The Bears on Thursday drafted Boise State defensive end Shea McClellin with the 19th pick in the first round of the NFL Draft.The 6-3, 260-pounder, who grew up on a farm in a small town in Idaho, is a talented and versatile pass rusher who possesses natural instincts and a non-stop motor.

“I’m very excited to have Shea become a Chicago Bear,” Phil Emery said after making his first draft pick as the franchise’s general manager. “It helped fill a need for us as a pass rusher.

“We’re also very excited about Shea in terms of his all-downs ability. This is an all-downs football player, including special teams. This is a four-down player. Our special teams coaches gave him a blue level grade (the highest possible) as a special teams player.”

McClellin, who was at the site of the draft in New York City, told Chicago reporters during a conference call that when he learned the Bears were about to select him he was “definitely excited and happy just to be a part of a great organization, and I really can’t wait.”

McClellin was a three-year starter at Boise State, where he recorded 130 tackles, 33 tackles-for-loss, 20½ sacks, five forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in 49 career games. He registered 13½ tackles-for-loss and 9½ sacks as a junior in 2010 and 12 ½ tackles-for-loss and seven sacks as a senior in 2011.

Pro Football Weekly’s 2012 Draft Preview describes McClellin as a “lean, smooth-muscled, active, instinctive, college defensive end with a relentless temperament” as well as a “functional, character football player who plays better than he tests.”

“We’re excited about him for several reasons,” Emery said. “He’s got really quick feet and hands as a pass rusher. He has natural hips as a pass rusher. He’s a good natural athlete.”

Emery said that what impresses the Bears most about McClellin is his natural football instincts.

“He plays with a very low pad level,” Emery said. “He finds the ball quickly, [gets] through blocks, which is a skill in itself. He reads pressure well. He can feel where the ball’s going and he has very natural ability to find the right path to the ball off blocks to make the tackle as quick as possible.”

McClellin’s high football intelligence should help him make an immediate impact as a rookie, something that Emery recently told reporters the team was seeking in its first-round pick.

Despite playing a major portion of the season without the reigning MVP, the Bulls still escaped the regular season unscathed.John Lucas III scored a career-high 25 points, Joakim Noah had 13 points and 13 rebounds, and the Bulls clinched the top overall seed in the NBA playoffs with a 107-75 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night. With the No. 1 seed in the East already in hand and the playoffs beginning on Saturday, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau took no chances in the regular-season finale. He rested Derrick Rose, Luol Deng and Kyle Korver.

“We’ve been through a lot this year, a lot of adversity, a lot of guys being injured. We fought hard throughout. It was a tough season. A lot of games in a compressed season, but we put ourselves in the best position possible,” Noah said.

The Bulls will host Philadelphia on Saturday.Earlier in the week, 76ers forward Evan Turner said he preferred to face the Bulls as opposed to the Heat in the first round.

“Love it. We just have to give them what they ask for,” Bulls guard Richard Hamilton said.

Despite being short-handed, the Bulls controlled most of the game. They led 58-45 at halftime behind nine points and eight rebounds from Noah, and Lucas’ nine points.Carlos Boozer scored the first six points of the third quarter and the Bulls extended the lead to 66-47.The Bulls could have also clinched home-court advantage throughout the postseason with a Spurs’ loss to the Warriors, but didn’t need the help. Lucas’ 3 increased the lead with 3:53 to go and Jimmy Butler had tip to make it 99-69.Tristan Thompson scored 13 points for the Cavaliers, who lost four straight games to end the season, their second straight last-place finish in the Central Division. Kyrie Irving, who had a late-season sprained right shoulder and is recovering from the flu, did not play.The Bulls outrebounded Cleveland 60-38. With the game well in hand, fans started chanting for Brian Scalabrine with 8 minutes to go. He finally entered the game with 2:59 to a loud ovation. He made a jumper to a standing ovation with 25 seconds left. Rose sat for the 27th time in 66 games this season. He has missed games with a bad back, sore groin, sprained ankle and the latest a foot injury, but Thibodeau said Rose will be ready for the playoffs and he is encouraged how Hamilton has played after returning from a shoulder injury.

“I think Derrick has been better than he has in a while and Rip [Hamilton] has gotten his legs under him. We just have to be ready to,” said Thibodeau.

