Goaltender Wendell Young and right wing Ravil Gusmanov provided the leverage Sunday night in the Horizon, lifting the Wolves to a 4-3 overtime shootout victory over Las Vegas that put them back in first place in the International Hockey League’s Midwest Division.
Young had 35 saves in regulation time and rejected the Thunder’s four shots in the shootout as the Wolves improved to 8-4-1.
Gusmanov delivered the deciding goal in Round 4 of the shootout after Steve Martins scored the other goal in Round 1. Gusmanov lured goalie Tim Cheveldae off guard with his clever stickhandling, then put the puck in the net.
With 5:13 left in regulation, Gusmanov set up Jeff Bes’ tying power-play goal, climaxing the Wolves’ comeback from two two-goal deficits. As Gusmanov skated into the left circle, it appeared he was winding up for a slap shot but instead he put a soft pass on the stick of Bes, rushing down the middle.
