MILWAUKEE—The Chicago Wolves continued their red-hot play by defeating the Admirals 6-5 in overtime Wednesday night in Milwaukee.
Vasily Ponomarev had two goals—including the game-winner in overtime—Mackenzie MacEachern and Tuukka Tieksola each had a goal and an assist and Anttoni Honka and William Lagesson also scored to help the Wolves extend their winning streak to five games and their points streak to six—both season-highs.
“It helps when you have a lot of veteran guys back in the lineup, the younger guys are playing well and we’re getting good goaltending,” MacEachern said afterward of the streak. “It’s been an all-around effort. Winning makes everything a lot more fun.”
The victory pulled the Wolves to within two points of the idle Rockford IceHogs for the fifth and final Central Division postseason spot with six games to play.
The Wolves wasted little time in taking the lead when Lagesson struck 26 seconds into the contest. The defenseman jumped on a loose puck in the high slot and wired a wrist shot past Admirals goaltender Yaroslav Askarov. MacEachern and Malte Stromwall were credited with assists on Lagesson’s ninth goal of the season.
Just less than six minutes later, the Wolves took a 2-0 lead on MacEachern’s seventh goal of the season. Nathan Sucese spotted the veteran forward work his way to the far post and sent a pass across the ice that MacEachern tapped into the gaping net. Sucese and Ronan Seeley earned assists on the score.
“Our guys went ‘D’ to ‘D’ on the blue line and then cross-ice to Sucese and he made a great play,” MacEachern said. “I just went backdoor and all I had to do was put my stick on it.”
The Wolves kept coming and took a three-goal advantage midway through the opening period. This time, Honka cruised into the slot and redirected a pass from Ponomarev into the net for the defenseman’s sixth goal of the season. Tieksola also had an assist for his first point of the game.
Late in the first, the Admirals cut the Wolves’ lead to 3-1 on a goal by Mathew Santos.
Tieksola’s goal early in the second again put the Wolves ahead by three scores. Camped at the side of the net, the forward batted a rebound of a Joseph LaBate shot out of midair and into the net. It marked Tieksola’s ninth goal of the season—and fifth in six games since returning from a loan to Karpat of the Finnish league Liiga on March 24. LaBate and Ryan Dzingel were awarded assists on the goal that gave the Wolves a 4-1 lead.
Milwaukee went on the power play midway through the second and Cole Schneider cashed in to trim the Wolves’ lead to 4-2.
The Wolves seemingly put the game away midway through the third period when Ponomarev jumped on a loose puck and buried a shot from in close for his team-leading 22nd goal of the season. Zach Senyshyn picked up an assist on the goal that gave Chicago a 5-2 lead.
The Admirals’ Joakim Kemell, Marc Del Gaizo and Anthony Angello each scored late in the third to send the game to overtime.
Ponomarev, who also had an assist in the game, ended it when he finished off a terrific individual effort to slide the puck by Askarov and give the visitors the win.
Pyotr Kochetkov (16 saves) earned the victory in goal for the Wolves while Askarov (30 saves) suffered the loss for the Admirals.
The Wolves improved to 31-28-4-3 on the season and Milwaukee dropped to 30-22-4-2.
Up next: The Wolves travel to Iowa to face the Wild 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.
