Strong rally lifts Chicago Wolves to victory over Grand Rapids Griffins

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Chicago hits five times in the third third to stun Grand Rapids

The Chicago Wolves scored three goals in the final 96 seconds to crown a monstrous rally in the third period that saw the Wolves beat the Grand Rapids Griffins 5-3 on Friday night at the Van Andel Arena.

Strikers Josh Leivo, Maxim Letunov, Spencer Smallman, CJ Smith and Andrew Poturalski scored in the closing stages for the Wolves (9-4-1-1), who had their biggest rally in years and won their fourth game on as many Grand trips Rapids this season.

Grand Rapids (7-6-2-1) opened the first goal after defender Jared McIsaac’s first professional goal with 12:19. Kris Criscuolo pulled a faceoff win back to McIsaac, who passed a wrister from the high slot.

After a lengthy hiatus for the Grand Rapids’ annual Teddy Bear Toss, the Griffins increased their lead to 2-0 at 1:17 pm when Criscuolo hit a rebound home.

The wolves put all the pressure on during the first half of the second third. After prolonged possession time in the Grand Rapids zone, veteran striker Stefan Noesen thought he had shot 10:41 in the frame, but those responsible checked the video playback and did not declare a goal. Meanwhile, Chicago’s defense did not allow the Grand Rapids to shots on goal until 11:49 a.m. in the period.

Chicago Wolves Artyom Serikov courtesy of the Chicago WolvesChicago Wolves Artyom Serikov courtesy of the Chicago Wolves

McIsaac scored his second professional goal at 15:23 of the second when Criscuolo won another draw against the rookie defender. McIsaac carried the puck along the right wall and flicked a backhand that crept through the traffic into the net.

The wolves started their comeback with Leivo’s power play 1:29 in third place. Dominik Bokk turned the puck back to the point for captain Poturalski, who spied on Leivo at the left allusion point for a precise one-timer.

Just 57 seconds later, defender Jalen Chatfield and striker Sam Miletic quickly put the puck on the offensive. Miletic, who worked on the left wing, found Letunov to be the late man on the onslaught and Letunov whistled it home from the high slot to reduce the gap to 3-2 at 2:26.

With two minutes to go, head coach Ryan Warsofsky pulled goalkeeper Eetu Makiniemi to bring an additional attacker onto the ice. That worked straight away when Poturalski and Jack Drury Smallman prepared for the undecided one-timer at 6:24 p.m.

The wolves won the subsequent pass and Stefan Noesen chased him into the corner and shot with his backhand towards the goal. The puck went either from Poturalski’s shoulder or hand in the direction of the archway for Smith, who hit it home 1:24 to make it 4-3 home.

Poturalski scored an insurance goal – and ended his four-point period – with an empty goal from Center Ice with 42 seconds to go

Makiniemi (6-2-1) took the win with 29 saves, while Grand Rapids’ Calvin Pickard (7-3-2) also made 29 saves.

The Wolves carry that momentum into the home games of Thanksgiving weekend against Rockford on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Grand Rapids at 3 p.m. on Sunday. To find specials on Wolves tickets and merchandise, visit ChicagoWolves.com or call 1-800-THE-WOLVES.

WOLVES 5, GRIFFIN 3
Chicago 0 0 5 – 5
Big rapids 2 1 0 – 3

First period – 1, Grand Rapids, McIsaac 1 (Criscuolo), 12:19; 2, Grand Rapids, Criscuolo 5 (Barber, Hillman), 13:17.
Penalties – None.

Second period – 3, Grand Rapids, McIsaac 2 (Criscuolo), 3:23 pm.
Penalties – Sebrango, Grand Rapids (game delay), 4:26; Hillman, Grand Rapids (high sticking), 7:03; Smallman, Chicago (cutting), 11:50; Drury, Chicago (fight), 4:18 pm; Sebrango, Grand Rapids (fight), 4:18 pm.

Third Period – 4, Chicago, Leivo 1 (Poturalski, Bokk), 1:29 p .; 5, Chicago, Letunov 4 (Miletic, Chatfield), 2:26; 6, Chicago, Smallman 2 (Drury, Poturalski), 18:24; 7, Chicago, Smith 5 (Poturalski, Noesen), 18:36; 8, Chicago, Poturalski 8 (unassisted), 19:18 en.
Penalties – Hairdresser, Grand Rapids, 1:08; Jacobs, Chicago (self adhesive), 2:53 p.m.

Shots on Goal – Chicago 11-8-15-34; Big rapids 12-7-13-32. Power Games – Chicago 1-3; Grand Rapids 0-2. Goalkeeper – Chicago, Makiniemi (29-32); Grand Rapids, Pickard (29-33). Referees: Justin Kea and Jake Rekucki. Linesmen – Nicholas Bet and Pat Richardson.

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Ray Hanania Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, writer, and former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and received four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream America and Chicagoland for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporters newspapers and suburb of Chicagoland.

Hanania also writes on Middle East topics for the Arab News and The Arab Daily News and criticizes government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by New America Media in November 2007 and received the 2009 SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Send an email to Ray Hanania at [email protected].

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