Jan. 29, 2023

ROSEMONT, Ill. - The Grand Rapids Griffins extended their win streak against the Chicago Wolves to three with a 5-3 victory on Sunday at Allstate Arena.

Elmer Soderblom (2-1–3) and Simon Edvinsson (1-1–2) starred in the win, with one of the two Swedes either providing a goal or an assist on all five scores by Grand Rapids. Edvinsson has recorded a point in his last three games and has five in as many contests, while Soderblom’s points were his first in a Griffin uniform. Jakub Vrana (1-1–2), Austin Czarnik (0-2–2) and Joel L’Esperance (1-1–2) also pitched in two-point outings.

Chicago rattled off two goals to begin the first period, starting with Ronan Seeley firing a one-timer past Victor Brattstrom from the slot off of a faceoff at 2:11. At 6:19, Noel Gunler’s shot was blocked by Brattstrom’s glove, but tapped in by Ryan Suzuki to take a 2-0 lead. The Griffins cut the lead in half just four seconds after a power play expired when Alex Chiasson passed across the goalmouth to Soderblom, who rifled a shot into the barn at 10:20.

Edvinsson tallied the next goal to tie it at 6:30 in the middle frame, burying a slap shot from the right circle. Soderblom followed just 22 seconds later with a one-timer of his own from the left circle to take a 3-2 edge over the Wolves at 6:52. At 8:12, Edvinsson gathered the puck along the left-wing boards and passed up to Vrana. Vrana sent a shot inside the left-goal post and past Zachary Sawchenko for his third goal as a Griffin. L’Esperance capped off the four-goal stanza by skating into the crease and maneuvering around Sawchenko to sneak the disc inside the goal to go up 5-2 with 6:34 remaining.

Seeley tacked on one more in the final period with 7:53 remaining, lasering a shot between the pads of Brattstrom. Despite the Wolves pulling Sawchenko with 4:21 to go, the Griffins fended off Chicago to hold on for a 5-3 win.

Notes
- The last time the Griffins had a three-game win streak against Chicago was from Oct. 20 to Nov. 28, 2018.
- Vrana skated in his 100th AHL game, adding a goal and assist to the scoresheet to reach the 300 point milestone as a pro.

Box Score
Grand Rapids 1 4 0 - 5
Chicago 2 0 1 - 3

1st Period-1, Chicago, Seeley 2 (Ponomarev), 2:11. 2, Chicago, Suzuki 7 (Gunler, Pashin), 6:19. 3, Grand Rapids, Soderblom 1 (Chiasson, Vrana), 10:20. Penalties-Mendel Chi (holding), 8:16; Drury Chi (cross-checking), 12:21.

2nd Period-4, Grand Rapids, Edvinsson 3 (Hirose, Luff), 6:30. 5, Grand Rapids, Soderblom 2 (Czarnik, L’Esperance), 6:52. 6, Grand Rapids, Vrana 3 (Edvinsson, Spezia), 8:12. 7, Grand Rapids, L’Esperance 14 (Czarnik, Soderblom), 13:26. Penalties-Seeley Chi (holding), 3:20; Hayes Chi (high-sticking), 15:17.

3rd Period-8, Chicago, Seeley 3 (Suzuki, Lajoie), 12:07 (PP). Penalties-Lashoff Gr (slashing), 7:50; Kampfer Gr (hooking), 10:36.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 6-12-5-23. Chicago 9-7-11-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 0 / 4; Chicago 1 / 2.
Goalies-Grand Rapids, Brattstrom 3-6-2 (27 shots-24 saves). Chicago, Sawchenko 9-14-1 (23 shots-18 saves).
A-9,394

Three Stars
1. GR Soderblom (two goals, assist); 2. GR Vrana (goal, assist); 3. CHI Seeley (two goals).

Record / Next Game
Grand Rapids: 16-20-2-2 (36 pts.) / Tue., Jan. 31 at Milwaukee 8 p.m. EST
Chicago: 15-21-3-1 (34 pts.) / Fri., Feb. 3 at Cleveland 6 p.m. CST

Photo by Ross Dettman/Wolves