Rivermen 3, Wolves 0
PEORIA, Ill. -- The Chicago Wolves suffered a 3-0 defeat to Peoria on Saturday night at Carver Arena despite outshooting the Rivermen, 33-24.
Peoria's Mike McKenna earned his third shutout in the last month while Wolves goaltender Matt Climie (17-19-3) posted 21 saves.
With 69 points, Chicago (30-22-5-4) is in the middle of a six-team clump battling for the final three Western Conference playoff spots. The Wolves will play their third game in as many days when they host the Milwaukee Admirals at 3 p.m. Sunday.
Peoria (29-29-4-3) set the tone 10:41 into the first period with a power-play goal by defenseman Brent Regner. Forwards Derek Nesbitt and Adam Cracknell set up Regner for a wrist shot from the near circle. Climie could only deflect it as the puck sneaked into the net.
The Rivermen added an insurance goal midway through the third period when T.J. Hensick's centering pass from the back boards into the slot bounced off defenseman Jeremy Price's stick and deflected off Cracknell's leg across the goal line.
Nesbitt added an empty-net goal with one minute left to close out the scoring.
Saturday's game marked the second in the Wolves' 17-game sprint to the regular-season finish line. They added veteran defenseman Danny Groulx, a proven quarterback on the power play, to the roster on Friday to boost the offense.
Groulx, who was assigned to Chicago from Worcester, posted two assists in Friday's shootout victory over Toronto and clanged a slap shot from the point off the post during the first of the Wolves' three power-play chances Saturday night.
