Griffins Shut Out Wolves

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- The Chicago Wolves were unable to produce any offense Friday night as the Grand Rapids Griffins and goaltender Tom McCollum blanked the Wolves 3-0 at the Allstate Arena.

Chicago goaltender Matt Climie (2-7-0) stopped 34 of 37 shots in the loss, while McCollum (5-3-1) kicked out all 20 of the Wolves shots. Chicago (9-9-2-1), which has dropped eight of its last 10 contests, has provided Climie just 15 goals of support in his nine appearances this season.

"They were the better team than we were tonight," said Wolves head coach Scott Arniel. "We were chasing all night long and you aren't going to win many hockey games when you have nine shots after two periods."

Grand Rapids (12-7-1-1) opened scoring one minute into the second period with a power-play marker by defenseman Adam Almquist. The Griffins blueliner's shot from the far circle was stopped by Climie, but the rebound bounced toward the slot where it hit off a Wolves defender's skate and trickled over the goal line.

The Griffins doubled their lead when center Joakim Andersson sent a pass from the side of the net to the slot, from where Landon Ferraro's shot was stopped by Climie. Andersson jumped on the rebound and roofed a shot over Climie's glove at 4:20 of the third period.

Left wing Tomas Tatar closed out scoring for Grand Rapids 1:50 later. The Griffins entered the Wolves zone on a three-on-one rush and right wing Gustav Nyquist found the streaking Tatar alone at the top of the crease and he tapped home an empty-netter.

The Wolves travel to Rockford for an Illinois Lottery Cup contest against the IceHogs at 7 p.m. on Saturday. They return home at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, against Hamilton.

-- Chicago Wolves