Chops Edged by Wolves in Shootout

Two early Iowa Chops goals were answered in a span of :31 seconds by the Chicago Wolves in the 1st period, which ultimately led to both teams unable to score the rest of the way as Chicago (15-9-1-1, 32 pts.) topped Iowa (15-8-1-2, 32 pts.) in a shootout on Friday night in Des Moines, 3-2. The shootout loss was the second in two tries for the Chops this season, who dropped a shootout decision in Manitoba a few weeks ago. The shootout loss also marked the first time the Iowa Chops did not win a game when scoring first. The Chops scored first thanks to a goal from Ryan Dingle, who got open in the high slot and fired a shot past Wolves goalie Robert Gherson. Andrew Ebbett and Drew Miller assisted on the goal with hard work in front. The Chops made it 2-0 on their first power play of the night as Drew Miller stuck with a rebound to slide the puck past Gherson's left pad with help from Brian Salcido and another from Ebbett. A momentary lapse for :31 seconds late in the 1st period led to both Chicago goals, the first from leading scorer Joe Motzko on the power play, and the second moments later off a redirect from Riley Holzaphel. Chops goaltender David LeNeveu was very sharp in goal keeping the Chops tied the remainder of the way out with 31 saves on 33 Wolves shots. After a scoreless 2nd and 3rd period, the game went to overtime, where both teams had chances, but could not convert. In the shootout, the Wolves got goals from Jeff Hamilton and Junior Lessard, while the lone Chops goal came from Andrew Ebbett.

AND FOR ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW

DES MOINES, Iowa - The Chicago Wolves, down 2-0 in the first period, fought back for a 3-2 shootout vitory over the Iowa Chops at Wells Fargo Arena on Friday night.
Jeff Hamilton and Junior Lessard each converted in the shootout for the Wolves, while goaltender Robert Gherson stopped 4 of 5 shots in the shootout.
Joe Motzko and Riley Holzapfel scored the Wolves' goals in regulation.
Iowa made it 1-0 at 5:55 of the first period when Ryan Dingle took a pass from Andrew Ebbett and sent a one-timer through traffic that beat Gherson top shelf.
The Chops went up 2-0 at 10:41 of the first when Drew Miller tipped a rebound past Gherson on the power play.
Gherson (5-2-0) turned back 22 of 24 shots during regulation and overtime.
The Wolves cut their deficit to 2-1 with a Motzko goal against goaltender David LeNeveu on the power play at 16:37 of the first period.
Holzapfel made it 2-2 just 41 seconds later after redirecting a shot from Spencer Machacek past LeNeveu.
LeNeveu (8-7-0) made 31 saves.