The Chicago Wolves mounted a third-period comeback against the Cleveland Monsters on Saturday night but in the end fell 4-2 to settle for a split of the weekend series in Cleveland.
Jamieson Rees and Nathan Sucese scored for the Wolves but it wasn’t enough as Emil Bemstrom paced the Monsters with two goals and an assist.
The defending Calder Cup champion Wolves opened the scoring while on a first-period power play. Rees was credited with his second goal of the season when a long shot by teammate David Farrance deflected off the Wolves center and into the net. It marked the fifth time in their last six contests that the Wolves have struck first in a game.
Later in the opening period, Cleveland answered while holding a two-man advantage on Bemstrom’s first goal of the game.
Cleveland grabbed the lead early in the second on another power-play goal, this one by Kirill Marchenko.
Benstrom made it 3-1 Monsters in the opening minutes of the third period but the Wolves came right back to cut the deficit to one. Sucese one-timed a cross-slot pass from Brendan Perlini for his third goal of the season.
A goal by the Monsters’ Justin Richards late in the third ended the Wolves’ comeback hopes.
Zachary Sawchenko made 32 saves for the Wolves but suffered the loss in goal. Pavel Cajan (22 saves) earned the victory for Cleveland.
The Wolves fell to 3-4-1-0 on the season while the Monsters moved to 5-5-0-0.
Next up: The Wolves travel to Milwaukee to face the Admirals on Wednesday (10:30 a.m.; AHLTV).
For information on Wolves ticket plans for the 2022-23 season — everything from single-game tickets to Flex Packs to group outings — visit ChicagoWolves.com or call 1-800-THE-WOLVES.
