ROSEMONT, Ill.—The Chicago Wolves continued their scorching play by earning a point with an overtime loss to the Iowa Wild 3-2 on Saturday night at Allstate Arena.
The defending Calder Cup champion Wolves had their six-game winning streak snapped but ran their points streak to a season-high eight games behind goals from Mackenzie MacEachern and Ryan Suzuki.
Chicago continued to march toward a postseason berth, pulling to within one point of Rockford for fifth place and the final spot in the Central Division playoffs.
“The point is huge,” Wolves coach Brock Sheahan said. “Obviously, we’re still on the outside looking in, but we’re still trending in the right direction and we’re going to keep pushing.”
Sammy Walker scored the winner in overtime for the Wild, who currently hold down fourth in the division—four points ahead of the Wolves.
Iowa struck first when Steven Fogarty found the back of the net following a turnover late in the opening period.
The Wolves turned the game around in the second. First, MacEachern evened things at 1-1 with a power-play goal. The veteran forward took a pass from Tuukka Tieksola and stuffed the puck past Iowa goaltender Zane McIntyre from just outside the right post. In addition to Tieksola, Ronan Seeley earned an assist on MacEachern’s ninth goal of the season. MacEachern also extended his points streak to five games.
A short time later, Suzuki gave the Wolves the lead with a terrific individual effort. The forward scooped up the puck at his own blue line, skated through the neutral zone and into the Wild zone before wending his way through three defenders and beat McIntyre to the glove side. On Suzuki’s 13th goal of the season, Malte Stromwall and Griffin Mendel were awarded assists. Stromwall also extended his points streak to five consecutive contests.
Iowa tied it late in the third on a goal by Nick Swaney and Walker won it in overtime.
“I thought we played really, especially in the second period,” Sheahan said. “In the third, we stayed on the gas trying to close the game out and didn’t get that third goal. They’re a good team but they got a lucky bounce to tie it up. We pushed back but didn’t find a way to get that extra point.”
Pyotr Kochetkov (16 saves) suffered the loss in goal for the Wolves while McIntyre (25 saves) earned the victory for the Wild.
The Wolves dropped to 32-28-5-3 on the season and Iowa improved to 33-26-5-5.
Up next: The Wolves travel to Rockford to face the IceHogs on Tuesday (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.
