April 24, 2022

ROSEMONT, Ill. - The Chicago Wolves’ power-play offense showed its dominance against the Grand Rapids Griffins when it went 3-for-3 en route to a 6-2 victory on Sunday at Allstate Arena. Jonatan Berggren became the new leader on the Griffins rookie single-season scoring list when he bagged his 60th point (20-40—60) of the campaign.

Grand Rapids was eliminated from the Calder Cup Playoffs after Texas’ 2-1 win on Saturday over the Iowa Wild. This snapped the Griffins’ seven-year run of making the playoffs, excluding the 2019-20 and 2020-21 COVID seasons. Today’s contest was the first game the Griffins have played after being eliminated from playoff contention since April 15, 2012.

With two assists in the contest, Berggren became the first rookie in franchise history to reach the 60-point plateau. In addition to having the rookie-scoring title, Berggren’s 40 assists are the most by a Griffins’ rookie and 20 goals are tied for eighth most. The Swede also pushed his point streak to a season-high nine games (5-10—15). Riley Barber extended his AHL-leading career-high point streak to 15 games (14-7—21), scoring both goals for Grand Rapids.

Chicago lit the lamp in the opening 1:19 of the contest. After the Wolves took away possession, Andrew Poturalski gathered the puck from behind the cage and sent it to Stefan Noesen. From the slot the winger ripped the disc past the stick of Kaden Fulcher.

With 14:38 remaining in the frame, Stelio Mattheos stole the puck away from Butrus Ghafari and then connected with Vasili Ponomarev. Ponomarev from the left circle sent a shot through the five-hole, giving the Wolves a 2-0 lead.

Grand Rapids got on the scoreboard after a nice play set up for Barber at 18:15 in the first. Berggren skated down the left boards and sent a centering pass to Turner Elson, who left the puck behind him for a streaking Barber. The winger sent the disc past the glove of netminder Dylan Wells.

Chicago struck twice in just 21 seconds to take a three-score advantage in the middle frame. On a 5-on-3, Poturalski passed the disc to Noesen and at the left circle the winger fired a shot in the left corner at 6:17. Twenty-one seconds later on the power play, Ponomarev got a rebound and put it past Fulcher’s glove after David Cotton’s shot was saved, giving the Wolves a 4-1 lead.

With 5:31 remaining in the second, Ponomarev gathered the puck in the neutral zone and sent a pass to Noel Gunler, who put the rubber in the open right side of the net.

The Wolves extended their advantage at 2:31 into the third. On a power play, Poturalski from the right wing fired the disc through traffic and into the left corner of the net, making it a 6-1 contest.

With 5:39 remaining in the game, Barber notched his second goal when he skated down the right boards toward the net and backhanded a shot into the left corner.

The Chicago defense withheld its own for the rest of the contest, holding a four-goal advantage winning 6-2.

Notes

• Excluding the NHL lockout season of 2004-05 and the COVID-19 2019-21 seasons, this is the first time since our inception that neither the Griffins nor the Red Wings have qualified for the playoffs.
• Grand Rapids has won three out of its last 11 contests away from home, having been outscored 50-31.

Box Score
Grand Rapids 1 0 1 - 2
Chicago 2 3 1 - 6

1st Period-1, Chicago, Noesen 44 (Poturalski, Panik), 1:19. 2, Chicago, Ponomarev 2 (Mattheos), 5:22. 3, Grand Rapids, Barber 23 (Elson, Berggren), 18:18. Penalties-No Penalties

2nd Period-4, Chicago, Noesen 45 (Poturalski, Panik), 6:17 (PP). 5, Chicago, Ponomarev 3 (Cotton, Sellgren), 6:48 (PP). 6, Chicago, Gunler 3 (Ponomarev, Mattheos), 14:29. Penalties-Shine Gr (slashing), 4:46; Elson Gr (hooking), 5:03; Bigras Chi (delay of game), 10:47.

3rd Period-7, Chicago, Poturalski 27 (Keane, Drury), 2:31 (PP). 8, Grand Rapids, Barber 24 (Berggren), 14:21. Penalties-Dickinson Gr (hooking), 2:16; Sellgren Chi (tripping), 2:40; Keane Chi (delay of game), 10:46.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 8-8-12-28. Chicago 15-13-7-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 0 / 3; Chicago 3 / 3.
Goalies-Grand Rapids, Fulcher 1-3-0 (35 shots-29 saves). Chicago, Wells 1-1-1 (28 shots-26 saves).
A-9,623

Three Stars

1. CHI Ponomarev (two goals, assists); 2. CHI Noesen (two goals); 3. CHI Poturalski (power play goal, two assists)

Record / Next Game
Grand Rapids: 32-34-6-2 (72 pts.) / Thurs., April 28 at Chicago 8 p.m. EDT
Chicago: 48-16-5-5 (106 pts.) / Thurs., April 28 vs. Grand Rapids 7 p.m. CDT

Photo by Ross Dettman/Chicago Wolves