Wolves Dropped By Peoria 3-2

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- The Chicago Wolves and Peoria Rivermen exchanged goals through 40 minutes of play, but the Rivermen grabbed the only goal in the third period as the Wolves suffered a 3-2 loss Saturday night at the Allstate Arena.

Forwards Steve Pinizzotto and Andrew Gordon scored for Chicago, while right wing Darren Haydar dished out two assists in the Illinois Lottery Cup contest.

"We had lots of opportunities tonight, but Peoria's goalie made some great stops," said Wolves head coach Scott Arniel. "We need a collective goal-scoring effort going forward in order to swing these one-, two-goal games our way."

With the clubs deadlocked at two after two periods of play, Peoria left wing Sergey Andronov potted the game-winning goal at the 9:21 mark of the third period. After a goalmouth scramble in front of the Wolves net, Andronov found the puck at his stick and fired home a shot past Chicago netminder Matt Climie.

Chicago (7-5-2-0), which lost for the third game in a row, opened scoring 4:43 into the contest when Pinizzotto picked up a rebound outside the crease and stickhandled around Peoria netminder Jake Allen to tuck home the puck.

Allen (5-7-1) posted 25 saves to earn a 3-2 win over the Wolves for the second consecutive night.

Peoria (5-7-2-1) tied the score at 8:33 of the first when right wing Jaden Schwartz won a puck battle behind the Wolves net and flung a pass to the slot, where forward Sebastian Wannstrom slammed home a one-timer past Climie.

The Rivermen opened up a 2-1 advantage at 12:41 of the first period. Center T.J. Hensick's pass from behind the Wolves net hit a Chicago defender's skate and trickled through Climie's legs. Climie (1-4-0) finished with 17 saves.

The Wolves knotted the score at two when Gordon and Haydar skated into the Rivermen zone on a two-on-one rush and Haydar slipped a pass from the near circle to Gordon, who banged home the puck into an empty net 3:40 into the second frame.

The Wolves return to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday when they host the Milwaukee Admirals in an Amtrak Rivalry game at the Allstate Arena.

-- Chicago Wolves