Wolves On The Brink, But Not In Unfamiliar Territory
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ROSEMONT, ILL. -- The Chicago Wolves are no stranger to adversity this postseason. In the first round series against the Grand Rapids Griffins, tempers threatened to get the best of the team as the physicality escalated. The Wolves and Griffins traded wins, with the Wolves facing a 2-1 deficit in the series before winning the last two games of the series.
Against the Iowa Wild, the Wolves let a 2-0 series lead slip away, allowing the Wild two consecutive wins on home ice to get back into the series. Chicago once again came back to win the final two games of the series, but first had to find their footing against a very similarly matched team.
In what turned out to be somewhat of a preview of the Calder Cup Finals, the Wolves faced down the San Diego Gulls in the Western Conference Finals, winning their first game in overtime before dropping two in a row. A combination of hot goaltending and timely goals from the NHL-ready talent on the Gulls made the series a tough out for the Wolves, who reeled off three straight wins to punch their ticket to the Finals.
Yet again, the Wolves find themselves in a series deficit against the Charlotte Checkers and now face elimination on Saturday. They played what was perhaps their strongest game of the series on Thursday night in Rosemont, jumping out to a 3-1 lead in the second period. Defensive mistakes and special teams troubles allowed the Checkers to tie the game and eventually walk away with a victory.
Mich like in the series against the Gulls, the Wolves have met their match in terms of goaltending and scoring forwards who will likely be in the NHL sooner rather than later.
Forward Martin Necas, the 2017 first round draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes, has six points (three goals, three assists) in the series. He played seven games in the NHL this season and should get a much longer look next season, particularly given how well he’s performed in the AHL.
While forward Aleksi Saarela has been quiet in this series, he has 14 points in 16 total playoff games and was a 30-goal scorer during the regular season. He showed off his hands and deadly shot on Thursday night when he scored the ultimate game-winner, stepping past Wolves defenseman Zac Leslie to fire a shot blocker side on goaltender Oscar Dansk.
In net, the Checkers have relied on Alex Nedeljkovic, who led the AHL in wins this season en route to being named Best Goaltender. His presence in net, skilled puckhandling, and excellent reads on plays have made him difficult to beat cleanly, with many of the Wolves’ goals this series coming from the point or off of deflections or tip-ins.
Nedeljkovic has gotten the bulk of the work in the playoffs and will almost certainly get the start on Saturday night. But the Checkers also have Dustin Tokarski available; the veteran goaltender played seven regular season games and five playoff games for the Checkers and has won them all. The two make for a formidable tandem, one which the Wolves have had trouble getting behind in a timely fashion.
Game Four was the first time the Wolves held a lead all series. Their only win so far was in game one, where they came back from a 3-1 deficit to win in overtime. Scoring has been a challenge; the Checkers have the tendency to swarm and smother their opposition, not giving the Wolves much space or time to make plays.
With the Wolves on the brink of elimination, what do they need to do to claw back into the series?
Traffic in Front of the Net
The Charlotte Checkers have excelled at taking away Dansk’s line of sight, whether it’s by using their own bodies, or by forcing a Wolves player into position to accidentally screen his own goalie. At times in this series, and particularly on the power play, the Wolves have had no such presence in front of Nedeljkovic or Tokarski, and have missed out on opportunities for a tip-in or redirect.
The Wolves started to correct this in game four and will need to continue to do much of the same in game five, particularly against Nedeljkovic, whose ability to react and anticipate plays gives him an advantage when it comes to stopping pucks that he may not even be able to see that well.
Improve on Special Teams
The power play has been cold for the Wolves since their series against the San Diego Gulls. In that series, they recorded one power play goal on 16 opportunities. That trend has continued against the Checkers, where the Wolves have one power play goal on 12 opportunities. (Additionally, Keegan Kolesar opened scoring in game two for the Wolves seconds after a power play ended.)
Rocky Thompson has spoken of the difficulties on special teams, especially on the first unit, which has struggled to get set up, leaving the second unit often at a disadvantage because they are chasing the puck and racing against the clock.
On Thursday, Thompson deployed Tomas Hyka, Curtis McKenzie, T.J. Tynan, Brooks Macek, and Jake Bischoff as his first unit and Cody Glass, Keegan Kolesar, Gage Quinney, Nic Hague, and Dylan Coghlan as the second unit. At times, defenseman Zach Whitecloud has spent time on the power play, as well.
And if the lack of scoring on the power play isn’t enough, the Checkers have scored two shorthanded goals in this series, and six overall in the playoffs, thanks to their aggressive penalty kill.
After game two in Charlotte, Thompson said: “They have a very good penalty kill. Our first unit struggled tonight on it, for sure, without a doubt. You give some credit to [Charlotte] but I think we could have executed a lot better as well and we'll look at it more. [...] They kill a little bit differently than what we're used to as well.”
That’s been a theme in every game so far. The Wolves have done better to cut down on the Checkers’ shorthanded chances, but avoiding a shorthanded goal just simply isn’t good enough. The power play has converted on 8.3% of its chances in the series, a dismal drought at a time when one or two special teams goals could have sealed a win or pushed a game to sudden-death overtime.
Consider a Change in Goal?
Wolves goaltender Oscar Dansk, who has started all four games to date, certainly isn’t to be blamed for all of the Wolves’ problems. He’s done admirably against a number of challenging teams and has largely been let down by the team in front of him, particularly given their struggles on special teams.
Dansk, understandably, was hard on himself after game four. “I thought the guys played good enough for us to win. I don't think I obviously play well enough,” he said. “I got to stop pucks and I don't think I've done that enough to give our team a chance.”
Dansk cited the first two goals against as ones he wished he would have played differently. “Second one, I think I lost my patience on,” Dansk said in response to the tally from Martin Necas. The goal was highlight reel material, showing Necas outwaiting Dansk and firing only when it was too late for Dansk to recover.
Would Rocky Thompson consider sticking with Dansk for game five? He wouldn’t answer a question about his starting goaltender after game four, but Max Lagace should be in the conversation. There’s no question that Dansk has earned the starter’s job. A change in starter would be more about sending a message to the skaters to pick up their game and protect their netminder better.
Realistically, Thompson doesn’t have many other choices when it comes to changing up his lineup. Tobias Lindberg and Kevin Lough have been the only scratches who could potentially make any impact up front. If Thompson is looking to tinker in a bid to extend his team’s season, his only option may be in goal.
