MILWAUKEE–The Chicago Wolves opened a series of three games in three days to conclude the 2022-23 regular season by defeating the Admirals 5-4 in overtime on Friday night in Milwaukee.
William Lagesson scored in overtime, Joseph LaBate had two goals and an assist, Malte Stromwall a goal and an assist and Griffin Mendel added a goal to help the Wolves snap a two-game losing skid and remain in the hunt for a Central Division postseason spot.
“Huge character win for us,” LaBate said. “We’re really focused on this weekend and finishing strong and doing everything we can to keep our playoff goals alive.”
The Wolves struck early when LaBate notched his first of the game just 1 minute, 32 seconds into the contest. The winger took a stretch pass from Lagesson and fired a wrist shot from the right circle that beat Milwaukee goaltender Devin Cooley.
Late in the opening period, the Admirals tied it on a goal by Austin Rueschhoff and the teams reached the intermission knotted at 1-1.
John Leonard scored the first of his two goals for the Admirals midway through the second but it didn’t take long for the Wolves to answer on Stromwall’s score.
Stromwall took a pass from Anttoni Honka and rifled a one-timer from the left dot and into the back of the net for his 17th goal of the season. Honka and Ryan Suzuki earned assists on the goal that extended Stromwall’s points streak to seven games.
Early in the third. Leonard’s second goal of the game gave Milwaukee a 3-2 lead but the Wolves again answered quickly when LaBate added his second :43 later.
The winger stepped into a shot in the high slot and rocketed the puck past Cooley to the glove side. Stromwall and Ryan Dzingel recorded assists on LaBate’s 11th goal of the season that evened the score.
Mendel put the Wolves out in front with 1:27 remaining in the third when he scored from the high slot through traffic to make it 4-3.
Milwaukee knotted it at 4-4 on Joakim Kemell’s score and the teams headed to overtime.
Lagesson won it when the defenseman scooped up the puck and skated in alone on Cooley before depositing it into the net for his 10th goal of the season.
Pyotr Kochetkov (15 saves) earned the victory in goal for the Wolves while Cooley (20 saves) suffered the loss for the Admirals.
The Wolves improved to 33-29-5-3 on the season and Milwaukee fell to 41-23-4-2.
Up next: The Wolves host the Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday at Allstate Arena (7 p.m.; My50 Chicago, NHL Network, 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.
