ROSEMONT, Ill.—Playing their first game on home ice since Jan. 28, the Wolves defeated the Cleveland Monsters 4-3 in a shootout Saturday night at Allstate Arena.
Chris Terry scored the game-winner in the shootout while Rocco Grimaldi had two goals and Cavan Fitzgerald also tallied in regulation to help the Wolves snap a five-game losing skid and capture the first of back-to-back contests against Cleveland.
“It was a good team effort for the full game,” said Wolves goaltender Adam Scheel, who made 29 saves in regulation and stopped all three Monsters shootout attempts. “That just sets the standard for how we need to play. We have to keep building and keep growing our game.”
Grimaldi’s highlight-reel goal midway through the opening period put the Wolves out in front. While killing a penalty, Grimaldi wheeled into the Monsters zone, did a spin-o-rama move around a defender and fired a backhander that beat Cleveland goaltender Pavel Cajan to the stick side. The goal was assisted by Cory Conacher and Ronan Seeley.
With Cleveland still on the power play, Hunter McKown knotted it at 1-1 just 49 seconds later.
After a scoreless second, Fitzgerald gave the Wolves the lead midway through the third when the defenseman’s blast from the point found its way through traffic and past Cajan to the glove side. Tory Dello and Ryan Wagner earned assists on Fitzgerald’s sixth goal of the season.
Grimaldi struck again just over a minute later when the veteran forward broke in on a two-on-one with Terry, took a feed from the Wolves captain and a rifled a one-timer by Cajan’s stick.
Cleveland roared back on goals by Trey Fix-Wolansky and Corson Ceulemans to tie it at 3-3 and send the game to overtime and eventually a shootout.
Terry netted the winner in the shootout to make a winner out of Scheel.
“I just try to do what I can for the team,” Scheel said. “In shootouts you try not to think too much. When you start thinking, that’s when stuff goes sideways. I’m glad we could come out on top.”
Cajan (39 saves) suffered the loss in goal for the Monsters.
The Wolves improved to 17-23-3-2 on the season while Cleveland fell to 28-15-2-2.
Next up: The Wolves host the Monsters on Sunday (3 p.m.) at Allstate Arena.
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.