ROSEMONT—The Wolves scored two goals in the first period and held on behind a 14-save performance from netminder Peter Mannino to win the deciding Game 7 of the West Division Semifinal against the Milwaukee Admirals at the Allstate Arena Monday night.With the 4-games-to-3 series win, the Wolves (4-3) will move on to face the Texas Stars in the West Division Final, which will begin at the Allstate Arena on Fri., April 30 at 7:30 p.m.
“We put in 60 minutes. I really liked our game overall,” said Wolves Head Coach Don Lever. “You’ve got to hand them credit. We played two real solid periods and they wouldn’t go away. They never stopped coming at us.”
Right wing Anthony Stewart got the Wolves on the board first, 12:29 into the first period when he cranked a shot from the left face-off circle over goaltender Mark Dekanich’s right shoulder.Center Kevin Doell made the Wolves lead 2-0 at 13:57 of the opening period, with what held up to be the game-winning tally. Right wing Spencer Machacek worked the puck out of the corner and attempted to wrap around and jam the puck between Dekanich’s pad and the post. The rebound kicked out to a waiting Doell, who pounced on it and fired it to the back of the net.Milwaukee (3-4) got on the board with a power-play goal, 3:01 into the second period to make the score 2-1. Center Marty Murray slapped a long shot from the right face-off circle that evaded a screened Mannino (4-2).