Chicago Wolves/Carolina Hurricanes forward Ryan Suzuki (16) was designated Player of the Game for his assist and goal in Game Seven of the Western Conference Finals. (Source: James Guillory-Imagn Images)The Chicago Wolves beat the Colorado Eagles 4-3 in Game Seven to win the Western Conference Finals and will face the Toronto Marlies in the 2026 Calder Cup Finals.
The vast majority of the first period was a stale-mate with both teams going 0-for-1 in the power play. In the final minute, Chicago were the recipient of their second power play where forward Noah Philp scored the game-opening goal on the final shot of the period 15 seconds before first intermission to give the Wolves the 1-0 lead.
Chicago immediately picked up where they left as forward and AHL All-Star Bradley Nadeau scored 67 seconds into the second period from the slot to double the Wolves' lead. Colorado's Wyatt Aamodt responded back right away with a one-timer from the right face-off zone 40 seconds later to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Eagles outshot the Wolves 12-8 in the period including going on a 8-0 shooting run for the final 8:51 minutes, yet still could not find the equalizer through 40 minutes.
Colorado's perseverance would pay off immediately in the beginning of the final period as forward Jason Polin sniped the first shot of the frame from the slot into the Chicago goal after a Wolves giveaway 14 seconds in to tie the game 2-2. But just 3:32 minutes later, Chicago forward Ryan Suzuki would dangle the puck past three Eagles into the Colorado zone before lasering a shot past goalie Trent Miner to put the Wolves up again at 3-2. The Avs AHL affiliates would try mounting a fiery comeback including putting up nine consecutive shots for a period of 5:47 minutes, but forward Ivan Ryabkin would shut any momentum down with the eventual game-winning goal at the 12:50 mark to put Chicago up 4-2. For the rest of the period, Colorado put up seven unanswered shots and got a goal back courtesy of forward Jayson Megna after pulling Miner, but could not get another one to tie the game for a potential overtime showdown.
Chicago Wolves goalie Amir Miftakhov made 39 saves off 42 shots for a save percentage of 0.929.
Colorado Eagles goalie Miner made 23 saves off 27 shots for a save percentage of 0.852.