Chicago could not stop La Crosse's Reed Kelly, who tallied a hat trick in a 12-1 win.

Kelly notched his first tally 7:26 into the first period. He then added goals at 13:38 into the second and at 9:03 into the third.

Chicago was stymied by La Crosse's netminder Andrew Wagner, who stopped 32 shots during the victory. The solid play of Wagner will be reflected in his goals against average, which pre-game was 2.0.

La Crosse kept Chicago's goalie busy throughout the game, and Ray Smith made 50 saves on 62 shots. La Crosse surpassed its usual scoring output this season. La Crosse averages 6.0 goals per game. La Crosse capitalized on Chicago's penalties, netting five goals while skating with a man advantage. Team's forwards weren't the only contributers offensively, and the team's defensemen showcased their scoring touch with three goals.

La Crosse additionally got points from Jared Bromberg, who also registered two goals and three assists and Cameron Pries, who also finished with one goal and two assists. Others who scored for La Crosse included Mick Nisbet, who had four and Daniel Toycen and Case Moioffer, who each put in one. More assists for La Crosse came via Hunter Breza, who had two, Eric Weber, Toon De Schepper, Taylor Trapp, Matt Wolter, and Dylan Goggin, who contributed one each, and JP Eykyn and Justin Edwards, who each chipped in three.

Chicago racked up the penalties in the contest, and ended with 12 minors and one major for 59 minutes in penalty time. Chicago surpassed its season average of 34.0 penalty minutes per game. Chicago forced La Crosse goalie Wagner to work between the pipes, taking 33 shots.

La Crosse ended with 35 minutes in penalty time with five minors and one major. Chicago registered zero goals on two power play opportunities.