Former Comet Jeremy Welsh scored the deciding goal midway through the second period and Jordan Binnington made 12 of his 30 saves in the final frame as Chicago evened its best-of-five series with a 2-1 win over Utica in Game 2 on Friday night.
All square at a win apiece, the series moves to Utica for the final three games, beginning Wednesday.
After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, Brent Regner converted on a power play just 70 seconds into the second period to give Chicago its first lead of the series.
Hunter Shinkaruk tied it up exactly nine minutes later with his second goal of the series for Utica.
Welsh, who played 49 games for the Comets a year ago, put the Wolves ahead to stay with 8:08 left in the middle frame.
Binnington stopped 30 of 31 shots for Chicago following his 40-save effort in Wednesday’s double-overtime loss. Jacob Markstrom (1-1) took the loss, making 20 saves.
Western Conference Quarterfinals – Series “E” (best-of-5)
1-Utica Comets vs. 8-Chicago Wolves
Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 22 – Utica 3, CHICAGO 2 (2OT)
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 24 – CHICAGO 2, Utica 1
Game 3 – Wed., Apr. 29 – Chicago at Utica, 7:00
Game 4 – Fri., May 1 – Chicago at Utica, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 2 – Chicago at Utica, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
