MILWAUKEE—The Wolves took the ice for their final road game of the 2024-25 American Hockey League regular season when they faced the Admirals on Friday night in Milwaukee.
The Wolves weren’t able to solve Admirals netminder Matthew Murray and fell 5-0 in the battle between Central Division rivals. Chicago remained two points behind the Grand Rapids Griffins for third place in the division with one game remaining in the regular season. Meanwhile, the Admirals clinched the Central title with the victory.
“There were a lot of solid things to start the game but Milwaukee did a good job of defending in front of their net,” Wolves coach Cam Abbott said. “We couldn’t quite get the shots through (14 for the game). It’s disappointing, but we can’t let it affect us too negatively because we have another game (Saturday night).”
After a scoreless opening period, Milwaukee got on the board first early in the second on a goal by Kieffer Bellows and a short time later made it 2-0 when Jake Lucchini found the back of the net with the Admirals on the power play.
Joakim Kemell’s goal midway through the third, Ondrej Pavel’s tally a short time later and Grigori Denisenko’s marker late in the contest capped the scoring.
Spencer Martin (24 saves) took the loss in goal for the Wolves while Murray made 14 saves in recording his fourth shutout of the season.
Chicago fell to 36-31-4-0 on the season while Milwaukee improved to 40-21-5-6.
The Wolves can claim third place in the Central with a win over the Rockford IceHogs on Saturday night at Allstate Arena and a regulation loss by the Grand Rapids against the Wild in Iowa. The third-place finisher will avoid the three-game play-in round and will face the Texas Stars in the division semifinals.
“It’s a missed opportunity,” Abbott said. “GR lost and we still have a chance if we do our part (Saturday night). We’ll see what happens.”
Up next: The Wolves host the Rockford IceHogs in the regular-season finale Saturday night (7 p.m.) at Allstate Arena.
Fans interested in ticket information for Saturday night’s season finale against the Rockford IceHogs at Allstate Arena as well as the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs should call 1-800-THE-WOLVES or visit ChicagoWolves.com.
