LESSONS LEARNED

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – An adjustment to their routine did not change the Griffins’ home luck on Wednesday afternoon, as Grand Rapids lost 3-1 to the Chicago Wolves in the 14th annual matinee game at Van Andel Arena.

Andy Miele opened the 11 a.m. contest by notching an early power play goal, but the Wolves responded with two goals of their own plus an empty-netter in the final minutes to keep the Griffins winless on home ice this season.

Having wrapped up a four-game home stand, the Griffins (3-4-1-0) will hit the road this weekend for a pair of clashes with Midwest Division rivals, beginning with an 8 p.m. visit to the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday.

Reprising his first-goal effort from Friday’s overtime loss to Chicago, Miele ripped the puck over Jordan Binnington’s blocker from the slot during a power play 7:44 into the game. That marker broke the Griffins’ 0-for-15 power play drought that began during the first game of their home stand on Oct. 24.

Chicago (6-2-2-0) answered at the 15:56 mark when Terry Broadhurst picked up a loose puck inside the Wolves’ blue line, sped up the left side and patiently waited until the circle to slip a shot past Tom McCollum’s glove.

The Wolves grabbed a 2-1 lead during a 4-on-4 late in the second period, as Philip McRae drove hard to the net to pop a rebound past McCollum with 4:29 left in the frame.

The Griffins had their chances to knot the score during the third period, amassing an 11-4 shot advantage and receiving one power play, but Binnington stood tall to deny each try before Ty Rattie salted away the game with an empty-net goal at 18:36.

Binnington earned the win behind 26 saves, while McCollum made 20 stops in another hard-luck defeat. He has been saddled with three straight losses despite allowing only two goals in each of those outings.

Notes: Now 0-4-1-0 at Van Andel Arena, the Griffins are off to their worst home start since 2007-08, when they lost their first seven home contests in regulation and dropped No. 8 in a shootout before finally making the faithful happy…The loss broke Grand Rapids’ two-year winning streak in its matinee and dropped its all-time record in the event to 9-4-0-1. The crowd of 5,278 was composed primarily of local elementary, middle and high school students and teachers…Teemu Pulkkinen saw his team-high and career-best point streak snapped at six games…After the game, the Detroit Red Wings reassigned defenseman Richard Nedomlel to the Griffins from the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye. He has yet to make an appearance for Grand Rapids this season.

Three Stars: 1. CHI Binnington (W, 26 saves); 2. CHI McRae (game-winning goal, assist); 3. GR Miele (power play goal)