Chicago fended off the Griffins when Jeremy Welsh ended a 22-game scoreless streak by tallying two goals. Photo/Chicago Wolves
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Wolves won against its Midwest Division rival, the Grand Rapids Griffins, 5-3 Monday at the Allstate Arena.
The game was all tied up 3-3 entering the third period, but goals by Wolves forward Jeremy Welsh ended his 22-game goal-less streak by lighting the lamp twice, including the game winning goal.
The Chicago Wolves (16-11-3-0) hosted Midwest division rivals the Grand Rapids Griffins (14-11-3-0). The Wolves left winger John McCarthy opened up the scoring in the first at 5:44 of the first when he deflected a shot from defensemen Matthew Register passed Griffins goalie Jared Coreau for his fourth goal of the season.
Just a minute later, Shane Harper knotted his tenth goal of the season when he received a backhanded pass from Mathieu Brodeur to put the Wolves up 2-0.
At 11:45 of the first, Griffins center Mark Zengrele took the pass from Kevin Porter and put it right under the crossbar to cut the Wolves lead to 1.
During the power play, Jeremy Welsh put the puck past Coreau to help the wolves retain a 2 goal lead. With just a few minutes to go in the first, on a Griffins power play, Thomas Nosek was rewarded with his first goal of the season thanks to some nice passing from Marek Tvrdon and Anthony Mantha.
The second period saw a defensive battle between both clubs and only 11 shots on goal the entire period. The Griffins lead with 6, while the Wolves carried a 3-2 scoring lead going into the third.
As the third period got under way, Griffins left winger Teemu Pulkkinen scored his 15th goal of the season with help from line mate Andy Miele to tie the game at 3-3.
Welsh was not going to let this game slip out of his hands and at 13:29 with some nice stick handling and footwork, Welsh scored a beautiful goal, his second of the game and eventual game winning goal.
With just two minutes remaining in the game Wolves center Phillip McRae took a Griffins turnover to bury the puck past Coreau and seal a Wolves victory.
Chicago Wolves goalie Jordan Binnington earned the win by saving 19 of 22 shots. Grand Rapids Griffins goalie Jared Coreau took the loss saving 15 of 20.
The Wolves have now won 2 games in a row and travel to Milwaukee to take on the Admirals Friday at the Bradley Center. Puck drops at 7 P.M. c.t
