Valiant comeback by Chops falls short against Wolves on Friday

March 13, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Iowa Chops News Release


A valiant Iowa Chops comeback fell short on Friday night in Chicago as the Wolves used a torrid start and held off a Chops rally late to win, 7-4.

The 1st period was one to forget for the Iowa Chops, who were on the defensive from the start. Two Wolves goals in the first :39 seconds of the game, saw Chops started goaltender David LeNeveu pulled in favor of JP Levasseur, who played just :38 seconds before LeNeveu returned. The moved didn't help LeNeveu and the Chops much as Chicago scored a power play goal to make it 3-0 in the first two minutes of the game. Another power play goal by Joey Crabb, his second of the game put the Wolves up 4-0. However, the Iowa Chops would respond on the power play breaking a 1 for 37 slump as Petri Kontiola came out from behind the net to slide one past Ondrej Pavelec for his first goal as an Iowa Chop. Eric Boguniecki and Drew Miller assisted on the goal.

The 2nd period was much better for the Chops, but it didn't start well. With the Chops on another penalty kill, Spencer Machacek tapped home a loose rebound after the shot from the point was saved by Chops goaltender JP Levasseur. Levasseur took over the game to begin the 2nd period for the Chops in place of the starter David LeNeveu. The rest of the period was all Chops who answered back to make it 5-2 on a goal from the point by Brian Salcido, who sent the shot through a myriad of bodies past a screened Pavelec. Ajay Baines assisted on the goal. The Chops got a late power play and made it count with :16 seconds to go in the period as a shot from TJ Trevelyan was stopped by Pavelec, but the rebound was collected by Troy Bodie and fired under the glove to bring the Chops to 5-3 headed into the 3rd period.

The 3rd period was looking good for the Chops after Ajay Baines single-handedly brought the Chops to within 5-4 with a shorthanded breakaway goal while killing a 4 on 3 power play. However, with less than two minutes to go and Levasseur out of the net for an extra attacker, the Chops could not manage to control the puck in the offensive zone and two late Wolves emtpy-net goals iced the game, 7-4. The Wolves lead over the Chops for the fourth and final playoffspot increased back to five points with 15 games to play. The Chops will be in Moline, Illinois on Saturday to face-off against the Quad City Flames. Face-off time is 7:05pm.



American Hockey League Stories from March 13, 2009


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