Chicago Wolves head back to Colorado needing to win twice after high-scoring loss

The Chicago Wolves’ pregame show that lit up Allstate Arena with “oohs and ahhs” from the crowd and Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals against the Colorado Eagles looked similar. Fireworks.

Scoring. A lot of scoring.

Goals rained down in Friday night’s matchup on the ice, as Chicago played its highest-scoring contest of the postseason. The Wolves took an early two-goal lead, but Colorado came back to record a 7-3 victory, taking a 3-2 series lead.

“I actually thought we started really well. I thought we dictated the pace,” Chicago coach Spiros Anastas said. “We had two different leads, then we had about a four-minute lapse in the second period, where we gave up essentially two short-handed goals.”

It took hardly over four minutes for Chicago to find the back of the net, with forward Skyler Brind’Amour giving Chicago a 1-0 lead off an assist from left winger Evan Vierling. Nearly six minutes later, the Wolves struck again. In transition, center Noah Philp set up defender Juuso Välimäki, who found center Justin Robidas just left of the crease. Robidas concluded the sequence by making it a 2-0 contest.

The Eagles got on the scoreboard with 8:47 remaining in the first period by Chicago tabbing an own-goal, with the goal credited to forward Tristen Nielsen.

With fewer than three minutes left in the first, Nielsen evened the contest at two apiece on a power play. Forward T.J. Tynan set up center T.J. Hughes just left of the crease, but Hughes passed up a shot attempt in favor of a Nielsen one-timer goal between the circles.

“We were playing the right way,” Robidas said. “They had a lucky bounce, goes off our skate, goes in, then power play that I don’t think should have been a power play for them, kind of deflated us.”

Three minutes into the second period, Wolves left winger Bradly Nadeau broke the deadlock. Right winger Viktor Neuchev, in transition, found Nadeau just outside the left circle for his own one-timer goal.

Then Colorado launched an avalanche to take a two-goal lead.

Just 32 seconds after Nadeau’s goal, the Eagles tied the contest at 3-3, as left winger Matt DiMarsico redirected a shot by right winger Gavin Brindley. Two minutes after DiMarsico scored, Colorado forward Jason Polin assisted forward Taylor Makar on a breakaway that gave Colorado its first lead. Less than one minute later, forward Chase Bradley found the back of the net to extend the Eagles' lead to 5-3.

“That was it. That turned the game,” Anastas said of the stretch. “We tried to push back, but at that point, I think we were emotionally drained.”

The Wolves return to Eagles territory for Game 6 at 7:05 p.m. Sunday. Chicago will need to win both contests on the road to advance to the Calder Cup Finals.

“You actually have to just win one, and then you have to win another one,” Anastas said. “It’s a way different perspective than having to win two. We just got to win one. We’ll take care of that, then we’ll worry about the next one.”