Wolves Can't Rally Past Lake Erie

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Chicago Wolves surrendered two first-period goals and that was enough for the Lake Erie Monsters to secure a 2-1 victory Friday night at Quicken Loans Arena.

Forward Philip McRae notched the Wolves' goal in the third period while rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington stopped 24 of 26 shots.

Lake Erie (9-8-2-2) opened the scoring with a short-handed goal at 13:05 of the first period as Colin Smith converted a 2-on-1 breakout by squeezing a wrist shot between Binnington and the right post.

The Monsters increased their lead to 2-0 just 2:21 later as defenseman Stefan Elliott pulled the trigger from the bottom of the right circle and beat Binnington on the short side even though the goaltender appeared to have his body attached to the right post.

The Wolves (13-8-3-0) pulled within 2-1 at 7:32 in the third period on McRae's seventh goal of the season. Shane Harper carried the puck down the right side, spied McRae on his left and delivered a centering pass that McRae one-timed with a backhand over Lake Erie goaltender Calvin Pickard's blocker.

Pickard (5-4-3) posted 34 saves to earn his second win over the Wolves in three days. Binnington (6-3-1) took the loss in his first action since Nov. 22.

The Wolves travel to San Antonio for games Sunday and Tuesday before returning home to host the Adirondack Flames at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 17, for the team's first School-Day Game of the season.

--Chicago Wolves