HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLVES

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Evgeny Svechnikov scored his first professional goal as the Grand Rapids Griffins swept their home-and-home series against the Chicago Wolves with a 4-2 victory on Saturday at Allstate Arena.

Chances were few and far between in the opening period until Anthony Mantha broke the scoreless tie on a breakaway at the 14:32 mark. Nick Jensen checked Alex Friesen's stick at the left point, with Mantha beating Friesen in a race for the loose puck and placing a shot inside Ville Husso’s left post.

Robbie Russo made it a two-goal advantage on the power play with 14.5 seconds left in the first. Mitch Callahan’s no-look, backhand feed from the bottom of the left circle reached Russo at the point for a slapshot that whizzed past the catching glove of Husso.

Matt Lorito gave the Griffins (2-0-0-0) a commanding 3-0 lead 8:05 into the middle frame. Eric Tangradi dropped the puck to Joe Hicketts, who spun away from traffic and sent a wrist shot from the left point that deflected off Lorito in the slot and dipped low to the blocker side for his first goal in a Grand Rapids uniform.

Vince Dunn put Chicago (0-2-0-0) on the scoresheet 3:19 later. Kenny Agostino’s cross-ice pass found Dunn at the left point for a wrist shot that changed direction in the high slot, going off the crossbar and in.

The Wolves cut the Griffins' lead to one on the power play with 2:45 left in the second. Dunn set up Brad Hunt for a one-timer at the top of the right circle that redirected off the stick of Ivan Barbashev in front and trickled between Jared Coreau’s pads.

Chicago had its best chance to even the score on the man advantage with just over a minute to play in the second. After a Grand Rapids faceoff win, Landon Ferraro checked Jensen’s stick and steered the puck to Danny Kristo in front only to be denied by the outstretched glove of Coreau.

Svechnikov restored the Griffins’ two-goal cushion with 4:09 remaining in the contest. Driving the left-wing boards, he went behind the goal line and sent a pass in the direction of Louis-Marc Aubry in front, but the puck banked off Husso’s blocker side and in.

Grand Rapids finished 1-for-6 on the power play, while the Wolves scored once on four opportunities. Coreau turned aside 23-of-25 shots to earn his second win in as many games as Husso stopped 24-of-28 shots in defeat.

The Griffins will wrap up their brief road trip as they take on the Iowa Wild at Wells Fargo Arena on Tuesday at 8 p.m. EDT.

Notes: Tangradi played in his 300th AHL game on Saturday. The Griffins started a season with two wins for the fifth time in franchise history and first since the 2007-08 campaign.

Three Stars: 1. GR Mantha (goal); 2. GR Coreau (W, 23 saves); 3. CHI Dunn (goal, assist)