ROSEMONT, Ill.—The Wolves’ three-game homestand started with a thud as they fell to the Texas Stars 4-2 on Saturday night at Allstate Arena.
Nikita Pavlychev and Viktor Neuchev had goals but the Wolves came up short as they fell to their Central Division rivals in the first of back-to-back games. Texas got two scores from Arttu Hyry to win its second in a row.
“It’s who can execute the best and we did the first eight to 10 minutes of the game and then we let it slip,” Wolves interim coach Spiros Anastas said. “It’s actually a really disappointing loss for me because of that.”
The Wolves got out of the gate quickly and took the lead on Pavlychev’s tally 3 minutes, 51 seconds after opening puck drop. The towering center crashed the slot and redirected a shot from the point by Domenick Fensore into the back of the net. Fensore and Charles Alexis Legault assisted on Pavlychev’s 11th goal of the season and second in two games.
The Stars roared back and took a 3-1 advantage into the first intermission on late- period scores by Jack Becker and two from Arttu Hyry.
After Matthew Seminoff’s marker early in the second put Texas out in front 4-1, the Wolves cut the deficit in half midway through the third.
While skating on the power play, Neuchev took a feed from Evan Vierling, spun and slipped a shot past Texas netminder Remi Poirier to the glove side. On Neuchev’s eighth goal of the season, Vierling and Noel Gunler recorded assists.
Cayden Primeau (29 saves) took the loss—snapping his 12-game winning streak—in goal for the Wolves while Poirier (28 saves) captured the win for the Stars.
Chicago fell to 28-13-6-5 on the season while Texas stands at 26-23-3-1.
Up next: The Wolves host the Texas Stars 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.
