ROSEMONT, Ill.—The Chicago Wolves wrapped up a two-game homestand by falling to the Grand Rapids Griffins 3-1 on Sunday at Allstate Arena.
Ryan Dzingel scored but it wasn’t enough as the Wolves fell for just the fifth time in the last 15 games. Tanner Hirose had a goal and an assist for Grand Rapids, which was playing for the third time in three days.
“We need to get points,” Wolves coach Brock Sheahan said after the game. “You’re going to do that playing the right way and I feel like we left a lot on the table in the first period. We battled back and in the third period we pushed and pushed and pushed and we just couldn’t find a way through.”
The Griffins notched the only goal of the opening period when Hirose found the back of the net.
Midway through the second, Grand Rapids took a 2-0 lead when Danny O’Regan scored with his team holding a two-man advantage.
This time, the Wolves answered quickly when Dzingel scored his first goal of the season. The veteran forward redirected a pass from Ryan Suzuki past Griffins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic from in close. Dzingel was playing in his first game since Nov. 20 after recovering from a back injury.
The Griffins’ Dominik Shine scored into the empty net for the final margin.
Zachary Sawchenko (22 saves) suffered the loss in goal for the Wolves while Nedeljkovic (28 saves) earned the win for the Griffins.
The Wolves fell to 25-26-3-2 on the season and Grand Rapids improved to 24-27-4-3.
Up next: The Wolves travel to Milwaukee to face the Admirals on Friday (7 p.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.
