Wolves top Rampage 4-2 for fifth road victory in row

Forwards Curtis McKenzie, Gage Quinney and Valentin Zykov and defenseman Jaycob Megna scored for the Wolves.

SHARE Wolves top Rampage 4-2 for fifth road victory in row
Wolves forward Curtis McKenzie moves in on Rampage goalie Adam Wilcox on Saturday in San Antonio.

Wolves forward Curtis McKenzie moves in on Rampage goalie Adam Wilcox on Saturday in San Antonio.

Darren Abate/AHL

SAN ANTONIO — Despite losing defenseman Jake Bischoff and forward Tyrell Goulbourne to injury early in the game, the Wolves rallied for a 4-2 victory against the Rampage on Saturday at the AT&T Center.

Forwards Curtis McKenzie, Gage Quinney and Valentin Zykov and defenseman Jaycob Megna scored for the Wolves (19-17-3-1), who knocked off the Rampage for the second consecutive night and extended their season-high road winning streak to five games.

Goalie Garret Sparks (5-11-3) stopped 33 of the 35 shots he faced to earn his first victory since shutting out the Wild on Nov. 7.

Defenseman Derrick Pouliot gave the Rampage a 1-0 lead 4:15 into the game. The Rampage made a pair of risky passes pay off, which led to Pouliot walking in toward the net unchallenged and flicking a shot from the bottom of the left circle past Sparks.

McKenzie went nearly coast-to-coast to pull the Wolves even exactly 10 minutes in. He took a short pass from Zach Whitecloud in the defensive end, powered around Pouliot and held him off with his body while flipping a shot past Rampage goalie Adam Wilcox.

The Rampage regained the lead at 5:48 of the second when captain Jordan Nolan knocked home a rebound. The Wolves turned over the puck at center ice, which led to a two-on-one rush for the Rampage. Sparks stopped forward Nolan Stevens’ initial shot but had no chance to stop Nolan.

Though the Rampage outshot the Wolves 19-7 in the second, Quinney forged another tie at 17:05 of the period. Defenseman Jimmy Schuldt fired the puck from the left side toward heavy traffic at the net. The puck came to rest against the net a foot from the post. Quinney and fellow forward Brandon Pirri jabbed at the puck together, and Quinney banked it off Wilcox to make it 2-2.

The Wolves took their first lead with a little help from former Wolves defenseman Jake Walman. Zykov and Pirri motored down the ice on a two-on-one rush. Zykov lofted a pass across the slot, and Walman, rushing back to help his defensive partner, attempted to clear the pass but wound up swatting the puck past Wilcox at 8:16 of the third. Zykov received credit for what turned out to be the winning goal.

The Rampage enjoyed a six-on-four advantage in the final two minutes after drawing a tripping penalty against Whitecloud and pulling Wilcox to add another skater, but Megna scored a short-handed, empty-net goal with a minute left to seal the Wolves’ victory.

The Latest
Mayor Brandon Johnson did not commit to spending a specific amount of public money to lakefront infrastructure improvements, but vowed that whatever public money is invested, it must be committed to creating more housing and jobs and “a sustainable, clean economy.”
White Sox fans from all over will flock to Guaranteed Rate Field on Thursday for the team’s home opener against the Tigers.
Many kids in the audience came dressed up. I would recommend parents encourage it, as their youngsters will undoubtedly make new friends at intermission finding others who love the characters they do, or who identify with other ones.
They mayor made it clear he will not remove the City Council member for appearing at a rally where an American flag was burned to protest U.S. support for Israel.
Archer Courts, 2242 S. Princeton Ave., will soon get a new hot water system, ventilation system and rooftop solar panels through a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.