Chicago Wolves goalie Cayden Primeau made 35 saves off 37 shots for the win in Game One of the Western Conference Finals. (Source: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images)The Chicago Wolves beat the Colorado Eagles 3-2 to win Game One of the Western Conference Finals.
Colorado had outshot Chicago by twice the shots at 14-7 in the first period. The Eagles had the first four shots of the frame in the opening 4:39 minutes. After that, the Wolves put up six unanswered shots of their own in the next 3:58 minutes including one on their first power play by forward and AHL All-Star Justin Robidas that found the back of the net at the 5:39 mark. For the rest of the period, Colorado outshot Chicago 10-1 that included FOUR man-advantage situations which trickled into the second frame for a 5-on-3 situation for 30 seconds. The Eagles did take advantage of the many power plays with an equalizer in their second one via the stick of forward Alex Barre-Boulet.
After being well rested during the first intermission, Eagles forward Tristen Nielsen would score his team's second power play goal with the first shot of the middle period 33 seconds in to put Colorado up 2-1. The Eagles would slip up after that point as a holding penalty on Taylor Makar put Chicago on their third man-advantage situation. Forward and AHL All-Star Bradly Nadeau would answer with a game-tying power play goal at the 7:12 mark. Not too long after, Colorado would once again put the Wolves on their fourth man-advantage of the game and again forward Noel Gunler would find the back of the net after deflecting a pass from Skyler Brind'Amour at the 12:54 mark for the game-winning goal to put Chicago up 3-2 after 40 minutes. The Wolves would also slip up as they put Colorado on their fifth, albeit unsuccessful power play towards the end of the second frame and another eventual unsuccessful sixth one to begin the third period.
The final period recorded a total of 10 shots between both teams with eight coming from the trailing Eagles. This despite each team getting a chance at the power play where each team failed to register a shot. Still, Colorado could not level the scores and ultimately Chicago ran away with Game One.
Chicago Wolves goalie Cayden Primeau made 35 saves off 37 shots for a save percentage of 0.949.
Colorado Eagles goalie Trent Miner made 15 saves off 18 shots for a save percentage of 0.833.