AHL Playoff Matchup Analysis: Chicago Wolves vs Stockton Heat

The Wolves have had little trouble thus far in the AHL Playoffs. They swept the Rockford Icehogs 3-0 then beat the Milwaukee Admirals 3-1. The Central Division Champs will now faceoff with the Stockton Heat for the Western Conference Finals.

The Heat will be the Wolves’ toughest matchup yet. Chicago may have the best record in the AHL (50-16-10), but Stockton has the second best (45-16-7). The Heat were actually better than the Wolves defensively in terms of Goals Allowed this year, but not as good on the offensive end. Below we see where the Wolves and Heat plot out in terms of goals scored and allowed against the other AHL teams this season.

Stockton beat Bakersfield 3-0 and Colorado 3-1 in the first two rounds. Their only loss was 6-5 in overtime of game three. In the other three games against Colorado, the Heat didn’t even allow a single goal! They won 5-0, 1-0 and 1-0 in those games. This will be a matchup of Stockton’s defensive strength vs Chicago’s offensive strength.

Goalie Matchup
Chicago Wolves
GoalieGameSavesShotsSave %
Alex Lyon1 vs MIL333594.3
Alex Lyon2 vs MIL303293.8
Alex Lyon3 @ MIL212584.0
Alex Lyon4 @ MIL171894.4
Stockton Heat
GoalieGameSavesShotsSave %
Dustin Wolf1 vs COL2323100.0
Dustin Wolf2 vs COL2727100.0
Dustin Wolf3 @ COL323884.2
Dustin Wolf4 @ COL4040100.0

Heat goaltender Dustin Wolf has been on fire lately with three shutouts against Colorado and most recently had a 40 save shutout to close out the previous that series in Colorado.

This should be a really intriguing matchup between an elite offense and an elite defense with a hot goalie. The two teams haven’t ever met so there’s no prior matchups to look into. The AHL schedule has a heavy concentration of division games with much less travel so it may take some time to see how these two styles clash.

Western Conference Finals Schedule

Game 1Friday, June 37 PM @ CHI
Game 2Monday, June 67 PM @ CHI
Game 3Wednesday, June 88:30 PM @ STK
Game 4Friday, June 109 PM @ STK
Game 5*Saturday, June 148 PM @ STK
Game 6*Tuesday, June 147 PM @ CHI
Game 7*Wednesday, June 157 PM @ CHI
*If Necessary

Published by Will McClaughry

Sports fan, data enthusiast and former division 3 college basketball player

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