Chicago took a commanding 2-0 lead in their Central Division semifinal series with a 4-1 win over Rockford on Saturday night at Allstate Arena.
The IceHogs will be looking to avoid elimination when they host Game 3 on Sunday evening.
Coming off a 6-2 win in Thursday’s series opener, the Wolves outshot their guests 20-1 in the first period of Game 2 and got goals from Josh Leivo and C.J. Smith to take a 2-0 lead.
Max Lajoie upped the lead to 3-0 with a goal at 11:51 of the second period, and Vasili Ponomarev, Carolina’s second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, scored his first pro playoff goal to secure the win with 6:06 left in the third.
Alec Regula scored for Rockford, who were held to just 16 shots for the game. Arvid Soderblom (2-2) stopped 45 shots, his eighth game this year with 40 or more saves.
Alex Lyon (2-0) made 15 saves for the Wolves.
Central Division Semifinals – Series “L” (best-of-5)
C1-Chicago Wolves vs. C4-Rockford IceHogs
Game 1 – Thu., May 12 – CHICAGO 6, Rockford 2
Game 2 – Sat., May 14 – CHICAGO 4, Rockford 1
Game 3 – Sun., May 15 – Chicago at Rockford, 5:00
*Game 4 – Tue., May 17 – Chicago at Rockford, 8:00
*Game 5 – Thu., May 19 – Rockford at Chicago, 8:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern