ROSEMONT, Ill. – Logan Lambdin and Griffin Mendel scored their first American Hockey League goals but they weren’t enough as the Chicago Wolves fell to the Iowa Wild 5-2 on Saturday night at Allstate Arena.
Iowa got goals from Nick Swaney, Kevin Conley, Nic Petan, Sammy Walker and goaltender Jesper Wallstedt to defeat the Wolves in the first of 10 meetings between the teams this season.
Lambdin and Mendel became the third and fourth Wolves players in the last two games to record their first AHL goals as Chicago deals with a spate of injuries.
“The guys that we’ve called up are doing a good job,” Wolves coach Brock Sheahan said. “They’re giving us good minutes and some of our younger guys are stepping up. It’s good experience for them. I think this is going to help us down the road. Obviously, it would be nice to get a result when you feel like you deserve it, but Iowa is a good team and you can’t give it the chances we gave up.”
The Wild jumped to a 1-0 lead 32 seconds into the game on Swaney’s goal before Lambdin knotted it at 1-1 later in the opening period. The winger took a pass from Anttoni Honka and fired a wrist shot from the slot past Wallstedt. The assist gave Honka a team-leading eight and he paces Chicago in points this season with nine.
The Wild answered back on the next shift on a goal by Conley and extended the lead midway through the second period on Petan’s score.
Walker’s power-play goal early in the third made it 4-1 before Mendel found the back of the net for the first time this season. The defenseman’s long shot eluded Wallstedt.
Iowa put the capper on the game when netminder Wallstedt scored while the Wild were shorthanded.
Zachary Sawchenko (12 saves) suffered the loss in goal for the Wolves while Wallstedt (37 saves) earned the win for Iowa.
Next up: The Wolves will host Milwaukee (3 p.m., AHLTV; NHL Network). It will be Family Sunday and Player Poster Giveaway at Allstate Arena.
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.
