Wolves Fall To Lake Erie In OT
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Chicago Wolves rallied twice in the third period but could not complete the comeback Friday night as they fell 4-3 in overtime to the Lake Erie Monsters at Quicken Loans Arena.
In his first game with the Wolves since joining the team via a trade, defenseman Brendan Bell posted one goal and one assist to pace the offense. Wingers Adam Burish and Yannick Veilleux rounded out the scoring while defenseman Brent Regner dished out a pair of assists.
The Wolves (28-21-6-1) mounted heavy pressure in the first period which led to the opening tally as the league's top road power-play team got on the board at 10:10. Bell launched a low shot from the blueline that Burish deftly redirected while he and linemate Jeremy Welsh screened Monsters goaltender Sami Aittokallio in front.
Despite being outshot 16-9 in the first frame, the Monsters (25-23-5-3) took a tie into intermission on a goal from right wing Tomas Vincour. The forward released a wrist shot from just inside the blueline that beat Jordan Binnington blocker-side to make it 1-1.
Chicago continued to pressure the home team early in the second period but surrendered a breakaway goal to Lake Erie to trail for the first time in the game. Left wing Andrew Agozzino beat a defenseman down the ice and buried a shot in the top corner for the 2-1 Monsters lead 1:27 into the middle frame.
With time ticking down, the Wolves found the equalizer on Bell's second of the season. Right wing Adam Cracknell won a faceoff and took possession of the puck low in the zone, spinning around to send a backhand pass between the faceoff dots. Bell pinched in and fired a shot that beat Aittokallio to knot the score 2-2.
Shortly after tying the score, Chicago defenseman Jani Hakanpaa took a high-sticking minor and the team could not hold off the Monsters as Lake Erie regained the lead on Vincour's second of the night with 2:54 remaining.
The resilient Wolves clawed back once again, however, as Veilleux deflected a Regner blast up and over the glove of Aittokallio with 52 seconds left. The goal came shortly after the Monsters missed on an opportunity with the Chicago net empty.
The Wolves failed to earn the second point on the night as they surrendered the game-winning power-play tally to center Ben Street with 2:32 remaining in overtime. The loss kept Chicago winless (0-20-3-1) when trailing after two periods.
Binnington (19-12-4) made his franchise-record 18th consecutive regular-season start, stopping 30 of 34 shots. Aittokallio (6-4-1) kicked out 41 as the Wolves tied their season high with 44 shots on goal.
The Wolves face Lake Erie in a rematch at 2 p.m. Sunday.
