Fred Brathwaite made 37 saves as Chicago kept its championship hopes alive with a 1-0 win over Hamilton at Copps Coliseum on Friday night.
The Bulldogs still hold a 3-1 series lead in the Western Conference Final, with Game 5 set for Saturday evening in Hamilton.
Brathwaite, making his third consecutive start for the Wolves, earned his first win of the postseason and lowered his goals-against average to 1.49. He stopped 11 shots in the first period, 16 in the second and 10 in the third as the Wolves were outshot by a 37-14 margin for the game.
Hamilton was awarded the first six power plays of the contest but was held off the scoreboard. Just 26 seconds into their first advantage, the Wolves got a goal from Niko Dimitrakos for what would be the only offense of the night.
Nathan Oystrick and Jason Krog were awarded the assists on the Wolves’ goal. Darren Haydar was held off the scoresheet for a second straight game for just the second time all season.
Carey Price turned aside 13 shots for Hamilton, but still saw his playoff record fall to 10-5. Price and the ’Dogs have surrendered just four goals to the AHL’s top-ranked offense over the last three games.
All four games in the series have been decided by a single goal.
Western Conference Final – Series "N" (best-of-7)
W2-Chicago Wolves vs. N3-Hamilton Bulldogs || Preview
Game 1 – Fri., May 18 –
Game 2 – Sun., May 20 –
Game 3 – Wed., May 23 –
Game 4 – Fri., May 25 –
Game 5 – Sat., May 26 –
*Game 6 – Mon., May 28 –
*Game 7 – Wed., May 30 –
*if necessary
all times Eastern
