Chicago Wolves beat Grand Rapids for much-needed victory

The Wolves badly needed a win Wednesday night.

They got one, albeit at a cost.

Curtis McKenzie had two goals, and Tye McGinn, Jimmy Schuldt and Jaycob Megna also scored to lead the Wolves to a 5-2 victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins. Oscar Dansk stopped 27 shots, and the Wolves snapped a three-game losing streak. They had also lost nine of 11, and entered the night seventh in the Central and three points behind the Manitoba Moose for the division’s final playoff spot.

“It was nice to see pucks go in the net,” McKenzie said. “Still probably need to create a little more offense - we only had 22 shots again - but we were getting better-quality looks today.”

There was one negative and it wasn’t a small one: Gage Quinney suffered an upper-body injury and likely won’t play Friday at Rockford.

“That hurts us,” Wolves coach Rocky Thompson said. “That seems to be how our year has gone. We get a little traction then some adversity comes up. It’s nothing new. Our group has dealt with it. We’re good at rolling with the punches then counter-punching.”

The Wolves counter-punched Wednesday.

Beyond just the standings, other indicators had been trending down for the Wolves. They began the night averaging 5.35 fewer shots than their opponent, and 30th in the 31-team league in shots per game (26.24). On the other end of the ice, the Wolves were giving up chances, surrendering 31.76 shots per game (25th in the league).

Over that three-game skid, the Wolves were outscored 13-6. During their 3-0 loss last Friday at Cleveland, they had just 16 shots despite six power plays.

Though the Wolves were again out-shot 29-22, things ended differently Wednesday.

“It was important,” Thompson said. “It’s been a tough stretch. A tough November for us. I give our guys a ton of credit. I think we’ve been battling and we’ve been competing more, even though we weren’t getting the results.”

One place the Wolves weren’t getting results was the power play, but that changed with 3:20 remaining in the first on McGinn’s goal. Dylan Coghlan found McGinn alone in the slot, and he beat Calvin Pickard to give the Wolves the edge and snap an 0 for 10 cold spell with an advantage.

“It always helps when you get an early power-play chance,” McKenzie said. “I think that gives guys all confidence for the rest of the game, too.”

In general, Thompson agreed it’s important for such a young group to see positive results come from their hard work. That said, it was only one win, and the Wolves have plenty of work to do.

“You can only lose so many times and it becomes tough to stick to a plan, to stick to the process,” Thompson said. “I think we’ve been slowly getting a little bit better, a little bit better, and then tonight was a good night.”

NOTES: Vegas placed forward Valentin Zykov on waivers. If he clears, he would be eligible to be sent to the Wolves. Zykov, 24, was suspended 20 games for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances program and was eligible to play for Vegas on Friday.

- Forward Keegan Kolesar (upper body) has returned to practice with a non-contact jersey. Out since Nov. 7, Thompson said Kolesar is getting close to returning.

- During the first intermission, Jason Needham and Kara Michalec were married on the ice. Wayne Messmer performed the ceremony.