The Chicago Wolves were back on the hunt as the Calder Cup Playoffs continued on Thursday night in Michigan. The Wolves and the West's top-seeded Grand Rapids Griffins began their battle for Central Division supremacy, and scoring proved to be very tough for both sides. The goalies stood on their heads, but the Wolves found a way to get the job done.
After a week off, the Wolves came out firing in the first period, but Griffins netminder Michal Postava was on his game, as he had been in the last round against Manitoba. The Wolves couldn't solve him. His brilliance continued into the second period, where the shot differential continued to grow without any change in the score. The Wolves were stuck.
To make matters worse, the Griffins scored the first goal. Eduards Tralmaks was on the spot to pot a rebound, giving Grand Rapids the lead with 5:19 left in the second. Fortunately, the Wolves earned a power play shortly after. Felix Unger Sorum toe-dragged around a defender and found Justin Robidas' stick in the slot for the redirection, tying the game in the final minutes of the frame.
This momentum stayed with them in the third period. The go-ahead goal was the byproduct of layers of traffic in front of Postava and an incredible cross-seam pass from Joel Nystrom. Skating down the boards, the seas parted for Nystrom to find Josiah Slavin at the backdoor early in the third. The goal was all the Wolves needed to score a 2-1 series-opening win for the Wolves.
Things were certainly spirited during the first period. 28 penalty minutes were handed out between the sides, most of it being roughing penalties for post-whistle scrums. Each team earned 14 minutes' worth of penalties. None of it led to goals, with the only power-play goal coming from Robidas during the second period.
Both Postava and Cayden Primeau were excellent to start the series. Postava was better early, but Primeau was better throughout. Postava faced 13 shots in the first period, while Primeau only saw six. However, shots were even across the final 40 minutes, and Primeau only blinked once. He finished the game with 23 stops on 24 shots, while Postava stopped 30 of 32.
As I said before the series, the steady involvement of the defense in the offensive zone would be important in this round, and they continued that trend in Game 1. Both Chicago goals featured help from the back end. Juuso Valimaki picked up his group-best fourth point with the secondary helper on the power-play goal, while Nystrom's all-world pass set up the winner.
With a win on the road, the Wolves have snatched home ice advantage from the Griffins ahead of their second game, which takes place in Michigan on Saturday night. A win in Game 2 would be massive for Chicago, sending them home with a 2-0 series lead and two chances to finish them on home ice. Game 3 is on Monday night, and Game 4, if necessary, will be next Thursday.
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