Antawn Jamison, who will become a free agent, scored 12 points in what likely will be his final game for Cleveland. The Cavs finished the season with a 21-45 record compared to last season’s 19-63 record. The Bears on Thursday addressed a need and bolstered a key position by selecting Boise State defensive end Shea McClellin with the 19th pick in the first round of the NFL Draft.

Philip Humber followed up the best day of his career with one of his worst.Kevin Youkilis hit a grand slam, Jarrod Saltalamacchia homered twice and the Boston Red Sox roughed up Humber in a 10-3 victory over the White Sox on Thursday night.Youkilis, mired in an early-season slump, hit his second career slam into the right-field bullpen during a five-run third inning against Humber, who was making his first start since pitching a perfect game in a 4-0 victory at Seattle on Saturday.

“I got a lot of pitches up over the plate,” Humber said. “To a team like that, they make you pay for it.”

It didn’t take long for Humber (1-1) to falter. He walked leadoff batter Mike Aviles in the first, snapping his streak of 29 straight batters retired.

One out later, the right-hander allowed a single to Dustin Pedroia, a dribbler up the third-base line that was the first hit off Humber since Nick Markakis’ one-out double for Baltimore in the fifth inning of the Orioles’ 10-4 victory at U.S.Cellular on April 16.

“We had our reports on watching Phil,” Youkilis said. “He’s a guy who’s going to throw strikes and go at you. You have to be ready to hit.”

Humber was tagged for a career-high nine runs and eight hits in five innings. The nine earned runs he allowed after his perfect game were a record, topping the eight given up by Jim “Catfish” Hunter after his perfecto for Oakland in 1968.

“This game will humble you, man,” Humber said. “It will make you feel good one day and make you feel real bad the next. You’ve got to take every game as its own game.”

Johnny Vander Meer remains the only major league pitcher to throw consecutive no-hitters, accomplishing the feat in 1938 with Cincinnati.It’s been a hectic week for Humber, who did a segment on David Letterman’s show among many media-related appearances this week. Also, his wife Kristan is expecting the couple’s first child in the next couple of weeks.

“I stayed with my normal routine,” Humber said. “I did my best to eliminate the distractions. I felt like I was focused on the game.

“I don’t think anything that happened Saturday affected tonight,” he added. “It was just a bad day. I’ll just chalk it up to one of those days and hopefully next time will be better.”

The resurgent Red Sox have scored 34 runs in winning their last four games, a streak coming on the heels of a five-game skid. Adrian Gonzalez followed Pedroia’s hit with an RBI double, and David Ortiz added a run-scoring single to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. After throwing just 96 pitches to complete his masterpiece, Humber twice needed more than 30 pitches to get through an inning. He threw 92 pitches over the first four innings.Saltalamacchia followed Youkilis’ slam with a home run just inside the right-field foul pole. He added a two-run shot in the fifth off Humber, his fourth homer of the season. Humber allowed three walks and three home runs. His ERA rose from 0.63 to 4.66. Youkilis singled and scored in the fifth and added an infield single in the eighth. His three hits, two runs and four RBIs were an encouraging sign for a hitter that entered the game batting only .204. The grand slam was his second home run of the season and only his second during his past 28 games dating to Aug. 14, 2011.

“I’m having better at-bats and doing little things here and there,” Youkilis said. “I look at it as a long season, and you’re going to go through stuff. Hopefully the bad at-bats are a thing of the past.”

Boston starter Felix Doubront (1-0) wasn’t sharp but picked up his first big-league victory since Aug. 10, 2010. He allowed five hits and three walks, threw a wild pitch and hit a batter with a pitch, but limited the White Sox to three runs in six innings.Junichi Tazawa tossed three scoreless innings for his first major league save. Dayan Viciedo broke out of a 1-for-16 slump with two hits, including a leadoff home run in the fourth. All three of his RBI this season have come on solo home runs.

NOTES—Andre Rienzo, a pitcher in the White Sox farm system, was suspended for 50 games after testing positive for a banned substance…..Marlon Byrd started in center for the Red Sox in his first game in Chicago since being acquired from the Cubs on Saturday…..Robin Ventura said he didn’t plan to use reliever Jesse Crain out of the bullpen for precautionary reasons. Crain hasn’t pitched since April 20 because soreness in his left oblique, but Ventura doesn’t expect him to go on the disabled list.

