Wolves open season with win over Grand Rapids

The Chicago Wolves opened their 27th season with a 3-1 American Hockey League victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday night at Triphahn Center.

Forwards Tommy Novak and Seth Jarvis and defenseman Cavan Fitzgerald scored for the Wolves - the 19-year-old Jarvis tallying in his first professional game - while 19-year-old forward Phil Tomasino added two assists as Chicago (1-0-0-0) captured its first seventh home opener in the last nine years.

Wolves goaltender Antoine Bibeau (1-0-0) rejected 22 shots to earn the win.

The Griffins (0-1-0-0) scored first at 7:38 as veteran Kris Criscuolo capitalized on the visitors' first power play of the season. He went to the net and knocked home a pass from Riley Barber.

The Wolves answered at 18:26 of the first as defenseman Cavan Fitzgerald jumped into the rush and fired after flying down the left wing. Goaltender Pat Nagle (26 saves) made the initial stop, but Novak flew in for an acrobatic rebound and the 1-1 tie.

Chicago took its first lead at 2:09 of the second on Jarvis' power-play goal. Tomasino, Dominik Bokk and Jarvis - three NHL first-round picks making their North American professional debuts - connected on a perfect tic-tac-toe to find Jarvis open in the slot.

Fitzgerald gave the Wolves some breathing room at the 13:01 mark when he blasted away from the top of the left circle through traffic.

The Wolves face a quick turnaround as they hit the road for a 3 p.m. game Saturday against the Rockford IceHogs. The Wolves also added a 2 p.m. home game versus the IceHogs on Jan. 9.