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Wolves fall 3-2 to Peoria

The Chicago Wolves and the Peoria Rivermen exchanged goals through 40 minutes of play, but the Rivermen grabbed the only goal in the third period as the Wolves suffered a 3-2 loss Saturday night at the Allstate Arena.

Forwards Steve Pinizzotto and Andrew Gordon scored for Chicago, while right wing Darren Haydar dished out 2 assists in the Illinois Lottery Cup contest.

“We had lots of opportunities tonight, but Peoria’s goalie made some great stops,” Wolves coach Scott Arniel said. “We need a collective goal-scoring effort going forward in order to swing these 1-, 2-goal games our way.”

With the clubs deadlocked at 2-2 after two periods, Peoria left wing Sergey Andronov scored the game-winner at the 9:21 mark of the third period.

After a goalmouth scramble in front of the Wolves’ net, Andronov found the puck at his stick and fired home a shot past Wolves goalie Matt Climie.

Chicago (7-5-2-0), which lost its third straight, opened scoring 4:43 into the game when Pinizzotto picked up a rebound outside the crease and stickhandled around Peoria goalie Jake Allen to tuck home the puck.

Allen (5-7-1) posted 25 saves to earn a 3-2 win over the Wolves for the second consecutive night.

Peoria (5-7-2-1) tied the score at 8:33 of the first when right wing Jaden Schwartz won a puck battle behind the Wolves’ net and flung a pass to the slot, where forward Sebastian Wannstrom slammed a one-timer past Climie.

The Rivermen opened up a 2-1 advantage at 12:41 of the first period. Center T.J. Hensick’s pass from behind the Wolves net hit a Chicago defender’s skate and trickled through Climie’s legs. Climie (1-4-0) finished with 17 saves.

The Wolves knotted the score at 2-2 when Gordon and Haydar skated into the Rivermen zone on a 2-on-1 rush and Haydar slipped a pass from the near circle to Gordon, who banged home the puck into an empty net 3:40 into the second.

The Wolves return to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday, when they host the Milwaukee Admirals in an Amtrak Rivalry game.

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