The newest Wolves made their home debuts Sunday and had 14,314 fans howling in the Horizon.
Marc Rodgers scored two goals and Steve Larouche had a goal and an assist to play the most prominent roles in a 6-5 victory over Orlando that extended the Wolves’ winning streak to five games.
“Those two have been playing well,” Wolves coach John Anderson said. “No question–we’re a better team with them.”
In three games since being acquired from Quebec on Tuesday, the combined contribution of Larouche and Rodgers consists of six goals and three assists.
The Wolves never trailed after Larouche’s 26th goal of the season snapped a 3-3 tie in the second period. But the Solar Bears, who are coached by ex-Blackhawk Curt Fraser, rallied from a 6-3 deficit in the third period to make it a game of jeopardy.
With starting goalie Mark Richards on thin ice, Anderson called on Ray LeBlanc to come to the rescue with 5 minutes and 29 seconds of scoreless relief.
“You always look for negatives when you blow a three-goal lead,” Anderson said. “But we didn’t really blow it; we just made it a little tighter than we wanted.
“The fatigue factor was catching up with both teams–three games in four nights for us and three in three nights for them.”
Anderson’s pack will hit the road for five straight games before returning to the Horizon for an April 4 encounter with Cincinnati.
