Wolves 4, Monsters 0
CLEVELAND -- With four of the Chicago Wolves top 10 scorers out of the lineup, including two of the top three, someone had to step up offensively if the team wanted to extend its winning streak.
Left winger Sergey Andronov answered the call, recording a hat trick, while goaltender Jake Allen whitewashed the Lake Erie Monsters en route to a 4-0 win Friday night at Quicken Loans Arena, Chicago's fourth consecutive win.
Andronov opened scoring for the Wolves (16-12-0-2) just 18 seconds into the second period. Andronov pounced on a puck sitting in the crease that had snuck through the legs of goaltender Sami Aittokallio off a shot from center Keith Aucoin.
Chicago added a power-play marker at 6:42 to put Lake Erie (14-12-0-3) in a two-goal hole. Center Corey Locke swatted a one-timer past Aittokallio only six seconds into the man-advantage, beating the netminder top-shelf.
Andronov completed his hat trick with two tallies in the third period, the first for the Wolves this season and of Andronov's AHL career. His second goal, coming at 10:53, came off a redirect of Locke. His final marker came at 18:40 as he whipped a shot past Aittokallio.
Allen (13-7-2) stopped all 19 shots he faced for his third win in a row and second shutout of the season. Aittokallio kicked out 33 shots and fell to 7-5-1 on the year.
