It was a split series heading into the fifth game of the AHL Calder Cup Western Conference Finals.

Kevin Boyle didn’t get out to a hot start, as he did in his previous 3 starts in the series. Boyle gave up 2 goals in the first 14 minutes of the first period. However, he figured it out and didn’t give up another goal in the next 26 minutes of play. In the end, he saved 22 of 25 shots in San Diego’s Saturday night loss.

For the first time since the second game of the series, the Gulls struck first. However, they gave up that lead when Chicago scored twice within two minutes of each other later in the first period. The second period went by without a score, keeping Chicago up 2-1. 3 minutes, 57 seconds into the third, Jacob Larsson scored the game-tying goal for San Diego. With 10:28 remaining the referee raised his hand for a delayed penalty on Wolves T.J. Tynan, and that’s when the Gulls fell apart. Isac Lundestrom attempted a backwards pass to Simon Benoit, but the puck was nowhere near Benoit and slid into the empty net as the Gulls goalie was on the bench for an extra attacker. The Wolves would add another empty netter with just 2:09 remaining to take a 5-2 lead.

The Gulls offense was kept off balance all evening by the Wolves defense. San Diego would only manage 7 shots on goal for each of the three periods. The Gulls continued to struggle with the man advantage, going 0 for 4 again tonight on the power play.

The Wolves take a 3-2 series advantage heading to Chicago for games 6 and 7 (if necessary). Game 6 will be Monday, May 27 at 5 PM, it can been seen on AHL TV or tune into Fox Sports Radio AM 1360.