Wolves capture opener against Admirals
The Wolves reeled off three consecutive goals in the last 11 minutes of the second period to seize control of the game on their way to a 6-2 victory Saturday against the Admirals in Game 1 of the American Hockey League’s Central Division finals at Allstate Arena.
Jack Drury scored two goals and Josh Leivo, Jamieson Rees, Andrew Poturalski and Stelio Mattheos one each for the Wolves, who also got three assists from Max Lajoie and 33 saves from goalie Alex Lyon.
The Wolves, who have won each of their first four Calder Cup playoff games by at least three goals, will host Game 2 of the best-of-five series at 3 p.m. Sunday.
◆ Artturi Lehkonen scored two goals, including an empty-netter in the last minute, to fuel the visiting Avalanche to a 5-2 victory against the Blues and a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference semifinals.
Blues goalie Jordan Binnington left with an undisclosed injury after Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri and teammate Calle Rosen collided with him in the crease about seven minutes into the game.
◆ The Penguins and forward Bryan Rust agreed to terms on a six-year, $30.75 million contract. Rust, 30, scored 24 goals to go with a career-high 34 assists this season.
◆ The United States defeated Sweden 3-2 in overtime and Canada lost to Switzerland 6-3 in group play at the world hockey championship in Tampere, Finland.