ROSEMONT, Ill.—The Wolves faced off against the Iowa Wild in the second of back-to-back games between the Central Division rivals Sunday at Allstate Arena.
Skyler Brind’Amour had a goal and an assist while Ivan Ryabkin and Justin Robidas also scored to lift the Wolves to 3-2 victory and a sweep of the weekend series.
“We needed this,” Brind’Amour said. “The boys just battled hard all weekend and it’s nice to get two wins. We had confidence in our room, even after our 0-4 start. We just got back to basics and played well both games.”
The Wolves led 2-0 after one period on the strength of goals from Ryabkin and Brind’Amour.
First, Ryabkin kicked things off with a power-play marker 3 minutes, 4 seconds into the opening stanza. The second-year forward took a feed from Stiven Sardarian and one-timed a shot from the slot that sailed past Iowa netminder William Rousseau to the stick side. Sardarian had the lone assist on Ryabkin’s first goal of the season.
Chicago took a two-goal advantage midway through the first on Brind’Amour’s second tally of the season. With the teams skating four-on-four, the forward pounced on a puck in the right circle and snapped a shot by Rousseau. Josiah Slavin picked up an assist on the score.
“With four-on-four there was a little more ice and Slavin made a great play taking the ‘D’ and bumping the puck to me,” Brind’Amour said. “I just kind of whacked it and it went in.”
Early in the second, Robidas extended the Wolves’ lead to 3-0 with a power-play goal. The alternate captain camped out by the left post and chipped in a feed from Brind’Amour past a lunging Rousseau. Assists on Robidas’ first goal of the season were awarded to Brind’Amour and Pierre-Olivier Joseph.
Gerry Mayhew answered to pull the Wild to within 3-1 when the forward found the back of the net midway through the period.
Late in the third, Mayhew scored again but that was as close as the Wild could get.
Zach Sawchenko (28 saves) earned the win in goal for the Wolves while Rousseau (19 saves) suffered the loss for the Wild.
Chicago moved to 2-4-0-0 on the season while Iowa dropped to 3-2-1-1.
Up next: The Wolves host the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday night (7 p.m.) at Allstate Arena.
For information on Wolves tickets for the 2026-27 American Hockey League season, visit chicagowolves.com or call 1-800-THE-WOLVES.
