Chicago Wolves steal a playoff win on the road against Grand Rapids

The Chicago Wolves opened the Central Division Finals of the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs by rallying to defeat the Griffins 2-1 in Game 1 on Thursday night at Grand Rapids.

Justin Robidas and Josiah Slavin scored to propel the Wolves to the win and take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series that will continue with Game 2 on Saturday night in Michigan.

The game was scoreless until 5 minutes, 19 seconds remained in the second period when Eduards Tralmaks pounced on a rebound that sat in the crease and shoved it into the goal to put the Griffins out in front.

The Wolves answered right back while on the power play. Felix Unger Sorum threaded a pass into the slot and Robidas fired the puck past Grand Rapids netminder Michal Postava to the glove side. The tally that came with 1:22 remaining in the period was assisted by Unger Sorum and Juuso Valimaki.

Slavin put the Wolves out in front at the 6:48 mark of the third when Joel Nystrom spotted the captain skating to the net and hit him with a back-door pass that Slavin fired by Postava for his second goal of the postseason. Nystrom and Ivan Ryabkin earned assists on Slavin’s second consecutive game-winning marker.

Cayden Primeau was sensational with 23 saves to earn the win in goal for the Wolves while Postava (30 saves) suffered the loss for the Griffins.