Scoring drought sinks Wolves in opener

The Chicago Wolves didn't waste any time scoring in their season opener Saturday night against the Milwaukee Admirals. Tim Stapleton scored just 1:03 in after passes from Jason Krog and Brett Sterling.

After that the Wolves' offense went into a bit of a drought.

Milwaukee scored 3 straight goals in the second period, taking the life out of the 10,000-plus at the Allstate Arena and sending the Wolves home with a 3-2 loss.

"We were not assertive," said second-year Wolves coach Don Granato. "We're a new team, and it was evident throughout the game."

During the second period, the Wolves were flat all the way through.

"Anxiety," Granato said. "Waiting to play. They've been in training camp since early September and it has all been about the individual trying to make their spot on the team.

"We haven't had much practice, and now they finally get to play as a team."

The Wolves did pick the pace up in the final period. Rylan Kaip netted a short-handed goal with 4:49 left. That helped get the crowd back in the game, but it was too little, too late.

"They're a good team," Krog said of the Admirals. "They have a good core of guys, and it's only the first game of the season. We need to jell and get comfortable with one another."

Krog looked good in his first game back with the team alongside Sterling and Stapleton.

"I thought we supported each other well," he said, "but we couldn't score when we wanted to."