ROSEMONT, Ill.—The Wolves snapped a six-game losing skid in historic fashion when they hammered the Rockford IceHogs 5-0 on Sunday at Allstate Arena.
Vasily Ponomarev and Rocco Grimaldi each had a goal and an assist, Max Comtois, Nathan Sucese and Isaac Ratcliffe also scored and goaltender Adam Scheel made 24 saves to earn the shutout as the Wolves won for the first time on home ice this season.
With two assists, Wolves forward Chris Terry became the 26th player in American Hockey League history to record 700 career points.
“A special day to reach that milestone but more important was to do it in a winning fashion,” Terry said. “It makes the celebration in the locker room a lot better. Just a great day.”
Mitch Vande Sompel and Cavan Fitzgerald each also added two helpers as the Wolves defeated the IceHogs for the second time this season and extended Rockford’s overall losing streak to three games.
“The win feels pretty good, to be honest,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve known for a while what kind of group we have in there. (Losing streaks) happen a lot in the beginning of the season for some teams. We just have to find our identity and I think we’re just starting to right now.”
After a scoreless first period, the Wolves’ offense exploded in the second. First, Ponomarev notched his first goal of the season when he redirected a shot by Terry that slipped by Rockford goaltender Jaxson Stauber. Terry and Vande Sompel were awarded assists on the play.
Grimaldi gave the Wolves a two-goal advantage two minutes, 47 seconds later when the veteran forward pounced on a rebound of a Cavan Fitzgerald shot in the slot and beat Stauber to the stick side. In addition to Fitzgerald, Cole Schneider earned assists on Grimaldi’s fifth of the season.
Chicago kept coming and Comtois scored his first of the season with the Wolves on the power play to make it 3-0. The forward redirected a shot from Vande Sompel that eluded Stauber. Vande Sompel and Cory Conacher assisted on the goal.
Early in the third, Sucese’s third goal of the season put the Wolves out in front 4-0. Terry slid a terrific cross-crease pass that Sucese buried with a one-timer from in close. Ponomarev assisted on the score, giving the forward two points in his Wolves season debut.
Ratcliffe capped the scoring late in the third when he redirected a Fitzgerald shot for Ratcliffe’s third goal of the season. Grimaldi picked up his second assist on the score.
Scheel earned the win for the Wolves while Stauber (28 saves) suffered the loss for the IceHogs.
After falling to the Iowa Wild on Saturday, the Wolves rebounded to improve to 2-6-1-1 on the season while Rockford dropped to 5-5-0-0.
“The boys are feeling good so we’re ready to go on a little roll here,” Fitgerald said.
Next up: The Wolves travel to Grand Rapids to face the Griffins on Wednesday (10 a.m.).
For information on Wolves ticket plans for the 2023-24 season—everything from single-game tickets to Flex Packs to group outings—visit chicagowolves.com or call 1-800-THE-WOLVES.
