Chicago Wolves lose to Grand Rapids in overtime on Teddy Bear Toss night
The Chicago Wolves earned a point but in the end fell to the Grand Rapids Griffins 5-4 in overtime Saturday night at Allstate Arena.
Ty Smith had two goals, Juha Jaaska a goal and an assist and Aleksi Heimosalmi also scored, but Chicago couldn’t hold off the Central Division-leading Griffins in the second of three games in three days between the teams. Elmer Soderblom scored with 19 seconds remaining in overtime to help Grand Rapids even the season series 2-2.
It didn’t take long for Heimosalmi to send stuffed animals soaring to the ice on Teddy Bear Toss Night when the defenseman pounced on a rebound of a Juha Jaaska shot and fired it through the pads of Griffins netminder Carter Gylander just 3 minutes, 47 seconds into the opening period. Jaaska earned the lone assist on Heimosalmi’s second goal of the season.
The game was briefly delayed while the stuffed animals, which will be donated to local charities, were collected.
Midway through the first, the Griffins evened the score on a goal by Brogan Rafferty and took a 2-1 advantage in the final minute of the period when Sheldon Dries tallied.
Jaaska’s fourth goal of the season tied it early in the second. The rookie forward took a pass from Ryan Suzuki in the slot and beat Gylander to the stick side. Suzuki and Bradly Nadeau picked up assists on the score. For Suzuki, it was the forward’s 100th American Hockey League point.
With the clock winding down in the period, the Wolves were skating with a two-man advantage and cashed in when Smith wired a one-timer from the top of the left circle and into the back of the net. The power-play goal that gave Chicago a 3-2 lead heading into the third was assisted by Tyson Jost and Scott Morrow.
In the third Grand Rapids evened the score at 3-3 on Tim Gettinger’s goal, but the Wolves again seized the lead on Smith’s second of the night.
The veteran defenseman was all alone in front and converted a pass from Suzuki by shoveling a backhander past Gylander. Suzuki and Ethan Keppen assisted on Smith’s third goal of the season.
A short time later, Austin Watson scored to make it 4-4 and set up Soderblom’s winner.
Yaniv Perets (36 saves) took the loss in goal for the Wolves while Gylander (23 saves) earned the win for the Griffins.
Chicago dropped to 8-9-2-0 on the season while Grand Rapids moved to 15-6-1-0.