ROSEMONT, Ill.—The Wolves dropped a close decision to the Texas Stars 3-1 on Sunday at Allstate Arena.
Justin Robidas scored but the Wolves came up short when Kole Lind netted the game-winner late in the third period for the Stars. Chicago dropped its second game in a row and remains two points behind the Grand Rapids Griffins for third place in the Central Division with three regular-season contests to play.
“A couple of bounces didn’t go our way,” Wolves forward Nikita Pavlychev said. “Bounces sometimes aren’t going to go your way so you just have to stick with it. We have to figure out ways to close out those games.”
The Wolves struck first when Robidas scored midway through the opening period. The rookie forward worked his way into the slot where Pavlychev found him with a pass and Robidas banged the puck past Texas netminder Remi Poirier. Pavlychev and Juha Jaaska recorded assists on Robidas’ 18th goal of the season.
“We had a nice three-on-two and Juha held onto the puck and dropped it to me,” Pavlychev said. “I was thinking about driving the net but I saw Robidas coming down on the far post and it was an easy decision to slide it to him.”
The Stars pulled even on a tally by Justin Ertel a short time later and after a scoreless second, that’s the way it stood headed into the third.
Lind potted the winner with 2 minutes, 55 seconds remaining in the third and Luke Krys capped the scoring with an empty-net goal in the waning seconds.
Dustin Tokarski (29 saves) took the loss in goal for the Wolves while Poirier (16 saves) earned the win for the Stars.
Chicago fell to 35-30-4-0 on the season while Texas moved to 42-25-3-0.
The Wolves now shift their focus on the final three games and the third spot in the Central, which would mean avoiding the play-in round.
“We don’t want to be participating in those play-in games,” Pavlychev said. “We need to find a way to win those games by playing our way and just stick to our game and hopefully we can get it done and clinch that third spot.”
Up next: The Wolves travel to Iowa to face the Wild on Wednesday night (7 p.m.).
Fans interested in ticket information for the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs should call 1-800-THE-WOLVES or visit ChicagoWolves.com.
