ROSEMONT, Ill.—The Wolves fell to the Texas Stars 5-4 in overtime in Game 4 of the Central Division Semifinals on Sunday at Allstate Arena.
The Wolves got goals from Bradly Nadeau, Evan Vierling, Ivan Ryabkin and Noah Philp but the Stars rallied to even the best-of-five 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs series at 2-2 with Game 5 scheduled for Tuesday night at Allstate Arena. Artem Shlaine notched the winner in overtime for the Stars, who roared back from a two-goal, third-period deficit to extend the series.
“It doesn’t feel good—I don’t know if there’s any way to put it,” Wolves captain Josiah Slavin said. “When you have a 4-2 lead in the third period your emotions are that you’re moving on. They were a desperate team fighting for their lives over there and credit to them they came back.”
The Stars struck first when Antonio Stranges found the back of the net midway through the opening period.
A short time later, the Wolves went on the power play and Nadeau cashed in nine seconds into the man advantage with his first career postseason goal. The 20-year-old winger gathered a pass from Juuso Valimaki and fired a shot from the left circle that beat Texas netminder Remi Poirier to the stick side. Valimaki and Ryan Suzuki recorded assists on Nadeau’s tying marker.
Moments later, Cameron Hughes tallied to put the Stars ahead 2-1 but again the Wolves answered right back on a score by Vierling.
The forward drifted toward the right post before Nikita Pavlychev put a pass from behind the Texas net right on the tape on his stick and Vierling buried it top shelf for his first goal of the playoffs. Pavlychev and Aleksi Heimosalmi had assists.
The contest remained deadlocked until Ryabkin gave the Wolves their first lead of the game with :26.3 remaining in the second. The forward corralled a feed from Domenick Fensore and solved Poirier from a sharp angle for Ryabkin’s first goal of the series. Fensore and Josiah Slavin picked up assists.
Early in the third, Philp’s second tally of the series put the Wolves in front 4-2. The veteran forward scooped up the puck in the neutral zone, closed in on Poirier and wired a shot from the left circle past the goalie to the stick side. Viktor Neuchev earned an assist on the play.
The Stars closed the gap to 4-3 when Vladislav Kolyachonok scored with 7:54 remaining in the third and then tied it with :10.1 on the clock to send it to overtime.
Shlaine ended it at the 8:40 mark to force a winner-take-all Game 5.
Cayden Primeau (32 saves) took the loss in goal for the Wolves while Poirier (19 saves) earned the win for the Stars.
Up next: The Wolves will host the Texas Stars in Game 5 of the Central Division Semifinals on Tuesday night (7 p.m.) at Allstate Arena.
“If we play our way I don’t think any team can touch us so it’s just a matter of doing that for 60 minutes and not giving the other team a breath of life,” Slavin said of the looming Game 5.
For information on Wolves tickets for the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs, visit chicagowolves.com or call 1-800-THE-WOLVES.
