Moose, Wolves go to shoot out; Moose take a win from tough Wolves defense

But the Moose began to hammer away at the Wolves, chipping away at the Chicago lead in shots on goal, they managed at one point to put seven unanswered shots on the Chicago net without an answer. Chelios blocked a power play shot on goal, throwing himself between the puck and the goal and saving Legace's shut out. Working the penalty kill unit, Chelios contributed to an 0 for five shut down of the Moose advantage.

With the game still scoreless, the Moose passed the Chicago shots on goal late in the third period. Former Moose Jason Krog peeled the paint on the goal posts with a late third period shot. And Wolves Center John Pohl followed up with his own paint dinging shot with 2:36 remaining in the third period. Moose vet Keane let fly with a shot from a hard angle only to be stopped by the leather of Legace in over time. Then, with a little over a minute left to play in OT, Krog made a brilliant pass to Spencer Machacek, alone and in the slot, but Schneider was able to stop it and send the game into the shoot out.

In the shoot out LaGrange, Ill. native Tim Stapleton put a puck past Schneider, but was answered by Keane. Then Pettinger found the back of the twine on Legace for the Moose win. Chelios didn't shoot in the shootout.

Speaking after the game, Chelios did not look like he had just finished a 65 minute hockey game against men half his age. "Chelios was fabulous," Head Coach Don Lever said. "There's a sigh of relief (when) he's on the ice." "I felt good," Chelios said, "we were playing good defense. I was trying to keep things simple. (But) I don't know if I can play that physical every game." Aside from Chelios' hit on Collins, Chelios came out of the game relatively touched. Although he braced himself for one big hit in the defensive end in the first period, it never came. Chelios said he expected to get checked noting "I'm the target for a lot of guys" and that he expected to take some and give some. Despite thoughts Chelios would not be able to keep up with the younger players, Chelios took an average of six shifts per period. His shifts seemed longer, if possible, in the second period, with an average of about 30 - 40 second shifts in the first period, but two shifts of about a minute each in the second frame. In addition, Chelios was put into the mix for the penalty kill. "I'm going to remind the coach that I've played power play too," Chelios said after the game. And the old dog had some tricks the younger pups could learn. His situational awareness was noted by Coach Lever. Chelios seem headed into positions of where he expected the puck to be, sometimes it seemed, before the puck had left the tape of his opposition. And whereas one of the younger Wolves ignored a second period breakaway to skate through it from the penalty box to the bench, Chelios almost always seemed to be in the right place. Old dog indeed. One of the key questions was whether Chelios' being on the ice would help or hurt the Wolves. The team had a challenging week, with the dismissal of its head coach and assistant coach on Monday morning following the fifth loss in six games this season under Head Coach Don Granato. They were replaced by Don Lever and Ron Wilson on Wednesday morning. Although Chelios had told Booth Newspapers (MLive) that he expected to have a light role with the Wolves, Lever put him in the penalty kill to start two of the three second period penalty kill efforts. That plus what looks like about ten or more game minutes of play and it is obvious the Wolves are not just leaving suiting Chelios to sit on the bench. The other key question was when are the Wolves going to turn this season around? Lever said he saw progress Friday, despite the loss. And, in an interview with CJOB radio in Winnipeg, Manitoba, General Manager Wendell Young said there would be more accountability of players with Lever behind the bench. Whatever happens, a winning season will be credited to the brilliance of Lever and a losing season now rests with Young.