ROSEMONT, Ill.—The Wolves wrapped up a weekend set with Bakersfield by falling to the Condors 6-3 on Sunday at Allstate Arena.
Ryan Suzuki, Nick Swaney and Riley Stillman scored goals but the Wolves’ rally fell short in the second of back-to-back games between the teams. Scott Morrow and Nikita Pavlychev each chipped in with two assists as the Wolves settled for a split of the series after a third-period comeback bid that brought them to within one score was thwarted.
“We showed some grit in the third—it was a close one,” Pavlychev said. “We had some chances and we put them on their heels. If we played that way from the get-go and during the first two periods, we wouldn’t have put ourselves in that position.”
Bakersfield took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission on a goal by Ronnie Attard just 3 minutes, 29 seconds after puck drop.
Midway through the second, the Condors made it 2-0 when Drake Caggiula cashed in on the power play.
Suzuki struck :59 later to cut the Wolves’ deficit to 2-1. After gaining the zone, Pavlychev sent a pass from the end boards to Suzuki in front and the veteran forward buried a one-timer past Bakersfield netminder Collin Delia. Pavlychev and Morrow had assists on Suzuki’s fourth goal of the season.
The Condors kept coming and closed the second with goals by Carl Berglund and Daniel D’Amato to make it 4-1 heading into the third.
The Wolves didn’t quit and made it a two-goal game early in the period on Swaney’s fourth goal of the season and third in two contests. The forward redirected a long shot from Morrow past Delia. Morrow earned the lone assist on the score.
Stillman’s goal midway through the third brought the Wolves to within 4-3. The veteran blue liner raced into the offensive zone, took a pass from Pavlychev, waited for Delia to commit and then tucked the puck into the gaping net for Stillman’s second goal of the season. Pavlychev and Felix Unger Sorum recorded assists.
The Condors eventually put the game away on James Hamblin’s goal with 3:00 remaining and Seth Griffith capped the scoring with an empty-netter.
“We knew we had nothing to save it for in the third so we put all our chips in,” Pavlychev said. “It was a hard-fought battle. Unfortunately, this one didn’t go our way.”
Dustin Tokarski (19 saves) took the loss in goal for the Wolves while Delia (28 saves) earned the win for the Condors.
Chicago dropped to 18-15-2-0 on the season while Bakersfield improved to 16-14-4-1.
Next up: The Wolves travel to Cleveland to face the Monsters on Wednesday night (6 p.m.).
For information on Wolves ticket plans for the 2024-25 season—everything from single-game tickets to Flex Packs to group outings—visit chicagowolves.com or call 1-800-THE-WOLVES.
