Wolves fall 4-3 in OT to Lake Erie Monsters

CLEVELAND - The Chicago Wolves rallied twice in the third period but could not complete the comeback, falling 4-3 in overtime to the Lake Erie Monsters at Quicken Loans Arena on Friday.

In his first game with the Wolves since joining the team via a trade, defenseman Brendan Bell posted a goal and an assist. Wingers Adam Burish and Yannick Veilleux rounded out the scoring, while defenseman Brent Regner dished out a pair of assists.

The Wolves (28-21-6-1) mounted heavy pressure in the first period, which led to the opening tally as the AHL's top road power-play team got on the board at 10:10. Bell launched a low shot from the blue line that Burish deftly redirected while he and linemate Jeremy Welsh screened Monsters goaltender Sami Aittokallio in front.

Despite being outshot 16-9 in the first period, the Monsters (25-23-5-3) took a tie into intermission on a goal from right wing Tomas Vincour. The forward released a wrist shot from just inside the blueline that beat Jordan Binnington blocker-side to make it 1-1.

Binnington (19-12-4) made his franchise-record 18th consecutive regular-season start, stopping 30 shots.

The Wolves continued to pressure the Monsters early in the second period but surrendered a breakaway goal. Left wing Andrew Agozzino beat a defenseman down the ice and buried a shot in the top corner for a 2-1 Monsters lead 1:27 into the period.

With time ticking down, the Wolves netted the equalizer on Bell's second of the season. Right wing Adam Cracknell won a faceoff and took possession of the puck low in the zone, spinning around to send a backhand pass between the dots. Bell pinched in and fired a shot that beat Aittokallio to knot the score 2-2.

Shortly after tying the score, Wolves defenseman Jani Hakanpaa took a high-sticking minor and the Monsters regained the lead on Vincour's second of the night with 2:54 remaining.

The resilient Wolves again clawed back when Veilleux deflected a Regner blast up and over the glove of Aittokallio with 52 seconds left. The goal came shortly after the Monsters missed an empty net.

The Wolves surrendered the game-winning power-play tally to center Ben Street with 2:32 remaining in overtime. The loss kept the Wolves winless (0-20-3-1) when trailing after two periods.

Aittokallio (6-4-1) kicked out 41 as the Wolves tied their season high with 44 shots on goal.

The Wolves are at Lake Erie in a rematch at 2 p.m. Sunday.