ROSEMONT, Ill.—The Wolves resumed play after the American Hockey League All-Star Break and rallied to defeat the Colorado Eagles 3-2 in overtime Saturday night at Allstate Arena.
Felix Unger Sorum notched the winner, Juuso Valimaki scored—and in the process sent an avalanche of stuffed animals soaring to the ice on Teddy Bear Toss Night—and Skyer Brind’Amour tallied late in the contest to send the game to overtime.
“That’s the kind of team we are—we don’t give up,” Valimaki said. “Even though the clock is winding down we know we have a chance and everyone in that room believes we can still win any game that we’re that close.”
Colorado struck first when Jack Ahcan found the back of the net late in the opening period.
Early in the second period, Valimaki sent stuffed animals soaring onto the ice when the Wolves defenseman picked off a clearing attempt, skated to the top of the left circle and unleashed a wrist shot that beat Colorado netminder Kyle Keyser to the stick side. The stuffed animals were collected and will be donated to local charities.
“First one of those for me,” Valimaki said about scoring the Teddy Bear Toss goal. “It’s for a good cause and we got a lot of them so that is kind of cool.”
The unassisted goal that knotted the contest at 1-1 was Valimaki’s fifth tally of the season.
“I saw (the defender) looking to just get the puck out and I decided to jump for it,” Valimaki said. “Our forwards were changing a little bit so I had a little bit of room for me to go. Honestly, I was looking to pass the whole time but they gave me the lane and I shot it.”
Nikita Prishchepov’s score late in the second put the Eagles ahead 2-1 heading into the third period.
The score held until late in the third when the Wolves pulled goaltender Cayden Primeau for an extra attacker and Brind’Amour tied it with 1 minute, 14 seconds remaining. Ryan Suzuki flipped the puck into the slot and Brind’Amour banged home his 14th goal of the season. Suzuki and Justin Robidas had assists.
In overtime, the Wolves were skating on the power play when Unger Sorum camped near the left post and redirected a pass from Bradly Nadeau into the net. Nadeau and Robidas earned assists on Unger Sorum’s 11th marker of the season.
Primeau (30 saves) earned the win in goal for the Wolves while Keyser (35 saves) took the loss for the Eagles.
Chicago improved to 23-11-5-5 on the season while Colorado stands at 29-10-3-3.
Up next: The Wolves host the Colorado Eagles on Sunday (3 p.m.) at Allstate Arena.
For information on Wolves ticket plans for the 2025-26 season—everything from single-game tickets to Flex Packs to group outings—visit chicagowolves.com or call 1-800-THE-WOLVES.
