ROSEMONT, Ill.—The Chicago Wolves welcomed Pyotr Kochetkov back to the lineup on a conditioning stint and the veteran goaltender helped Chicago trounce the Toronto Marlies 4-1 on Saturday night at Allstate Arena.
Kochetkov, assigned to the Wolves from the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday to appear in his first game of the season following an injury, made 22 saves and got offensive support from Nikita Pavlychev (goal and an assist), Evan Vierling (goal), Dominik Badinka (goal), Skyler Brind’Amour (goal) and Noel Gunler (three assists).
The Wolves snapped a two-game losing skid in the first meeting between the teams since March 20, 2022. Toronto, which was kicking off an eight-game road trip, managed a score from Henry Thrun but in the end dropped its fourth in a row.
The Wolves stormed out of the gate and took a 1-0 lead 2 minutes, 44 seconds into the contest on Vierling’s first goal in a Chicago sweater. Pavlychev chipped the puck in front where it deflected off Gunler and found Vierling in the slot where the forward kicked it to his stick before banging a shot past Toronto netminder Dennis Hildeby to the stick side. Gunler and Pavlychev recorded assists on the play.
Toronto equaled the score late in the opening period on a power-play goal by Thrun.
The score remained tied until the latter minutes of the second when Badinka found the back of the net. After a scramble behind the Toronto goal, the puck slid to Badinka along the goal line and the defenseman fired a shot that banked off Hildeby and bounced into the back of the net. Assists on Badinka’s second goal of the season were awarded to Ivan Ryabkin and Gavin Bayreuther.
Brind’Amour’s tally with :17 remaining in the second put the Wolves ahead 3-1 heading into the third. The forward was in the right place at the right time while Chicago was skating on the power play. Gunler fired a one-timer from the left circle that ricocheted off the skate of Brind’Amour directly in front of Hildeby and the puck slipped past the goalie to the glove side. Gunler and Aleksi Heimosalmi earned assists on Brind’Amour’s first marker of the season.
The Wolves kept coming and extended the lead to 4-1 early in the third on Pavlychev’s team-leading fourth goal of the season. Gunler carried the puck in the Toronto zone and while surrounded by four Marlies, slid it to Pavlychev and the forward wired a shot from inside the left circle past Hildeby to the glove side.
Kochetkov earned his first win for the Wolves since the 2022-23 season while Hildeby (20 saves) took the loss for the Marlies.
Chicago improved to 4-2-1-0 on the season while Toronto stands at 3-4-0-1.
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