Chicago Wolves/Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cayden Primeau (30) keeps his eyes on the puck during the warmup period before a Montreal Canadiens game against the Detroit Red Wings at the Bell Centre. (Source: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images)The Chicago Wolves beat the Texas Stars 2-1 in Game Three to go up 2-1 in the Central Division Semifinals in the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs.
In the first period, Chicago asserted themselves as the dominant team. The Wolves outshot the Stars 14-8 and put up six of their shots in their two power play opportunities of the frame. Texas also got one chance at the man-advantage but were shutout in shots. Eventually, Chicago's shot volume would pay off as they got on the board first thanks to a Noah Philp goal.
The shot differential was even at 10 apiece in the second period. Each team got a 53-second power play, but still Texas did not find a shot in both of their man-advantage situations of the game. In the final minute of the frame, Wolves forward Ryan Suzuki shot a laser from the right faceoff zone past Texas goalie Remi Poirier for the eventual game-winning goal to go up 2-0 into the final break.
The Stars started the third period lit on fire, putting the first six shots in 3:20 minutes of the frame with the first one resulting in a goal by forward Jack Becker to cut down Chicago's lead to 2-1. For some reason, Texas' grit disappeared as they just put up four shots for the rest of the game, letting this game slip to the Wolves.
Chicago goalie Cayden Primeau made 27 saves off 28 shots for a save percentage of 0.964.
Texas goalie Poirier made 26 saves off 28 shots for a save percentage of 0.929.