Lagace looking for his chance
Maxime Lagace showed all the poise of a veteran goaltender Sunday as he stopped 23 of 24 shots for the Chicago Wolves – and the performance couldn’t have come at a better time.
One week after his first NHL call-up, Lagace headed back west as the Golden Knights lost another goaltender to the injured reserve list.
“It’s been a really crazy week,” Lagace said prior to making his return trip. “(Vegas) wanted me to play (with Chicago) for the weekend, so I was pretty excited to get back on the ice, but now it’s going up and starting over.”
Lagace remained on the bench Tuesday night as Wolves teammate Oscar Dansk started in goal and made 29 saves in a stunning 4-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. But with Marc-andre Fleury likely out for at least one more game, and Malcolm Subban out for four weeks, Lagace could stay a bit longer – and get the nod in net.
“I’m just going to go back there and show them what I’ve got,” Lagace said. “If I get into a game, it’s got to be the same as it is (in Chicago), but I have to adjust to that level. I’m really looking forward to the call-up.”
The Knights have stable backups throughout the minors, but the Wolves had to dig deeper. The team added C.J. Motte after Dansk was recalled, but he was Chicago’s lone goaltender Sunday. The club could have taken a goalie from the Knights’ ECHL affiliate, the Quad City Mallards, but instead opted for a more creative route. The Toronto Marlies loaned Kasimir Kaskisuo to Chicago on Monday, and he made his first start Wednesday against the Manitoba Moose. He held off 23 shots, but the Wolves fell 3-1.
“This is the nature of the American Hockey League. It happens to everybody,” Wolves head coach Rocky Thompson said Sunday. “We’ve got a lot of guys we can look to right now, so we feel confident and comfortable with where we’re at.”
Special teams slipping
The Wolves had the AHL’S best power play and a top-five penalty-killing unit on Oct. 21. But a dramatic shift has unfolded.
Chicago went 0-5 on the power play Sunday and 0-7 on Wednesday’s extra-attacker chances. The Wolves have fallen from first place in the league to eighth.
As of Sunday, the team was best in the Central division at penalty killing, but one goal allowed in four kills pushed the Wolves back to second place and eighth in the league at 88.5 percent success.
Thompson also stressed the Wolves need to focus on committing less penalties.
Pulkkinen keeps rolling
Glimpses of a bright Vegas future continue to show in Teemu Pulkkinen. The winger leads the Wolves with 11 points, also good enough to tie for first in the league.
“He’s been really working hard down here,” Thompson said. “He loves to shoot the puck, and the guy who shoots the puck the most ends up scoring the most goals.”
He posted both goals, including the overtime winner, in Sunday’s 2-1 victory against Tucson and has averaged 1.83 points per game.
Contact Emily Polglaze at enpolglaze@ gmail.com. Follow @enpolglaze on Twitter.