INDIANAPOLIS—Even as the Bulls wrapped up another impressive victory, the question that has dogged them remained unanswered: Will Derrick Rose be ready for the playoffs after fighting through injuries all season? Rose, last season’s league MVP, finished with 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting to help the Bulls defeat the Indiana Pacers 92-87 on Wednesday night.Rose has missed 26 games this season and he’s just beginning to return to form after most recently dealing with injuries to his right ankle and foot. Though he couldn’t finish like he normally does on his quick, furious drives to the basket, his unparalleled explosiveness was back.Rose, who had seven assists and only one turnover in 27 minutes, had 11 points and eight assists on Saturday in a victory against Dallas after missing the previous three games.Kyle Korver scored 20 points, Carlos Boozer had 16 points and Joakim Noah had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Bulls,who ended the game needing only a victory against Cleveland on Thursday or a loss by the San Antonio Spurs to clinch the top overall seed in the playoffs.The Bulls said earning the top seed is a secondary goal.Lance Stephenson had a career-high 22 points in his first career start for the Pacers, who rested Danny Granger and Leandro Barbosa because they were locked into the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference. Indiana will have homecourt advantage against Orlando in the first round.The Bulls led 49-36 at halftime after shooting 50 percent from the field and outrebounding the Pacers 25-16. The Pacers shot just 5 for 21 from the field in the second quarter and were outscored 17-12.Indiana went on a 7-0 run early in the third quarter to cut the Bulls lead to 55-47 and force a timeout.The Bulls hung tough, and a fast break layup by Richard Hamilton pushed their lead back to 67-54. The Bulls led 67-59 at the end of the third quarter.A dunk by Taj Gibson increased the Bulls lead to 73-60. Indiana made one more push. A fast break layup by Stephenson cut the Bulls’ lead to 78-71 with 5:57 to play, but the Bulls maintained control.Thibodeau said the Bulls will play their regular lineup on Thursday.Thibodeau said the Bulls need the game against Cleveland to get sharper.Rose wants one more chance to prepare for a pressure situation before the postseason begins.

NOTES—Indiana shot 50 percent in the first quarter, but trailed 32-24 at the end of the period. The Bulls outrebounded Indiana 12-6 in the first quarter…..The teams combined for only one turnover in the first 12 minutes….The Pacers honored their ABA championship teams from 1969-70, 1971-72 and 1972-73 at halftime. All surviving members of those teams were invited…..Indiana had only its sixth sellout crowd of the season.

OAKLAND—Yoenis Cespedes’ timely hitting decided countless games at every level of baseball back home in Cuba.Doing it at as a first-year major leaguer means so much to the young Oakland Athletics.With two of the American League’s top pitching teams dueling it out for a third straight day, Kila Ka’aihue blooped a winning single in the 14th inning soon after Cespedes’ tying two-run homer, and the A’s rallied past the White Sox 5-4 on Wednesday.

“Yoenis is coming up in that situation and he’s grinding hard every pitch, every out,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “[It was] more perseverance than anything else, because it seemed like in the middle of the game nobody was going to score for a while.”

He was right. Both clubs missed chances and the game kept going. Josh Reddick hit a one-out single in the 14th, then Cespedes delivered his fifth homer of the season against Hector Santiago (0-1) after the Sox took the lead in the top half of the 14th. Ka’aihue came through with the big hit in a game that lasted 3 hours, 56 minutes.

“You relish that, you look forward to it when you’re taking your BP and your work,” Ka’aihue said. “You prepare to get that big hit. You don’t work on grounding out and flying out. It wasn’t the hardest ball I’ve hit in my life. It won the game for the team, that’s all that counts.”

Jim Miller (1-0) struck out Brent Lillibridge for his first major league win after being called up earlier in the day.Alexei Ramirez hit a go-ahead two-run double with two outs in the top of the 14th.Paul Konerko hit his 400th career home run to tie the game at 2 in the Sox ninth.The round numbers, everybody likes the round numbers. When it comes to that kind of stuff, I think when I’m done playing and look back, that’s when it might hit home more.

The game featured Take Me Out to the Ball Game twice, along with a 14th-inning stretch.

After a pair of gems from the Sox starters this trip — Philip Humber’s perfect game Saturday at Seattle, then Jake Peavy’s three-hit shutout Monday — this day became about the terrific White Sox bullpen until Oakland finally got to the relievers. Konerko sent the first pitch from A’s closer Grant Balfour onto the left-field steps to start the ninth. Konerko became the fourth player in White Sox franchise history to reach the 400 mark, joining Frank Thomas, Jim Thome and Andruw Jones.

