Chicago scored three times in the second period and defeated Grand Rapids, 4-2, in the deciding Game 5 of their Central Division semifinal series in Rosemont, Ill., on Sunday afternoon.
Cody Glass, Tomas Hyka and Keegan Kolesar scored to send Chicago into the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs, where they will face the winner of Monday night’s Game 5 between Milwaukee and Iowa.
The Griffins took a 1-0 lead at 7:22 of the first period when they caught Chicago in a slow line change and defenseman Vili Saarijarvi jumped in to bang home the rebound of Chris Terry‘s shot.
But the second period belonged to the Wolves. Chicago spent 77 seconds in the offensive zone before Glass wristed a shot from the high slot that beat Harri Sateri (16 saves) for his second goal of the series at 3:41.
Less than two minutes later, the Wolves converted on a power play when Tomas Hyka pounced on a loose puck in the crease and slammed home his second goal of the series at 5:31.
Kolesar made it 3-1 at the 13:08 mark, one-timing a shot from between the circles after Jake Bischoff‘s attempt from the point was blocked. It was the third goal of the postseason for Kolesar.
Kolesar scored again 3:06 into the third, burying a pass from Curtis McKenzie off a two-on-one rush to make it 4-1.
Colin Campbell‘s goal for the Griffins with 33.7 seconds remaining ended the scoring.
T.J. Tynan finished with three assists and Oscar Dansk made 30 saves for the Wolves.
Central Division Semifinals – Series “E” (best-of-5)
C1-Chicago Wolves vs. C4-Grand Rapids Griffins
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 19 – Grand Rapids 5, CHICAGO 1 | Recap
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 20 – CHICAGO 3, Grand Rapids 1 | Recap
Game 3 – Tue., Apr. 23 – GRAND RAPIDS 6, Chicago 2 | Recap
Game 4 – Wed., Apr. 24 – Chicago 5, GRAND RAPIDS 2 | Recap
Game 5 – Sun., Apr. 28 – CHICAGO 4, Grand Rapids 2