The Chicago Wolves fell 5-2 to the Iowa Wild Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Arena. The loss marked just Chicago’s second regulation loss to the Wild at Wells Fargo Arena since the teams began competing in 2013.
Veteran left wing Brett Sterling scored both goals for the Wolves (19-15-5-2) to give him 350 career points for Chicago. The loss also marked Chicago’s first back-to-back regulation losses since Nov. 15 and 17.
After a scoreless first period, the Wild (18-13-6-3) got on the board at 8:31 of the second. Brennan Menell zipped up the right wing, got around Wolves defender Jake Walman and sailed a shot behind starting goaltender Max Lagace for the 1-0 lead.
With 4:59 to play in the second session, forward Pavel Jenys netted his first goal of the season to push Iowa’s lead to 2-0.
Netminder Kasimir Kaskisuo (6-10-1) relieved Lagace with 4:25 to go in the second period. Lagace was shaken up on the preceding play and did not return to the game.
The Wolves then cut the Wild’s lead to 2-1 just 50 seconds into the third stanza when Sterling scored with assistance from T.J. Tynan and Stefan Matteau.
Just 1:12 later, Zack Mitchell returned the Wild to a two-goal lead. Iowa built a three-goal cushion at 6:33 when Sam Anas netted his fourth goal of the season against Chicago.
Later on the power play, the Wolves collapsed around the Wild net and Sterling was credited with poking the puck past Niklas Svedberg (8-8-3) for Chicago’s second goal at 15:06.
Lagace stopped nine shots while seeing 35 minutes, 53 seconds in net. Kaskisuo (7-10-1) made eight saves in 20:30 while suffering the loss.
Svedberg stopped 32 shots for the victory.
The Wolves return home to Allstate Arena to host the Bakersfield Condors for the first time since the Condors joined the AHL in 2015. The 7 p.m. game will be the first of two contests in which Chicago dons its specialty First Responders jerseys presented by Turtle Wax. The game will be televised on CW50 in the Chicago area.