“Everybody likes the round numbers,” Konerko said. “When it comes to that kind of stuff, I think when I’m done playing and look back, that’s when it might hit home more. But when you’re in the middle of the grind and you’re grinding every day and working, you tend not to think about that stuff, and you probably shouldn’t.”

It looked as if the White Sox would take this one after scoring two unearned runs in the top of the 14th.But Cespedes showed why the A’s gave him a $36 million, four-year contract.

“I was lucky enough to hit home runs to decide games. This was not the first time,” Cespedes said. “The team is a very young team, but the way we play together we’re going to get very far this season.”

Dayan Viciedo reached on third baseman Eric Sogard’s fielding error and Brent Morel sacrificed him to second. Eduardo Escobar flied out and Alejandro De Aza walked before Miller relieved Jerry Blevins to face Ramirez. The A’s saved themselves in the 13th with a two pretty defensive plays. Catcher Kurt Suzuki caught pinch-runner Lillibridge well off second base, then shortstop Cliff Pennington chased down Alex Rios’ double that skipped into the Oakland bullpen and made a quick throw to Sogard, who then relayed to Suzuki just in time to get a sliding Gordon Beckham.Konerko’s fourth homer of the year spoiled an impressive A’s debut by Jarrod Parker, who struck out five in 6 1/3 innings following his call-up from Triple-A Sacramento.Home plate umpire Jerry Layne took a foul from Escobar off the left shoulder in the fifth and was briefly examined by the A’s training staff before staying in the game. Layne returned to the box and playfully grabbed Escobar’s bat and jokingly pretending to swing it.

NOTES—Already without LF Coco Crisp because of a lingering illness, the A’s had Luke Hughes set to start at 3B before he arrived at the ballpark with a 102-degree temperature and couldn’t play…..Teri McKeever, head swim coach at Cal and coach of this summer’s Olympic women’s team in London, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

ROSEMONT—Wolves center Steve Reinprecht tallied two goals and goaltender Eddie Lack stopped 30 shots to lead the Wolves to a 3-1 win in Game 4 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals Wednesday night at the Allstate Arena.Forward Tim Miller added an empty-net tally in the final minute for the Wolves, who will battle San Antonio in a winner-take-all Game 5 at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Allstate Arena.

“I can’t say that is the way we drew it up,” said Wolves head coach Craig MacTavish. “But sometimes in playoff hockey you need spectacular goaltending to carry you and Eddie did that for us tonight.”

With the Wolves (2-2) trailing 1-0 and less than three minutes left in the second period, Reinprecht evened the score with a power-play tally at 17:53. Defenseman Brad Hunt worked the puck to captain Nolan Baumgartner, who walked into the near circle, faked a shot and slipped a pass to Reinprecht in front of the crease. He redirected the puck past Rampage netminder Dov Grumet-Morris. The Wolves grabbed a 2-1 lead with Reinprecht’s second tally of the night. He skated the puck up along the near boards, made a move on the Rampage defenseman in the near circle, and flicked a shot on net that snuck under Grumet-Morris’ arm at 12:00 of the third period. Miller sealed the win for the Wolves with an empty-net tally at 19:32.Grumet-Morris (0-2) stopped 12 shots in the loss.San Antonio (2-2) opened scoring 43 seconds into the game when center Jon Matsumoto won a face-off in the far circle back to defenseman Michael Caruso. His shot from the point passed a screened Lack (2-1). The Wolves and Rampage will face-off for the chance to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday night at the Allstate Arena.

David Freese homered and Lance Lynn threw eight strong innings to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-1 win over the  Cubs on Wednesday afternoon.Lynn (4-0) held the Northsiders to six hits in becoming the first four-game winner in the majors and helping the Cardinals avoid a three-game sweep.Freese’s two-run blast in the sixth capped a three-run, two-out rally against starter Chris Volstad. Freese added an RBI double in the eighth.Volstad (0-3) threw six solid innings, retiring St. Louis in order during four of them. But he’s still 0-8 in 15 starts since July 10, 2011.Bryan LaHair homered to lead off the fourth for Cub’s only run. LaHair has four of the Cubs majors-lowest seven home runs this season.

