05/16/2008
10:01 PM - ROSEMONT, Ill.---2008 American Hockey League MVP
Jason Krog posted a hat trick to lead
the Chicago Wolves by the Toronto Marlies, 4-1, in Game
1 of the Western Conference Final at the Allstate Arena
Friday night.
Krog, who became the third player
in AHL history to earn the offensive "triple crown"
after leading the league in goals (39), assists (73) and
points (112) in 80 games during the regular-season, has
netted seven goals in the last four games after not
denting the net in the first 10 outings of the
postseason. His three-goal outing was just the ninth
postseason hat trick in Wolves history.
2007 AHL
MVP and Krog linemate, Darren Haydar added the other tally
for Chicago, while rookie goaltender Ondrej Pavelec (9-5) kicked out 26 of
27 Toronto shots, marking the sixth time this postseason
he has held opponents to one or fewer markers.
Chicago (9-5), which earned a 4-games-to-3
series win over the Rockford IceHogs to advance to the
conference finals, picked up its third straight win, one
shy of matching a postseason high. Toronto (8-7), which
also battled to a Game 7 in their division final series
against the Syracuse Crunch, suffered its first lost in
four outings.
"After a seven-game series, you
kind of get set in your ways. I wasn't entirely happy
with our effort against Toronto, but we got lucky
tonight," said Wolves Head Coach John Anderson.
"Hopefully we play a little bit better, because the
teams are going to start to learn our tendencies as we
go on. Pavelec and Krog carried us with strong
performances tonight."
Haydar potted the first
goal of the series to give Chicago a 1-0 lead, 1:27 into
the second period. The right wing faked a shot at the
blue line, pulled up and drove toward the goal before
shipping it squarely into the back of the net.
Krog followed suit just under six minutes later
when he collected a rebound and shoveled it over the
goal line to give the Wolves a two-goal cushion, but the
edge was short lived.
Toronto answered with
their first marker just 23 seconds after Krog's score.
Defenseman Patrick Wellar pounced on a rebound
and knocked it into the open far side of the net to cut
the lead to 2-1 at 7:38 of the middle frame.
Krog iced the win for Chicago when he flung the
puck from the near boards past Marlies goaltender Scott Clemmensen and into the far
corner of the net at 17:53 of the final frame, and
popped in an empty-net tally with 40 seconds remaining
in the contest.
Clemmensen (8-7) posted 28 saves
for the Marlies.
The Wolves will host the
Marlies in Game 2 at the Allstate Arena on Sunday at 3
p.m.
Toronto 0 1 0 -- 1
Chicago 0 2 2 --
4
First Period---None.
Penalties---Wellar, Toronto (tripping), 1:58; Battaglia,
Toronto (holding), 7:13; Ondrus, (interference), 17:29;
Kwiatkowski, Chicago (interference), 19:22.
Second Period---1, Chicago, Haydar 7 (Krog,
Motzko), 1:27 pp; 2, Chicago, Krog 5 (Motzko, Sipotz),
7:15; 3, Toronto, Wellar 1 (Harrington, Foster), 7:38.
Penalties---Ling, Toronto (hooking), 0:03; Sifers,
Toronto (tripping), 3:23; Kwiatkowski, Chicago
(holding), 4:37; Newbury, Toronto (slashing), 9:47;
Crabb, Chicago (slashing), 13:37; Harrison, Toronto
(tripping), 14:36; Stuart, Chicago (tripping), 14:36.
Third Period---4, Chicago, Krog 6 (Haydar),
17:53; 5, Chicago, Krog 7 (Martins), 19:20 en/sh.
Penalties---Newbury, Toronto (boarding), 5:50; Valabik,
Chicago (hooking), 9:35; Ondrus, Toronto (interference),
11:25; Stuart, Chicago (hooking), 19:04.
Shots
on goal---Toronto: 9-9-9--27. Chicago: 8-15-9--32. Power
plays---Toronto: 0-5. Chicago: 1-8. Goalies---Toronto,
Clemmensen (28-31). Chicago, Pavelec (26-27). A---3,821.
Referee---Frederick L'Ecuyer. Linesmen---Chris Allman
and Craig Kneale. |
