ROSEMONT, Ill.—The Chicago Wolves returned to home ice and defeated the Rockford IceHogs 3-2 in overtime Saturday night at Allstate Arena.
Max Lajoie scored the game-winner in OT and Ronan Seeley and Logan Lambdin added goals for the Wolves, who snapped a two-game losing skid while playing for the first time since returning from a season-long, six-game road trip.
“We were ready (Saturday night) and we knew that we had to play better than we did on the road,” Lajoie said. “We had a lot of energy and jump from the start and we kept it consistently throughout the game.”
Wolves goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov made 17 saves to out-duel Rockford netminder Arvid Soderblom (29 saves) and help hand Rockford its seventh consecutive loss.
The IceHogs struck first when Bobby Lynch found the back of the net off a long shot through traffic late in the opening period.
Seeley’s first goal of the season – and first in the AHL – knotted the game at 1-1 midway through the second. With the Wolves on the power play, the defenseman took a feed from Ryan Suzuki and fired a one-timer from the slot past Soderblom to the glove side. Vasily Ponomarev also picked up an assist on the play.
Early in the third, the IceHogs took the lead on a goal by Carson Gicewicz but the Wolves answered right back on Lambdin’s fourth goal of the season. Lajoie hit Lambdin with a stretch pass and the winger broke in alone on Soderblom and beat the netminder with a forehand move.
Lajoie notched the game-winner when he took a pass from Jamieson Rees, skated in alone on Soderblom and scored his second goal of the season.
“Rees made a heck of a play, a great pass,” Lajoie said. “I was lucky to be in the right spot and I saw the goalie was standing up a bit so I took my chance and it went in.”
The Wolves improved to 15-20-3-1 on the season while the IceHogs dropped to 20-16-4-2.
Up next: The Wolves will host the Grand Rapids Griffins on Sunday at Allstate Arena (3 p.m.; My50 Chicago). It will be Family Sunday.
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.
