Western Conference Finals 2019 - Chicago, San Diego Await Wednesday's Pivotal Game Three

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ROSEMONT, Ill. -- The Chicago Wolves took the long road through the playoffs, having to stave off elimination twice against the Grand Rapids Griffins in a heavily physical first round, and then having to fend off the Iowa Wild over six games.

All season long, the Wolves have had to be resilient, whether due to call-ups to the NHL or injuries, and that has extended into the playoffs. Brooks Macek and Daniel Carr missed the opening round due to injuries sustained in the regular season. Tyler Wong, Gage Quinney, Griffin Reinhart, and Keegan Kolesar have all missed time in the playoffs due to injuries. Reid Duke and Dylan Coghlan haven’t seen playoff time at all because of injuries.

“Next man up” has been this team’s mantra all season long, and so far, it’s been working, with players like Tye McGinn, Tomas Hyka, and newcomer Cody Glass leading the Wolves in scoring in the post-season.

Now in the Western Conference Finals for the first time since the 2007-08 season, the Wolves face down the San Diego Gulls, and after just one game, it’s clear they’re going to have to be on the top of their game if they want to compete for the Calder Cup.

In contrast to the Iowa Wild, where most of the offense came from Gerry Mayhew, the Gulls are no strangers to scoring by committee. In Friday night’s high scoring game one, eight different Gulls recorded a point, but it was the Wolves who emerged victorious in overtime, with Cody Glass playing the role of overtime hero to secure a 5-4 win for the home team.

Glass, who has nine points in 12 playoff games, is being given every opportunity to show the world why he was the sixth overall pick of the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Draft. “He has a high pedigree and he's very smart,” head coach Rocky Thompson said of the Wolves’ rookie. “So when he gets opportunities, we want him to shoot more.”

He didn’t hesitate on his game-winning shot. Glass was essentially out of the play as he’d gone to the bench to get a new stick. With the Gulls active in their offensive zone, no one was back to cover Glass. Tomas Hyka was able to send a stretch pass up the ice to Glass, who was able to get in one-on-one with Gulls goaltender Jeff Glass for the winning goal.

In a game where both opponents were trying to get a feel for each other, the Wolves learned some valuable lessons about the Gulls’ tendencies and style of play. Thompson gave full credit to the Gulls, describing them as “the best transition team we've seen this year”.

The Wolves were outshot by the Gulls, 44-28, and Thompson chalked that up to poor puck management, a trend he’d like to see reversed tonight. “We turned over the puck so much tonight. Some of it had to do with execution. Others had to do with us just forcing plays,” he said.

With a short turn-around time and some tired legs on both teams, game two could be a grind. Even though the Wolves walked away with a win, Thompson is hoping to avoid a repeat of some of the mistakes that drew out Friday night’s game. “We're going to learn from this without a doubt,” he said. “We don't want to play more games like that. To me, that's playing with fire. We can be better. So we were fortunate tonight.”

The Wolves did improve on their puck management and shot suppression for game two, as they limited the Gulls to just 23 shots on goal. They were, however, shut out by the Gulls and Kevin Boyle, who got the start in the second half of the back-to-back games.

Boyle, who got the bulk of the work in net for the Gulls during the regular season, has been largely replaced by Jeff Glass in the playoffs. Prior to game two, Boyle had only played in parts of two post-season games: He logged 6:15 against the San Jose Barracuda on April 17, where he allowed three goals on six shots. Later, he played 48:12 against the Bakersfield Condors on May 4, allowing one goal on 20 shots before leaving the game after a collision with a Condors player.

The netminder was on top of his game on Saturday, however, turning away all 29 shots that he faced. The Gulls recorded three goals, with Jack Kopacka, Sam Carrick, and Sam Steel all scoring for the visitors.

Despite the loss, Thompson was pleased with his team’s response in game two. “We played hard. We played the right way. We had opportunities to execute,” Thompson said after the game.

While fatigue from playing nearly four periods of hockey the night before was certainly a factor, from Thompson’s perspective, the loss was more about the Gulls capitalizing on their chances in front of goaltender Oscar Dansk. “We were we were a lot tighter tonight, and then they got a few bounces,” he said.

As the series switches back to San Diego for games three through five of the series, the Wolves will look to find a way to maintain the tight, disciplined game that they played on Saturday, while also finding opportunities to capitalize on their shots, regardless of which goaltender they wind up facing.

Before game three, take a look at some of the important numbers behind each team:

Records

Chicago Wolves

Regular Season: 44-22-6-4 Playoffs: 8-5

San Diego Gulls

Regular Season: 36-24-5-3 Playoffs: 8-4

Special Teams

Chicago Wolves

Power Play: 20.8% (5th in league) Penalty Kill: 79.4% (9th in league)

San Diego Gulls

Power Play: 24.3% (3rd in league) Penalty Kill: 83.3% (7th in league)

The Wolves penalty kill is the worst of any team left alive in the playoffs. Staying out of the box may be key for the Wolves in this series, particularly given the strength of the Gulls’ power play. The Gulls have recorded one power play goal on five opportunities over the course of the first two games in the series.

Leading Scorers

Chicago Wolves

Points: Tye McGinn (10), Tomas Hyka (10), Cody Glass (9) Goals: Glass (5), Curtis McKenzie (5), McGinn (4), Keegan Kolesar (4)

San Diego Gulls

Points: Adam Cracknell (15), Sam Carrick (13), Sam Steel (12) Goals: Cracknell (6), Carrick (6), Steel (5), Maxime Comtois (5), Chase De Leo (5)

The Gulls sneaked into the playoffs this season, bolstered at the end of the season by receiving some players back from the Anaheim Ducks -- including rookies Sam Steel and Max Jones. They also added Maxime Comtois when the QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs season ended. Comtois in particularly is making a statement with his play and showing why he should be an NHL regular from opening day next season.

Series Schedule

Game 1 — Friday, May 17 (Allstate Arena) 7 p.m. Central Game 2 — Saturday, May 18 (Allstate Arena) 7 p.m. Central Game 3 — Wednesday, May 22 (Pechanga Arena) 9 p.m. Central Game 4 — Friday, May 24  (Pechanga Arena) 9 p.m. Central Game 5 — Saturday, May 25 (Pechanga Arena) 9 p.m. Central Game 6 — Monday, May 27 (Allstate Arena) 7 p.m. Central Game 7 — Wednesday, May 29 (Allstate Arena) 7 p.m. Central if necessary