WOLVES HOG TIE ROCKFORD WITH 5-4 OVERTIME WIN
10/19/2007 10:10 PM
ROSEMONT, Ill.---Center Jason Krog scored with 25.2 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Chicago Wolves a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over the Rockford IceHogs on Friday night.
Left wing Jordan LaVallee scored twice for Chicago (3-0-0), which overcame a 4-2 first period deficit to capture their third straight win on the young season. Krog iced the game when he collected a rebound and hammered the team's fourth power-play goal of the game past IceHogs netminder Corey Crawford. Krog has notched goals in all three games this season.
"We got better as the game went on," said Wolves Head Coach John Anderson. "They are a good hockey team, which makes this a very big win. This is a tough division to play in."
Down 4-2 midway through the second period, Wolves center Steve Martins cut the deficit to 4-3 when he posted a power-play goal. Martins grabbed a feed behind net and banked a centering feed off of an IceHog defender that trickled by Crawford at the 8:33 mark of the middle stanza.
Martins collected an assist on the game-winner, as did linemate Alexandre Giroux, who dished out two helpers in the contest.
LaVallee knotted the game at four apiece when he pounded home a power-play goal with 3:17 remaining in the third period. Krog fired a shot from the top of the circle that Crawford kicked out before LaVallee it fired into net.
Crawford (1-2-0) posted 28 saves.
Defenseman Joel Kwiatkowski's first goal as a member of the Wolves opened the scoring 4:08 into the contest. With Chicago pressing on the power play, Kwiatkowski picked up a loose puck in the slot and hammered a shot past Crawford. Center Tomas Pospisil picked up his first professional point with an assist on the goal.
LaVallee pushed Chicago's lead to 2-0 at the 5:06 mark of the opening stanza when he flew down the right wing, took a pass from right wing Joey Crabb, and drilled a shot past Crawford.
Rockford (3-1-1-0) would quickly tie the game and move ahead with four straight goals, starting with two power-play markers in the middle stage of the opening period. First, right wing Troy Brouwer picked off a clearing attempt by Wolves goaltender Fred Brathwaite and sunk a man-advantage marker into the net at 7:51 of the opening stanza. Center Martin St. Pierre followed suit and tallied a power-play goal of his own at the 9:05 mark.
Brathwaite (1-0-0) recorded 19 saves in his first appearance of the season.
The IceHogs opened up their first lead of the tilt on a short-handed goal off the stick of center Jake Dowell. Dowell grabbed a long feed in the neutral zone, skated toward the net, and flung a wrist shot past Brathwaite at 12:33 of the first frame.
Rockford extended its lead to 4-2 after defenseman Prestin Ryan stuffed home a power-play goal with 5:10 remaining in the first period.
After a day off, Chicago travels to Peoria to battle the Rivermen on Sunday at 3 p.m.
So far, so good.
Freddy Brathwaite did a mediocre performance last night for the Chicago AHL team. But, he hasn't played since last season's playoffs back in May. So again, a little rusty. Hopefully, things will continue to 'look good' for the Wolves as the season progresses. I think Freddy will better improve too, once he gets used to playing again.
The important thing is for them to 'limit' Turple's play ... otherwise, they may need to beg for Pavelec's return alot sooner.
Damn Atlanta !! ... They should have taken Brathwaite to fill their situation crisis. They don't need Pavelec to be there to 'sit and look pretty' for Atlanta while Lehtonen recovers from his 'once again' groin injury. All Pavelec will be doing is sitting on the bench while watching Hedberg in goal for the Thrashers team. Considering he was chosen as the Thrashers 'goaltending prospect' for the future ... how can he get the experience he needs to be at the NHL level by sitting on the bench ??
This is ridiculous.