20; Boudens, Chicago (fighting, game misconduct), 15:01; Peterson, Milwaukee (fighting, game misconduct), 15:01.

Shots on goal—Milwaukee 4-7-12—23; Chicago 15-14-13—42. Power plays—Milwaukee 1-3; Chicago 1-5. Goalies—Milwaukee, Gahagen (21-22), replaced at 30:01 by Vomacka (16-19); Chicago Makiniemi (20-23). Referees—Justin Kea and Tim Mayer. Linesmen—Jameson Gronert and Tyler Gregory.