While the Carolina Hurricanes were busy getting the second round started against the Philadelphia Flyers, 12 hours and a time zone away, the Chicago Wolves were back in action. Their series shifted to Allstate Arena for the duration as the Wolves and the Stars fought to claim the series lead after splitting their pair in the Lone Star State.
We'd seen two very different games to begin the best-of-five clash. Game 1 was a defensive struggle, won after the Stars finally broke the scoreless deadlock early in the third period of a 2-0 win. Game 2 featured much more offense, with the Wolves knotting the series after Domenick Fensore scored the winner in overtime in a 5-4 Chicago victory.
With home ice in their favor for the remainder of the series, the Wolves wasted little time taking advantage of it. Felix Unger Sorum and Viktor Neuchev sprung Noah Philp up the near wing, allowing him to snipe a shot over Remi Poirier's glove just over five minutes into the contest. A shot off the crossbar shortly after nearly doubled the lead, but their advantage stood at one after the first period.
Things got a little chippy during the second period, but the biggest moment came in the final minute. The Wolves' top line combined to find the second goal. Ryan Suzuki snapped a shot off the blocker-side post to beat Poirier, giving the Wolves their first multi-goal lead of the series. It would prove to be a massive tally for Chicago.
Texas finally got on the board early in the third period, with Jack Becker outwaiting Cayden Primeau to slide it around him and cut the Stars' deficit in half. However, that's all they would manage. Despite being outshot 10-4 in the third, the Wolves held on to win the game, 2-1, and take a 2-1 series lead, putting them one win away from moving on.
Through three games, this has been an incredibly tight series. The Wolves own a slight 7-6 lead in goals scored. Each side has only conceded one goal on the penalty kill. While it felt like Texas's big guns were dominating to start, the Wolves' top stars are starting to find it. Unger Sorum picked up his first point on Saturday, while Bradly Nadeau and Justin Robidas have assists in two straight games.
Primeau has also been excellent to open the series. He was the only Wolves player ready to go in Game 1, and while his numbers weren't great in their Game 2 win, Primeau stopped 27 of 28 in Game 3. In just three games, the Wolves have already bested their win total against the Stars from the regular season after just one win in eight meetings.
Chicago will try to finish the series in four games on Sunday afternoon, making it a very quick turnaround for both sides. The game is scheduled to start at 4 pm EST/3 pm CDT. If the Stars manage to win on Sunday, they'll force a winner-take-all Game 5 on Tuesday night. Fortunately for the Wolves, that game will be in Chicago, too.
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