Too little, too late for Wolves

The Chicago Wolves outshot the Oklahoma City Barons 35-23, but they couldn't beat goaltender Martin Gerber until late in the third period and suffered a 4-1 loss at the Allstate Arena on Wednesday night.

Spencer Machacek scored for the Wolves (4-3-1-0) at the 14-minute mark of the third period, taking a pass from Jared Ross and shooting the puck past Gerber.

Wolves goaltender Ondrej Pavelec stopped 19 shots in his return to action after suffering a fainting spell and concussion 2:25 into the Atlanta Thrashers' season opener Oct. 8. Pavelec, who helped the Wolves win the Calder Cup in 2008, was playing in his first American Hockey League game since April 3, 2009.

“We had two plays in the first period that pretty well cost us the game,” said Wolves coach Don Lever. “You have to hand it to Gerber, he played a very good game.”

Alexandre Giroux scored twice and Colin McDonald and Liam Reddox added goals for the Barons.