OAKLAND—Pinch-hitter Kurt Suzuki doubled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, Tommy Milone outdueled Gavin Floyd and the Oakland Athletics beat the White Sox 2-0 on Tuesday night.Daric Barton drew a leadoff walk in the eighth and Luke Hughes struck out before Matt Thornton relieved Floyd (1-3). Suzuki doubled to left and Barton scored easily, then Eric Sogard added an RBI single as the A’s ended a 16-inning scoreless stretch going back to Sunday’s 5-1 victory against Cleveland.Sox pitching produced yet another strong outing on a road trip full of them, but the White Sox had their four-game winning streak snapped along with a six-game road winning streak.A night after Jake Peavy pitched a three-hitter in a 4-0 White Sox win Monday — Oakland’s fourth time being blanked — Floyd did his part. On Saturday in Seattle, Phil Humber pitched a perfect game in a 4-0 win over the Mariners.Milone (3-1) matched Floyd all night until Oakland’s offense finally capitalized. The A’s did plenty on defense to back Floyd, turning double plays and throwing out Brent Morel on a steal attempt in the eighth after he hit a two-out single.Milone, acquired in the winter trade that sent All-Star Gio Gonzalez to Washington, allowed three hits over eight efficient innings, struck out five and didn’t walk a batter in a 98-pitch outing. Grant Balfour finished the four-hit shutout, Oakland’s fourth, for his fifth save in as many tries in a game that went 2 hours, 27 minutes.Floyd, who came in with a 3-1 record and 2.35 ERA with 35 strikeouts in his previous seven career starts against the A’s, allowed two hits and one run, struck out six and walked two in 7 1-3 innings.The White Sox were trying for their longest road winning streak since a seven-gamer from Aug. 30 to Sept. 6, 2010. Still, the 7-2 start away from home was the club’s best since winning 10 of its first 12 on the road in 2005. Alex Rios went 0 for 3 and had his 11-game hitting streak snapped, with Adam Dunn pinch-hitting for him in the ninth. Dunn struck out swinging to end it.A’s left fielder Coco Crisp was held out of the lineup after he still experienced symptoms of his recent illness after playing all nine innings Monday following five games out because of a bug and inner ear issue.

NOTES—Humber, who pitched the 21st perfect game in major league history Saturday at Seattle, flew home Tuesday morning to be with his wife before the birth of their first child. Humber – claimed off waivers from the A’s on Jan. 18, 2011, is set to pitch Thursday at home vs. Boston. … Jarrod Parker, who grew up in Indiana as a Sox fan, makes his A’s debut in Wednesday afternoon’s series finale. “I grew up a White Sox fan, so it’s going to be cool,” he said. … Oakland SS Cliff Pennington and C Suzuki each had the night off, before Suzuki entered to pinch hit in the eighth and stayed in behind the plate. … A’s owner Lew Wolff watched batting practice from the field and confirmed Barry Bonds’ trial lawyer, Allen Ruby, is now on the legal team for the club’s efforts to build a new ballpark in San Jose.

Alfonso Soriano threw up his hands in joy as the ball caromed off second baseman Tyler Greene and into center field. He slapped hands with his teammates as they mobbed him near first base.While the Cubs celebrated another dramatic victory, the St. Louis Cardinals fumed.Soriano hit a game-ending RBI single in the 10th inning and the Cubs used a pair of disputed calls to post a 3-2 victory Tuesday night, ending the Cardinals’ run of 13 consecutive winning series.

“It’s huge, especially against one of the best teams in the National League, and the world champions, to win our first series against them is huge,” manager Dale Sveum said. “To do it in that fashion gives the guys in that locker room confidence.”

Tony Campana sparked the winning rally with a one-out single off Fernando Salas (0-1). Campana then broke for second and was ruled safe in a close call by second base umpire Bill Welke, who insisted to Cardinals manager Mike Matheny that the speedy outfielder got his hand on the bag before the tag.Matheny disagreed, and drew his first ejection.

“To sit there and watch our guys get short-ended on great plays and not have something to say about it would be a tragedy,” the first-year manager said.

After Starlin Castro struck out, Bryan LaHair was walked intentionally before Soriano hit a full-count pitch off Greene for the winning hit. Campana scored easily to give the Cubs their second consecutive dramatic victory against the Cardinals.

“The last two have been great for the team,” Soriano said. “We need that kind of emotion and belief. Everybody is believing. We have a very young, talented team. We have to stay working hard and see what happened.”

