Wolves hammered by Manitoba

The Chicago Wolves rallied early but ended up falling to the Manitoba Moose 8-3 in a Central Division showdown Sunday in Winnipeg.

Juha Jaaska, Skyler Brind’Amour and Bradly Nadeau each scored for the Wolves but it wasn’t enough as the Moose swept the weekend series over the defending Western Conference champions.

The Moose raced to an early three-goal advantage before the midway point of the opening period on scores by Lucas Wahlin, Alfons Freij and Brayden Yager.

The Wolves didn’t let the slow start deter them as they reeled off three consecutive goals to even the contest at 3-3 after one frame.

Jaaska started the rally off when the veteran forward took a feed from Viktor Neuchev and snapped a shot from the left dot that beat Manitoba netminder Thomas Milic to the glove side. Neuchev and rookie defenseman Noel Fransen earned assists on the Wolves’ first goal of the season.

Chicago kept coming and pulled within 3-2 when Brind’Amour won a faceoff in the Moose zone and eventually redirected a long shot by Pierre-Olivier Joseph to send the puck bouncing over Milic’s left shoulder. Joseph and Dominik Badinka recorded helpers.

Nadeau evened the score late in the opening frame with the Wolves on the power play. Justin Robidas found his teammate with a cross-ice pass and Nadeau ripped a one-timer from the left circle that sailed by Milic to the stick side. Robidas and Unger Sorum picked up assists.

The second period was all Manitoba as it got goals from Danny Zhilkin, Kevin He and Noah Gregor to establish a 6-3 lead heading into the third.

David Burnside and Yager each found the back of the net in the final stanza for the final margin.

Ruslan Khazheyev (26 saves) suffered the loss in goal for the Wolves while Milic (25 saves) earned the win for the Moose.

Chicago dropped to 0-2-0-0 on the season while Manitoba stands at 2-0-0-0.

Up next: The Wolves host the Moose in the 2026-27 home opener at 7 p.m. Saturday at Allstate Arena.