WINNIPEG, Manitoba—The Chicago Wolves couldn’t find the net until the final seconds of the game and suffered a 4-1 loss against the Manitoba Moose at the MTS Centre Friday night.

Defenseman Mark Matheson scored the lone goal for Chicago (19-16-2-1).

The Wolves broke Manitoba’s shutout bid with three seconds left to bring the game to 4-1 when Matheson shot from outside of the crease past Moose netminder Eddie Lack.

Lack (13-6-2) recorded 24 saves for Manitoba.

Manitoba (18-10-0-4) opened scoring 13:58 into the first frame when left wing Shawn Weller one-timed a shot past Chicago goaltender Peter Mannino.

The Moose increased their lead, 2-0, when defenseman Mark Flood fired a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle past Mannino, glove side, 14:33 into the second period.

Center Marco Rosa redirected defenseman Yann Sauve’s wrist shot on the power-play to bring the score to 3-0, just under a minute into the third period.

The Moose added another power-play tally to take their lead by four when defenseman Nolan Baumgartner blasted a shot from the blueline through traffic and past Mannino 6:43 into the final frame.

Mannino (12-8-1) blocked 23 shots in the loss.

The Wolves ring in the 2011 calendar year in a rematch against the Moose tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m.

Chicago            0         0      1      –  1

Manitoba            1          1          2      –  4

First Period—1, Manitoba, Weller 4 (Perrault, Flood), 13:58. Penalties—Garbutt, Chicago (interference), 7:06; Holzapfel, Chicago (tripping), 18:25.

Second Period—2, Manitoba, Flood 3 (Baumgartner, Shikorov), 14:33. Penalties—Perrault, Manitoba (major-boarding, game misconduct), 3:30; Shirokov, Manitoba (holding), 9:36; Mannino, Chicago (tripping), 12:33; Haydar, Chicago (slashing), 19:54.

Third Period—3, Manitoba, Rosa 5 (Sauve, Sweatt), 0:59 pp; 4, Manitoba, Baumgartner 2 (Shikorov, Rosa), 6;43 pp; 5, Chicago, Matheson 3 (Davies, Aliu), 19:57 pp. Penalties—Sweatt, Manitoba (interference), 1:28; Kulda, Chicago (holding), 6:27; Flood, Manitoba (holding), 7:27; Ramsey, Manitoba (hooking), 12:12; Haydar, Chicago (tripping), 13:28; Ramsey, Manitoba (interference), 18:02.

Shots on goal—Chicago: 10-6-9–25. Manitoba: 7-10-10—27.  Power plays—Chicago: 1-6. Manitoba: 2-6.  Goalies–Chicago, Mannino (23-27). Manitoba, Lack (24-25).  A—11,684.  Referee—Geno Binda.  Linesmen—Darrell Surminski and Clint Joyes.