James Russell (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning to get the win.The Cubs led 1-0 before Matt Holliday hit a two-run homer off Carlos Marmol with two out in the eighth inning. LaHair then tied it with a leadoff drive off Marc Rzepczynski in the ninth.

“Just before I went up there, Dale told me to see the ball up,” LaHair said. “He left the ball up and I just wanted to hit it hard.”

The Cubs also beat the Cardinals 3-2 on Monday night on Joe Mather’s game-ending, two-run single. They will go for the three-game sweep Wednesday afternoon.St. Louis won its last seven series in the regular season last year, then stormed through the playoffs to the World Series title. It opened this season with six more series wins before running into the slumping Cubs, who had dropped seven of eight before the Cards came to town.It was St. Louis’ first series loss since it dropped two of three against Cincinnati from Sept. 2-4. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 2002 Braves were the last team to put together a 13-series streak.The Cardinals had just four hits before Holliday drove a 2-2 pitch over the wall in center for his fourth homer. Rafael Furcal set up the go-ahead drive with a one-out walk against Rafael Dolis, who retired Skip Schumaker before Sveum went to his closer with Holliday coming to the plate.

“It was a slider. Got the barrel to it,” Holliday said. “It would have been nice if that would have been the difference-maker, but it didn’t turn out to be.”

The Cubs nearly wasted a terrific outing by Jeff Samardzija, who struck out nine in 6 2-3 innings. The right-hander yielded just four hits and two walks in his second start against Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals in 11 days.Wainwright allowed one run and six hits over six innings in his best start since he had elbow-ligament replacement surgery last February, sidelining him for the 2011 season. The 6-foot-7 right-hander struck out seven and walked one, but remained winless in four starts this year.

“Each time out there have been little things that I’ve done better and better,” he said. “Tonight there were certainly things that I did like I expect to do, like I used to do, and like I’m going to continue to do them. There are still ways that I can get a lot better than I was tonight.”

Castro’s disputed sacrifice fly gave the Cubs the lead in the first. Right fielder Carlos Beltran made a strong throw and Gold Glove catcher Yadier Molina was right there as David DeJesus stuck his left arm out while sliding past home on the dugout side, drawing a safe call from umpire Chris Conroy.DeJesus clapped his hands and scurried back to the dugout as Molina popped up and began arguing with Conroy. Matheny popped out of the dugout and got between Molina and Conroy before continuing the argument with the umpire. Looking at the TV replays, it was unclear whether DeJesus ever touched home, but Matheny eventually left the field after a short argument.

NOTES—3B Freese was back in the lineup after he was hit on the right hand in the fourth inning of Monday’s loss. He stayed in the game but there was some concern since he missed two days this month with an irritated finger on the same hand…..The Cubs outrighted RHP Rodrigo Lopez to Triple-A Iowa…..Beltran turned 35 on Tuesday.

ROSEMONT—The Wolves jumped out to a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes of play and staved off elimination with a 3-2 win over the San Antonio Rampage in Game 3 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals Tuesday night at the Allstate Arena.Forwards Darren Haydar (2G) and Jordan Schroeder scored while goaltender Eddie Lack (1-1) stopped 18 shots for the Wolves, which cut its deficit in the best-of-five series to 2-games-to-1.
“We had a great start in the first and did a lot of things we set out to do,” said Wolves head coach Craig MacTavish. “We let them back in it in the second, but we defended well enough to hang on in the third.”
The Wolves (1-2) opened scoring at the 12:44 mark of the opening period. Schroeder held the puck along the far boards and sent a shot on net that redirected off a defenseman’s stick and over the shoulder of San Antonio goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris.The Wolves doubled their lead when right wing Mark Mancari faked a shot from the top of the near circle and instead slipped a pass to the far post where Haydar was waiting to tap home the puck past Grumet-Morris at 19:05.Grumet-Morris (0-1) posted 21 saves on 23 shots.San Antonio (2-1) got on the scoreboard while on the power play at 16:41 of the second period. Left wing Evan Barlow controlled the puck in the far circle and saucered a pass back door to defenseman Alex Petrovic, who hammered home the puck into the back of the net.Haydar added an empty-net tally at 19:22 of the third period to make the score 3-1, but center Bracken Kearns scored the Rampage’s second goal of the night with two seconds remaining to close out scoring.The Wolves look to even the series when they host the Rampage at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Allstate Arena.