Wolves’ offense grounded by Griffins

GRAND RAIPDS, Mich. — The Chicago Wolves’ offense stalled in a 3-1 loss to the Midwest Division-leading Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday night at Van Andel Arena.

Defenseman David Shields scored while the Wolves (17-13-1-2) were short-handed in the third period.

The teams exchanged chances in a back-and-forth first period, but the Griffins (23-8-1-2) broke through first with a goal at 18:43. After a pad save by Wolves goalie Matt Climie (3-7-0, 26 saves), the puck deflected out to right wing Andrej Nestrasil, who fed it to the slot and center Calle Jarnkrok rifled a shot into the top corner of the net.

Following a scoreless second period, the Wolves struck shorthanded to tie the score at 1-1 just 3:29 into the final frame. Pressuring in the Griffins’ zone after a dump-in, left wing Sergey Andronov muscled the puck away from a defender. Andronov sent a pass in front of the net to Shields, who backhanded the puck over the glove of Griffins goaltender Tom McCollum.

After Grand Rapids regained the lead with a power-play goal, right wing Teemu Pulkkinen sealed the victory on an empty-netter with 1:30 remaining.