FIVE GOAL SECOND SEALS PENS FATE IN GAME THREE

POST-GAME AUDIO: Todd Richards

WILKES-BARRE, PA – A five goal second period proved to be more than enough for the Chicago Wolves, who posted a 6-1 win in Game Three of the Calder Cup Finals to take a three-games-to-none lead in the championship round.

“They cranked it up and they were winning the battles,” head coach Todd Richards said of the Wolves second period outburst.  “It got bad very quick.  If you don’t manage the puck, if you give them a little bit of space, versus a good team that can finish, that’s what they can do.”

The five-goal output set a new Chicago record for goals scored in a single playoff series.

“They came at us with a flurry and were able to get a few quick goals there,” Penguins captain Nathan Smith stated.  “From that point on, we were on our heels the rest of the game and weren’t able to get things going.”

The Penguins actually held their first lead of the Calder Cup Finals midway through the first period, as Kurtis McLean notched his fourth goal of the postseason.  Less than a minute into the first power play of the night, Tim Brent carried the puck into the Wolves zone on the far board and slid a pass to McLean in the slot, who wrested a shot low to Ondrej Pavelev’s stick side for his third tally of the Finals.

Brent nearly added to his point total in the final minutes of the first, breaking in shorthanded on Pavelec, who got enough glove to the puck to flip it over his net.

“We came out, got the start that we wanted,” said Smith. “We could have been up a couple more goals than we were.  But their goalie played well, and in the second period they kind of took over the game on some of our mistakes.”

Chicago evened the score when Joel Kwiatkowski scored in his seventh straight game, netting a one-timer through traffic 5:39 into the second period.

Jesse Schultz turned on the goal light twice in a six minute span, batting a puck out of the air at 8:20 to put the Wolves ahead, and then burying a Darren Haydar feed for his eighth goal of the playoffs.
 
Jordan LaVallee and Matt Anderson added to the Penguins’ woes, scoring less than two minutes apart to close out the second period.

Dave Brown got his first taste of playoff hockey when he relieved John Curry at the beginning of the third period, and stopped seven of the eight shots he faced, allowing just a Mike Hamilton tally from close range midway through to finish off the night.

Despite the one-sided game and the deep hole the team finds itself in, Richards vowed to fight on come Friday night.

“You never give up hope.  They guys, the way they’ve played in the playoffs, it gives you every reason to believe and hope,” he said.  “We’ve seen it all year.  We have great leadership and great character in the room, and we’ll be tested on Friday.  It’s not going to be easy, and guys are going to have to band together.”