Wolves Top Rochester 7-4
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Defenseman Mathieu Brodeur and right wing Ty Rattie scored two goals apiece in the opening 11 minutes to spark the Chicago Wolves to a 7-4 victory over the Rochester Americans on Saturday night at Blue Cross Arena.
Rattie finished with his first professional hat trick while Brodeur earned the first two-goal effort of his five-year professional career. Dmitrij Jaskin and Yannick Veilleux added goals for the Wolves (10-3-2-0), who built a 7-1 lead in the opening 40 minutes to assure their fifth win in six games.
Rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington (5-1-1) stopped 27 of 31 shots to push his winning streak to five games.
The Wolves opened the scoring on the first shift as Brodeur wristed a shot from the top of the left circle past Rochester goaltender Nathan Lieuwen 36 seconds into the game. Rob Bordson and Jeremy Welsh set up Brodeur's first goal in a Chicago uniform.
Chicago pushed ahead 2-0 at 3:13 of the first period on Rattie's power-play goal. Defenseman Brent Regner blasted a shot from just inside the blue line that banged off the end wall and bounced to Rattie on the doorstep for a tap-in. Jake Chelios earned an assist as well.
Rochester (7-8-0-0) pulled within 2-1 at 8:25 when Braydon Irwin swept behind the Wolves net and wrapped a shot past goaltender Jordan Binnington's glove.
The Wolves wasted little time regaining their two-goal margin as Brodeur ripped a slap shot from the left point that whizzed through Lieuwen, who was distracted by Welsh's screen. Brodeur's goal at the 9:09 mark sent Lieuwen to the bench in favor of Andrey Makarov.
Rattie delivered his second goal of the night at 10:18 of the first. Pat Cannone rushed the puck up the middle into the zone and flipped a pass to his right for Rattie, who lifted a wrister from the right face-off dot past Makarov's glove.
The Wolves resumed their assault 1:47 into the second period when Jaskin stationed himself in front of the net on the power play, controlled the rebound created by Petteri Lindbohm's slap shot and backhanded the puck past Makarov at a tough angle.
Rattie clinched his hat trick at 17:07 of the second period when he accepted a Cannone cross-ice pass, waited patiently in the left circle for the defenseman to skate past and snapped a shot past Makarov's blocker. Veilleux re-directed a Regner blast to improve Chicago's lead to 7-1 with 1:23 left in the second.
Lieuwen allowed 3 goals in five shots during his first stint. Makarov (4-4-0) stopped 8 of 12 attempts before Lieuwen re-entered for the third period.
The Wolves wrap up their four-game swing through upstate New York with a 6 p.m. game Tuesday at Adirondack. Chicago returns to Allstate Arena on Saturday for Epilepsy Awareness Night, presented by Heidenhain, featuring a free commemorative Wendell Young T-shirt for the first 2,500 fans. -- Chicago Wolves
