SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (theahl.com) … The Chicago Wolves grabbed the lead in the 2022 Calder Cup Finals, shutting down the Springfield Thunderbirds, 4-0, in Game 3 on Wednesday night.
With the Wolves up 2-1 in the best-of-seven, the series resumes Friday in Springfield.
Pyotr Kochetkov made 36 saves to silence the Thunderbirds, who were playing the first Finals game in Springfield since 1991, as well as the capacity crowd of 6,793 fans at the MassMutual Center.
Richard Panik scored for the third time in the series ― his 10th goal in 13 career Calder Cup Finals games ― to give Chicago a 1-0 lead at 14:50 of the first period.
Ivan Lodnia and Jalen Chatfield added goals in the middle frame, and Stefan Noesen tacked on an empty-netter with 3:04 to play.
Josh Leivo and Jack Drury notched two assists each for the Wolves.
Kochetkov, making back-to-back starts for the first time this postseason, earned his second shutout of the playoffs, He has a 1.58 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage for Chicago this spring.
Charlie Lindgren finished with 30 saves for Springfield, which was shut out for the first time since Dec. 17.
NOTES: Josh Leivo extended his league-leading point total to 26… Stefan Noesen’s goal was his ninth of the playoffs following his 48-goal regular season… Chicago scored two power-play goals for the third consecutive game, going 2-for-4 with the man advantage… Springfield was 0-for-5… In Calder Cup Finals history, when a series has been tied at 1-1, the Game 3 winner has gone on to win the Cup 72.2 percent of the time (26 of 36).
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 at Springfield, 7:05
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