ROSEMONT, Ill.—The Wolves saw their losing skid reach three games after falling to the Iowa Wild 4-2 on Wednesday night at Allstate Arena.
Bradly Nadeau and Nikita Pavlychev scored but it wasn’t enough as the Wolves coughed up a two-goal, second-period lead to drop the finale of a three-game homestand.
“It’s definitely disappointing,” Wolves captain Josiah Slavin said. “I don’t know if we got to our game at all. We have to get back to finding our game again—the last few games we haven’t had it. It’s just playing that simple hard pressure game that makes it hard for other teams to break out pucks against us.”
Late in the opening period, the Wild ran into penalty issues that left the Wolves skating with a five-on-three power-play opportunity. Nadeau took advantage of the time and space and converted a feed from Robidas by wiring a one-timer from the left dot that beat Iowa netminder Cal Petersen to the glove side. Robidas and Juuso Valimaki recorded assists on Nadeau’s team-leading 25th goal of the season.
Pavlychev extended the Wolves’ lead to 2-0 early in the second with his 12th goal of the season. The center pounced on a loose puck deep in the Wild zone, spun and sent a shot on net that trickled through Petersen and just over the goal line. Evan Vierling and Givani Smith had assists.
Later in the period, Iowa’s Mark Liwiski was awarded a penalty shot after being hauled down on a breakaway. Wolves goaltender Cayden Primeau was up to the task as his poke check spoiled Liwiski’s chance.
The Wild got on the board moments later on a tally by Carson Lambos and then pulled even at 2-2 on Gerry Mayhew’s score.
Hunter Haight notched the winner for the Wild late in the third and Jean-Luc Foudy sealed the deal with an empty-netter in the waning seconds.
Primeau (32 saves) took the loss in goal for the Wolves while Petersen (24 saves) earned the win for the Wild.
Chicago dropped to 28-14-6-6 on the season while Iowa stands at 20-30-4-1.
Up next: The Wolves travel to Rockford to face the IceHogs on Friday night (7 p.m.).