Wolves fall to Griffins 3-1; eliminated from postseason contention

The Wolves were eliminated from postseason contention when they fell to the Grand Rapids Griffins 3-1 on Saturday night at Allstate Arena.

Nathan Sucese scored but the Wolves came up short and had their four-game points streak snapped, allowing the Manitoba Moose to clinch the fifth and final spot in the Central Division playoffs.

After a scoreless opening period, the Griffins struck first early in the second on Marco Kasper’s goal.

The Wolves broke through to tie it at 1-1 midway through the third on Sucese’s goal. The forward camped out in front of the net and redirected a shot from Hudson Elynuik past Griffins goaltender Sebastian Cossa. Elynuik and Ronan Seeley assisted on Sucese’s 22nd goal of the season. Elynuik extended his points streak to four games with the helper.

Grand Rapids seized the lead a short time later on Matt Luff’s power-play goal and Kasper scored into the empty net for the final margin.

Adam Scheel (25 saves) suffered the loss in goal for the Wolves. Cossa (21 saves) earned the win for the Griffins.

The Wolves fell to 22-33-6-7 while Grand Rapids moved to 35-21-8-4.

“No one is satisfied; no one is happy,” Sucese said after the game. “We’re not where we want to be and I think it’s everyone in the room’s responsibility, not just one guy. It’s been an up-and-down season but I’m proud of all the efforts in there.”