Hunter McKown scored three goals in a span of less than 11 minutes in the third period Jan. 22 to spark an incredible Monsters rally. But he couldn’t even smile about his hat trick because of what happened in the first 40 minutes of the game. The Monsters fell behind the Chicago Wolves, 5-1, with a little more than 16 minutes left in regulation. But they fought back to make it 5-5, only to lose, 6-5, in overtime at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Bradley Nadeau’s 11th goal of the season. “The game kind of sums up our year the last little bit,” Coach Trent Vogelhuber said. “It’s impressive that they didn’t go away and battled back, absolutely, but it’s frustrating because you can see what it looks like when there’s a desperation and refusal to lose and you can see what it looks like when it goes away.” The #Monsters rallied with four third period goals Wednesday night to force overtime, but Coach Trent Vogelhuber was not happy after the 6-5 loss to the Chicago Wolves. pic.twitter.com/paVkSSK6hb — Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) January 23, 2025 Vogelhuber said his players were “uninspired” in the second period. The Wolves posted a trifecta in the middle period — one power-play goal, one even-strength goal, and one short-handed after the score was tied 1-1 after the first period. “When things go bad, it snow-balled a little bit for us,” Vogelhuber said. “I don’t really have an answer for you. I’m trying to help our guys get to the consistency they need to and obviously I’m not doing a good enough job.” The Monsters (22-13-1-3) have lost two straight games. They are third in the AHL North. The short-handed goal was the crusher. The Monsters, with only three shots on goal in the first seven minutes of the second, went on the power play with 6:40 left in the period when Wolves forward Skyler Brind’Amour was sent to the penalty box for tripping. Still, for more than a minute of power play time they did not launch a shot that Wolves goalie Spencer Martin was forced to save. Chicago defenseman Ty Smith was penalized for hooking with 5:25 left in the second period, giving the Monsters a 5-on-3 power play for 45 seconds and an excellent chance to cut into the 3-1 deficit. But that did not happen. As the penalty on Brind’Amour was winding down, Monsters goalie Jet Greaves slapped the blade of his stick on the ice to alert his teammates that Brind’Amour would soon be exiting the penalty box. No one from the Monsters heeded Greaves’ warning. Martin made a left pad save on a shot by Monsters center Joseph LaBate from just outside the crease. Chicago center Justin Robidas controlled the rebound and, with no Monsters player near the blue line, Robidas banked a pass off the right side boards ahead to Brind’Amour.  Brind’Amour bore down all alone on Greaves and buried the puck past the Monsters’ veteran goalie. The Wolves made it 5-1 3:55 into the third period. Vogelhuber pulled Greaves and replaced him with Zach Sawchenko. Sawchenko made five saves in regulation. The Wolves outshot the Monsters, 3-0, in overtime. McKown was unhappy despite his personal success. “I thought it was our execution overall,” he said. “A lot of times, the puck is on our sticks and we don’t make the play. It ends up leaking chances big time. Execution bit ourselves.” The Monsters and Wolves meet in a rematch at 7 p.m. Jan. 23 at the FieldHouse.