CHICAGO, IL – The Iowa Wild scored the first goal of the game on Friday evening, only to watch the Chicago Wolves rally for four unanswered goals in their 4-1 victory.  Beck Warm was outstanding in net for Chicago, stopping 26 of 27 shots and Sheldon Rempal scored a goal and added an assist for the Wolves. The loss dropped Iowa to 12-12-4, tied with the Texas Stars in points (28), but they still hold a 33-point advantage in winning percentage for the fourth spot in the division.

The game was scoreless through the first half of the first period, but Turner Ottenbreit change that at 11:39. Gabriel Dumont, Will Bitten, and Brandon Duhaime were battling in the corner with three Chicago players trying to gain control the puck. Dumont was eventually able to knock it out of the corner to Duhaime, who moved it up the boards to Ottenbreit. The defenseman curled towards the blueline before turning back on goal, firing a shot that beat Warm for his first goal of the season.

Chicago responded almost exactly seven-minutes later, tying the score at one. David Cotton won the draw back to Max Lajoie, who fired a shot. Rempal quickly moved in front of Iowa netminder Joel Rumpel, deflecting the puck toward the far corner for his third goal of the season.

Chicago had the better of the play in the first period, outshooting the Wild 12-7, and they would continue to press the issue in the second. At 8:27, while on the power-play, the Wolves took the lead. Tommy Novak had the puck along the left half boards, dishing it to the point to Joey Keane. Keane then passed it to Phil Tomasino who was standing near the right face-off circle. He fired a shot that beat Rumpel over the shoulder for his 11th goal of the season.

A little over a minute later the Wolves were shorthanded, but added their second special-teams goal of the period. Moments after Duhaime was stoned by Warm on a point-blank attempt at the corner of the Chicago net, the puck was cleared by the Wolves out of their zone and down into the Wild end. Calen Addison gained control of the puck behind his own goal but, as he was moving out in front, lost control, giving it right to Rempal. Rempal moved across the slot, looking for the shot opportunity, but then turned, feeding the puck back to Sean Malone who was speeding down the slot. He blasted a one-timer by Rumpel for his third goal of the season. That made its 3-1 Chicago.

With 9:20 left in the contest, the Wolves added one more insurance goal. A bad giveaway in the neutral zone put the puck on the stick of Jamieson Rees. He quickly raced into the Iowa zone, looking to jam the puck past Rumpel, however, the Iowa goaltender was able to make a nice save on the play. The puck was left loose in the crease and Zach Solow was able to knock it in for his second goal of the season. That made it 4-1, which would be the final.

These teams have now played seven times this season, with Chicago earning victories in six of those games. They have outscored Iowa 34-14.

Rumpel played well in net for Iowa, stopping 28 of 32 shots. Warm stopped 26 of 27 shots for Chicago. The Wolves had 10 players who recorded at least one point in the game.

These teams will go at it again on Saturday evening. The puck drops at 7:00.

Gamesheet

By Robert Pannier