Over a week after concluding their regular season, the Chicago Wolves finally took the ice to open their postseason slate against the Texas Stars on Tuesday night. Despite being the higher seed, the Wolves started the series on the road, with the first two games of the best-of-five clash taking place in Texas before making their way home to Chicago.
The Stars were not an ideal opponent for the Wolves to open the postseason. During the regular season, Chicago lost seven of the eight meetings between the Central Division foes, going 1-6-1. This included four losses in regulation in Texas. It should've been a sign of things to come because they weren't able to right the ship in Game 1.
As they'd done for most of the season series, the Stars kept the Wolves at bay. Chicago did a great job in their own right, but all it took was one opening in the third period to get them into some trouble. Noel Gunler took a slashing penalty just over a minute into the period, and the Stars made them pay. Artem Shlaine finished a beautiful passing sequence at the side of the net breaking the deadlock.
Shlaine added the empty net goal in the final minute to solidify the win for the Stars. All that was left to decide was whether Remi Poirier would get the shutout, and that he would. It wasn't the most taxing performance for the Stars' netminder, facing only 16 shots. Nonetheless, he was perfect, backstopping a 2-0 win for Texas.
The Wolves played their best period of the game in the first, throwing their most dangerous chances at Poirier. Justin Robidas was especially effective early. He had Chicago's best chance on a net drive during the opening few minutes. Three of his team-high four shots came in the first. No one else on the team had more than two in the contest.
Cayden Primeau was given no room for error. He allowed the power-play goal in the third, but there wasn't a thing in the world that he could've done to prevent it. He was otherwise excellent. Primeau was just about the only reason the Wolves had a chance in the first place. He stopped 25 of the 26 shots that he faced, getting a little help from the iron in the second period.
Tuesday's contest also featured the professional debut of Charlie Cerrato after signing his professional tryout at the end of March. He showed flashes of his playmaking throughout the game, nearly setting up a chance in the first period. There are reasons for Canes fans to be excited about his future with the team.
Losing Game 1 isn't the end of the world for the Wolves. All it takes is one win to snatch momentum away from the Stars with the series heading to Chicago for the final three games. If they can figure it out on Thursday night to even the series, you have to like the Wolves' chances with the rest of the series at home. For that to happen, the offense needs to show some signs of life.
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