Nathan Sucese had a hat trick and goaltender Adam Scheel recorded the shutout to propel the Chicago Wolves to a 5-0 thrashing of the Monsters on Friday night in Cleveland.
Rocco Grimaldi and Max Comtois each added a goal and an assist and Josh Melnick had two helpers as the Wolves reeled off their sixth win in a row on the road. The triumph in the first of a season-long, six-game road trip snapped a two-game losing skid overall for the Wolves. Chicago hasn’t lost a game away from home since Dec. 27 at Milwaukee.
After a scoreless opening period, the Wolves struck twice within a span of 43 seconds early in the middle stanza to seize the lead.
First, Grimaldi notched his team-leading 22nd goal of the season when he took a nifty dish from Cole Schneider and banged a shot from the slot by Monsters goaltender Jet Greaves to the glove side. Schneider and Griffin Mendel recorded assists on the score.
Moments later, Sucese make it 2-0 Wolves when the forward’s shot from the point found its way through traffic and past Greaves. Tory Dello and Dominic Franco earned assists.
Sucese tallied his second of the game early in the third period when the forward maneuvered to the side of the Cleveland goal and redirected a terrific saucer pass from Chris Terry into the back of the net. Terry and Mitch Vande Sompel were awarded assists that gave the Wolves a 3-0 advantage.
Later in the third, Comtois added to the lead when the forward took a feed from Melnick and fired in a one-timer from the right circle for Comtois’ 12th goal of the season. Melnick and Grimaldi had helpers on the marker.
Sucese nailed his second hat trick of the season with the Wolves on the power play late in the third to complete the scoring. Comtois sent a cross-ice pass to Sucese, who then snapped a shot from the right circle past Greaves for his 15th goal of the season. Assists were given to Comtois—who also had a fight in the contest for a Gordie Howe Hat Trick—and Melnick.
Cleveland-area native Scheel made 28 saves to continue his scorching play on the road with his sixth win in a row away from home. Meanwhile, Greaves (31 saves) suffered the loss for Cleveland.
The Wolves improved to 16-18-3-2 on the season while Cleveland is now 25-14-1-1.
Next up: The Wolves travel to Cleveland to face the Monsters on Saturday (Noon).
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.
