GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 0 at Chicago Wolves 2

Jan. 6, 2018

ROSEMONT, Ill. – In a near repeat performance of his November 3rd masterpiece against the Grand Rapids Griffins, Kasimir Kaskisuo stopped all 32 shots from the defending Calder Cup champions on Saturday to propel the Chicago Wolves to a 2-0 victory from Allstate Arena.

Chicago protected a 1-0 lead from early in the second period until the home team added an empty netter with 16 seconds left in regulation. The win pushes the Wolves’ winning streak to five games and to 14 games (12-0-1-1) without a loss in regulation overall.

Grand Rapids, who had a five-game winning streak of their own coming into the game, fell back to .500 with a record of 16-16-1-4. The team is back in action on Monday at 8 p.m. against the Manitoba Moose.

At the 6:48 mark of the second period, the Wolves (18-12-5-2) lit up the lamp first with a goal from Paul Thompson. Dmitry Osipov collected the puck at the right point from Stefan Matteau and heaved it towards the net. Thompson was camped in front of the net with a defenseman draped all over him, but he still managed to get his stick on the puck which deflected over Jared Coreau’s glove and into the net.

With eight minutes to go in the second frame, Kaskisuo made a critical glove save that stopped Matt Puempel from putting the Griffins on the board. Eric Tangradi brought the puck into the zone up the left board and made a nifty pass to Vili Saarijarvi in the left circle. The defenseman then made a crisp pass of his own through the slot to an open Puempel who shot it into the goaltender’s glove.

Three minutes later the Griffins had another opportunity to tie the game when two skaters hit each post on consecutive shots. Dylan McIlrath flung the puck towards the net and it took a fortuitous bounce towards the crease where Ben Street was waiting. Street shot the puck between Kaskisuo’s legs, but he only found the left pipe.

The rebound ricocheted directly to a streaking Puempel who hit the right pipe of a half-open net. The Essex, Ontario native was so sure that the puck was going in that he nearly raised his arms in triumph before realizing that the Griffins still had a zero on the scoreboard.

Grand Rapids outshot Chicago 32-29, but could never find the right shot to quiet the crowd. They were also held scoreless in their two power play opportunities.

Coreau, who also kept the Wolves from scoring on the power play, finished with 27 saves for the game.

Notes: In three home games against the Griffins, Paul Thompson has scored four goals for the Wolves…This was only the second game of the season series (6) that didn’t produce a power play goal.

Three Stars: 1. CHI Kaskisuo (W, 32 saves, SO); 2. CHI Thompson (two goals); 3. CHI Osipov (assist)