Chicago Wolves drop opener of three-game homestand

The Chicago Wolves’ three-game homestand started with a thud as they fell to the Texas Stars 4-2 on Saturday night at Allstate Arena.

Nikita Pavlychev and Viktor Neuchev had goals but the Wolves came up short as they fell to their Central Division rivals in the first of back-to-back games. Texas got two scores from Arttu Hyry to win its second in a row.

The Wolves got out of the gate quickly and took the lead on Pavlychev’s tally 3 minutes, 51 seconds after opening puck drop. The towering center crashed the slot and redirected a shot from the point by Domenick Fensore into the back of the net. Fensore and Charles Alexis Legault assisted on Pavlychev’s 11th goal of the season and second in two games.

The Stars roared back and took a 3-1 advantage into the first intermission on late-period scores by Jack Becker and two from Arttu Hyry.