Wolves Miffed by Griffins
May 8, 2021 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Chicago Wolves News Release
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Illinois - Tyler Spezia and Turner Elson scored 62 seconds apart late in the second period to spark the Grand Rapids Griffins to a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Wolves Saturday night at the Wolves Training Facility.
Center Tommy Novak scored for the Wolves (18-8-1-2), whose magic number to clinch the Central Division dropped to 6 because the second-place Cleveland Monsters suffered a 4-3 shootout loss to the Rochester Americans.
"I thought we worked hard for most of the game," said Wolves head coach Ryan Warsofsky. "Just couldn't find a way to create a little bit more offense. A little bit of a rut right now. We've got to find our way out of it."
Grand Rapids (14-10-3-1) opened the scoring at 5:26 of the first when Hayden Verbeek centered a pass toward the top of the crease that Schaumburg native Patrick Curry redirected home. The Wolves protested that defenseman Dylan McIlrath, who triggered the play in the offensive zone, used his broken stick to knock the stick out of a Wolves player's hand shortly before the goal, but it went unheeded.
The Wolves pushed it to a 1-1 knot on Novak's goal at 5:44 of the second. The Wolves kept peppering goaltender Pat Nagle with shots and he eventually moved out of the crease to try to cut down an angle. Phil Tomasino's backhand from the goal line couldn't find the back of the net, but Novak swatted home the rebound.
The Griffins seized momentum with a pair of goals 62 seconds apart late in the second. Tyler Spezia took advantage of a Wolves defensemen taking an inadvertent puck to the face to break free at 17:27, then Turner Elson snapped home a shot immediately after a faceoff at 18:29 to give the visitors a 3-1 lead entering the third.
Nagle (6-5-0) stopped 22 shots to pick up the victory while Wolves goaltender Antoine Bibeau (4-2-1) posted 26 saves in his attempt to earn his 100th American Hockey League win.
The Wolves enter their final week of the regular season by hosting the Rockford IceHogs at 2 p.m. Monday. All Wolves games are streamed on AHLTV.com.
GRIFFINS 3, WOLVES 1
Grand Rapids 1 2 0 -- 3
Chicago 0 1 0 -- 1
First Period-1, Grand Rapids, Curry 4 (Verbeek, MacLeod), 5:26.
Penalties-Curry, Grand Rapids (tripping), 2:46; MacLeod, Grand Rapids (tripping), 12:33; Healey, Chicago (interference), 15:25.
Second Period-2, Chicago, Novak 6 (Tomasino, Richard), 5:44; 3, Grand Rapids, Spezia 5 (Pearson, McIlrath), 17:27; 4, Grand Rapids, Elson 4 (Turgeon), 18:29.
Penalties-Dello, Grand Rapids (closing hand on puck), 13:11.
Third Period-None.
Penalties-Verbeek, Grand Rapids (high-sticking), 15:13; Rees, Chicago (boarding), 17:47.
Shots on goal-Grand Rapids 19-7-3-29; Chicago 10-8-5-23. Power plays-Grand Rapids 0-2; Chicago 0-4. Goalies-Grand Rapids, Nagle (22-23); Chicago, Bibeau (26-29). Referees-Jarrod Ragusin and Jordan Samuels-Thomas. Linesmen-Jameson Gronert and Jonathan Sladek.
American Hockey League Stories from May 8, 2021
- Win Vaults Gulls to Top of AHL - San Diego Gulls
- Roadrunners Avenge Loss In Series Opener - Tucson Roadrunners
- Griffins Sweep Weekend with Wolves - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Wolves Miffed by Griffins - Chicago Wolves
- Crunch Defeat Comets, 4-2 - Syracuse Crunch
- Dea Lifts Amerks to 4-3 Shootout Win over Monsters - Rochester Americans
- Monsters Gain Point in 4-3 Shootout Loss to Americans - Cleveland Monsters
- Comets Lose Final Syracuse Road Game against Crunch, 4-2 - Utica Comets
- Barracuda Fall in Seesaw Battle with Silver Knights 5-3 - San Jose Barracuda
- Marlies Fall 5-4 to Moose in Shootout - Toronto Marlies
- Penguins Delight Fans in Home Finale with 4-1 Win - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Moose Handle Marlies in Shootout - Manitoba Moose
- Evan Cormier Stops 31 in 4-1 Loss to Penguins - Binghamton Devils
- Copley Holds off Phantoms' Attack 3-0 - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Copley Gets 100th AHL Win, Moulson Scores 700th Pro Point in 3-0 Victory - Hershey Bears
- Silver Knights Shine in First Game at T-Mobile Arena, Win 5-3 - Henderson Silver Knights
- Game #33 Tucson at Texas - Tucson Roadrunners
- Game Preview: Condors and Gulls Live on 23ABC Tonight at 5 p.m. - Bakersfield Condors
- CLEVELAND MONSTERS: Blue Jackets Reassign Defenseman Gavin Bayreuther to Monsters - Cleveland Monsters
- Game Preview: Phantoms at Bears, 4 p.m. - Hershey Bears
- Gulls Foiled by Ontario, 7-4 - San Diego Gulls
- Reign Best Gulls, 7-4 - Ontario Reign
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
