ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Chicago Wolves suffered their first regulation loss since Nov. 27 as the Grand Rapids Griffins earned a 7-1 win in School-Day Game action Thursday afternoon at Allstate Arena.
Grand Rapids scored six straight goals before Wolves center Ivan Barbashev got on the board at 7:33 of the final frame to spoil Jared Coreau’s shutout bid.
The Wolves (13-10-2-1) and Griffins (15-7-1-2) traded chances throughout the first period before Grand Rapids struck first at 19:21 of the frame. Nathan Paetsch lasered a shot from the left point – off an offensive-zone faceoff win by Dominic Turgeon – that found its way past Chicago goaltender Pheonix Copley (5-4-1).
The Griffins doubled their lead at 3:48 of the second period when a Turgeon shot went wide of the Wolves’ net and Kyle Criscuolo, camped on the doorstep, chipped the rebound over Copley.
Less than five minutes later with the man advantage, Grand Rapids extended its lead to three goals. On the rush, Eric Tangradi fed Ben Street a cross-slot pass for a shot low on Copley’s stick side.
With 3:19 to play in the period, Dylan Sadowy nabbed the Griffins’ fourth consecutive goal. Wolves head coach Craig Berube called for the first Chicago goaltender change of the season as Jordan Binnington took over for Copley.
In the opening four minutes of the third period, Evgeny Svechnikov (1:49) and Tangradi (3:46) collected goals to push the Griffins’ lead to 6-0.
Chicago got on the board at 7:33 of the final frame. On the rush, Kenny Agostino attempted a shot but could not finish as his stick was blocked by Nick Jensen. Trailing the play, Barbashev corralled the puck and snapped a shot past Coreau (10-6-0) to make the score 6-1.
However, the Griffins answered at 11:53 when Jensen registered his first goal of the season for the 7-1 final score. Coreau notched 21 saves in the win while Copley and Binnington each posted 10 saves.
The Wolves next face the reigning Calder Cup champions, the Cleveland Monsters, in a 7 p.m. game Saturday (Dec. 17) at Allstate Arena. To purchase tickets or to find complete 2016-17 game and broadcast schedules, visit ChicagoWolves.com.
