Wolves enjoy high-five winning streak
The Chicago Wolves extended their winning streak to five games Saturday night with a 4-3 victory over Midwest Division-leading Grand Rapids at Allstate Arena.
Forward Nathan Longpre (goal, 2 assists) and defenseman Cade Fairchild (2 assists) paced the offense for the Wolves (9-6-0-1), who also received goals from left wings Sergey Andronov and Dmitrij Jaskin and defenseman Taylor Chorney. Goaltender Matt Climie (1-3-0) stopped 23 shots.
“I was real happy with our performance tonight,” Wolves coach John Anderson said. “Grand Rapids is a great team, and we limited them to 26 shots. We were rewarded for our hard work.”
Grand Rapids (10-4-1-1) opened scoring 7:13 into the game with a goal from defenseman Ryan Sproul. He streaked up the right wall and released a shot that beat Climie top corner.
A short-handed goal minutes later brought the Wolves even. Griffins goaltender Tom McCollum went behind the net to play the puck, but Longpre stole it. Longpre wrapped around the side of the net and scored before McCollum could return to his crease.
The Wolves took the lead four minutes into the middle period on Andronov’s first goal of the season. A passing play between Fairchild, Longpre and Andronov ended with an angled one-timer that beat McCollum short-side.
Jaskin added insurance for the Wolves on a power-play goal at 9:47, stepping up from behind the net to deflect a Fairchild pass past McCollum.
Grand Rapids cut its deficit in half with a goal from center David McIntyre at 11:21 of the second. McIntyre tipped a high shot from the point that bobbled past Climie to make it 3-2 in favor of the Wolves.
Right wing Tomas Jurco scored the equalizer for Grand Rapids 35 seconds into the final period when he backhanded the puck over Climie’s outstretched leg.
A second short-handed goal put the Wolves ahead for good. Chorney’s shot from above the faceoff dot beat a screened McCollum (6-2-0), who made 20 saves in the loss. The Wolves tied their franchise record with 2 short-handed goals.
The Wolves travel to Milwaukee at 7 p.m. Friday for an Amtrak Rivalry contest. The team returns to the Allstate Arena on Saturday for a 7 p.m. rematch against Grand Rapids.