SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (theahl.com) … Another impressive road effort on Friday night has the Chicago Wolves one win away from a Calder Cup championship.
The Wolves scored two power-play goals for the fourth consecutive game and Pyotr Kochetkov turned aside 39 shots in a 4-2 Chicago victory at a sold-out MassMutual Center in Game 4 of the Finals.
Leading three games to one, the Wolves can secure their first title since 2008 with another victory on Saturday.
Jack Drury and Richard Panik scored on the power play late in the first period to stake Chicago to a 2-0 lead. Andrew Poturalski and Josh Leivo finished with a goal and an assist apiece, and Stefan Noesen recorded two more helpers for the Wolves.
Kochetkov, coming off a shutout in Game 3 on Wednesday, allowed only a Klim Kostin power-play goal late in the second period and a James Neal tally with an extra attacker on with 1:47 remaining. He stopped 10 shots in the first period, 20 in the second and nine more in the third to improve to 5-1 this postseason.
Joel Hofer stopped 28 of 31 shots for the Thunderbirds.
NOTES: Leivo (14-14-28) has found the scoresheet in 16 of the Wolves’ 17 playoff games, including nine multi-point efforts… Panik has scored a goal in nine straight Calder Cup Finals games, including all four this series and the last five of the 2013 Finals with Syracuse… Chicago was 2-for-5 on the power play in Game 4, moving to 8-for-18 in the series… The Wolves have scored the game’s first goal in each of the four games of this series, and in 15 of 17 overall this postseason… Only three teams have ever won the Calder Cup after trailing 3-1 in the Finals, and none since the Providence Reds did it in 1949.
C1-Chicago Wolves vs. A2-Springfield Thunderbirds
Game 1 – Sun., June 19 – Springfield 5, CHICAGO 4 (OT)
Game 2 – Mon., June 20 – CHICAGO 6, Springfield 2
Game 3 – Wed., June 22 – Chicago 4, SPRINGFIELD 0
Game 4 – Fri., June 24 – Chicago 4, SPRINGFIELD 2
Game 5 – Sat., June 25 – Chicago at Springfield, 7:05
*Game 6 – Tue., June 28 – Springfield at Chicago, 8:00
*Game 7 – Wed., June 29 – Springfield at Chicago, 8:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
