AHL Chicago Wolves

Darren Haydar ties AHL record as Wolves down Aeros 7-5

Published on December 22, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Chicago Wolves News Release


HOUSTON, Texas---Right wing Darren Haydar tied an American Hockey League record by registering a point in his 31st consecutive game when he picked up an assist in the first period of the Chicago Wolves 7-5 victory against the Houston Aeros at the Toyota Center Friday night. That record, set by Mike Richard of the Binghamton Whalers, has stood since the 1987-88 season. The helper was Haydar's league-leading 44th of the season. He also leads the AHL with 62 points. If the 27-year-old forward notches a point in the Wolves' matchup with San Antonio tomorrow, he will break the league milestone and tie the Chicago franchise record 32-game run, set by Rob Brown in 1996.

Chicago (22-7-1-1) and Houston (12-15-0-3) combined for five goals in both the first and second periods and each dropped two-goal leads as the squads remained deadlocked before right wing Kyle Wanvig broke a 5-5 tie and gave the Wolves the lead with under three minutes remaining, when he knocked a high-flying puck out of the air and past Houston netminder Josh Harding at 17:36 of the third period - the game-winner and his second goal of the night.

Harding (11-13-3) posted 18 saves for the Aeros in the loss.

The Wolves held the advantage first when defenseman Mark Popovic put Chicago on the board just over five minutes into the game with a blast from the point that blew by Harding for a 1-0 lead early on.

They padded the lead when rookie left wing Brett Sterling cracked the 30-goal mark in just his 29th contest of the season with his league-leading 13th power-play marker, which put the Wolves up, 2-0, at 7:50 of the opening stanza. Sterling has already shattered the franchise mark for goals by a rookie and his 30 goals are the most by a Wolves player through 31 games in franchise record.

Houston rallied back with two goals in quick succession at 9:39 and 10:45 of the first period. Right wing Roman Voloshenko lead the charge when he brought the puck through the neutral zone and fired a shot through traffic in front of the net that escaped under a screened Wolves goaltender, Fred Brathwaite. The Aeros added another on a power-play opportunity when left wing Peter Olvecky one-timed it to the back of the net just over a minute later to tie the game, 2-2.

Brathwaite (11-2-1) recorded 29 saves in the win.

The Aeros held on to the momentum and jumped ahead, 3-2, with a long drive from the point by blueliner Curtis Murphy at 15:07. Then, 1:18 into the second period, Aeros right wing Danny Irmen gave his club a 4-2 advantage when he one-timed a pass from blueliner Shawn Belle past Brathwaite.

The Wolves put the Aeros' offensive drive in check with two quick markers of their own to tie the game at four goals apiece. Kevin Doell notched his second goal in as many games when he came around the back of the net and pushed the puck by Harding at 2:04 and a long-blast by Brian Fahey just 70 seconds later put the score in a 4-4 deadlock.

Chicago regained the lead, 5-4, at 10:43 of the middle frame when Alex Bourret sprung Kyle Wanvig on a breakaway before the 25-year-old forward beat Harding on a snap shot from the hash marks, top shelf.

Voloshenko tipped in his second of the game for the Aeros on a man-advantage opportunity to knot the score, 5-5, at 17:01 to wind down the scoring going into the second intermission.

Center Steve Martins added an empty net goal at 19:41 of the final frame to round out the scoring at 7-5.

The Wolves return home tomorrow to round out a three-game stand against their Texas rivals when they take on the San Antonio Rampage at the Allstate Arena at 7 p.m.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 22, 2006


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