After they were unsuccessful in their attempt to finish their sweep during Tuesday's overtime loss in Game 3, the Chicago Wolves returned to the ice on Thursday, hoping to avoid the return trip to Michigan with their season on the line. The teams traded massive momentum swings in the first two periods of Tuesday's game before Grand Rapids dealt the final blow in extra time to stay alive.
For the second time in the series, the first period came and went without either team finding the back of the net. Each goalie was tested a near-equal amount, and neither was budging. Most importantly, the Wolves didn't allow Grand Rapids to find any early momentum on the power play, killing an early Ivan Ryabkin penalty to keep them off the board, unlike in Games 2 and 3.
It took 38 minutes for someone to finally break the deadlock, and it came from the Wolves. Joel Nystrom's shot from the point was deflected by Noah Philp in front of the net. Michal Postava never went into his butterfly on the play. The puck trickled through his pads, giving the Wolves the first lead of the night in the final minutes of the second period.
Philp decided to add a second to his ledger early in the third period. It was his presence in front of the net that did it again as he earned another redirection. Justin Robidas extended the lead to three with 3:56 left, and it's a good thing that he did. Grand Rapids scored twice in the final three minutes, but it wasn't enough to complete the comeback, sending the Wolves to the Western Conference Finals.
Massive shot differentials became a regular occurrence, and it wasn't in the Wolves' favor. Cayden Primeau put a bow on this series with another outstanding effort, especially late. Chicago was outshot 18-9 over the final 20 minutes, with each team scoring twice. Primeau was several saves better than his counterpart from Grand Rapids in another tight one-goal contest.
Enough good things can't be said about how well the Wolves' defense played in the offensive and defensive zones. There were a few Griffins who had big series, especially Michael Brandsegg-Nygard (2-3-5 in 4 games) and Sheldon Dries (2-3-5 in 4 games), but leading scorer John Leonard was a non-factor. Meanwhile, the defensive group finished with 11 points as a unit.
To round it out, the Wolves got timely scoring throughout the lineup all series. In Game 1, it was Josiah Slavin. In Game 2, Felix Unger Sorum scored twice. In Game 4, it was a two-goal effort from Noah Philp. Add a trio of goals from Justin Robidas and three helpers from Bradly Nadeau, and the Wolves are skating their way into the next round with a huge series win over the Griffins.
With the new series comes a format change. The Wolves will face the Colorado Eagles in the Western Conference Finals, beginning next Thursday night in Colorado. Both the conference finals and the Calder Cup Finals are best-of-seven series. The first two games will be in Colorado before the Wolves host three straight. Should the series need anything beyond five games, the Eagles have home ice.
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