Wolves bolt to early lead

Despite Stefan Noesen’s league-leading 23rd goal, the Chicago Wolves couldn’t maintain an early lead and took a 4-3 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals during a School-Day Game Tuesday at Allstate Arena.

Forwards David Gust and Josh Leivo also scored for the Wolves (27-10-4-3), who saw their 14-game home point streak that began Nov. 14 come to an end.

“It was a really good first period,” said Wolves head coach Ryan Warsofsky. “Then we got away from it in the second period and we paid for it. It was a tale of two teams going through two different things right now. They’re hot. We’re trying to find our way and in a little bit of a rut.”

Gust gave the Wolves a 1-0 lead at 14:52 of the first. Milwaukee won a faceoff in its defensive zone, but Jack Drury intercepted a clearing attempt along the half-wall. Drury spied Gust uncovered in the slot and the Orland Park native slid his shot between goaltender Devin Cooley’s skates for his fourth goal in the last five games.

The Wolves took advantage of the game’s first power play to take a 2-0 lead at 17:14. Poturalski zipped a pass from the right faceoff circle into the slot, but it caromed toward the goal line and Drury tried to stuff it home. Cooley blocked that shot, but Noesen dove stick-first into the crease to poke the puck across the line.

Milwaukee (24-19-2-2) responded with four unanswered goals to seize a 4-2 lead. Former Wolves standout Cody Glass started the spree with an unassisted goal 22 seconds into the period, then Cole Schneider knotted things with a one-timer at 4:01. Glass then set up goals by Matt Luff and Rocco Grimaldi.

The Wolves started their rally with Leivo’s power-play goal at 4:23 of the third. Leivo and Joey Keane played catch on the perimeter, then Leivo whipped a wrister past Cooley’s blocker from the top of the left faceoff circle — leaving the netminder visibly agitated.

Chicago took its timeout with 1:58 remaining and removed goaltender Alex Lyon to get an extra attacker on the ice for a faceoff in the offensive zone. The Wolves put two shots on net the rest of the way, but couldn’t get one across the goal line.

Cooley (5-7-1) posted 26 saves to pick up the win while Lyon (12-6-2) stopped 17 shots.

The Wolves host the Iowa Wild at 7 p.m. Saturday on Faith and Fellowship Night, which also offers volunteers a chance to take part in a pregame service project with the Salvation Army. For the best ticket deals, email a Wolves representative at [email protected].