Some would say the recent American Hockey League All-Star break came at a bad time for the Wolves. They might have been playing their best hockey of the season, and perhaps the four-day interlude would hurt their momentum.
Before a 7-3 loss Friday to the Admirals, however, coach Rocky Thompson disagreed with that logic.
‘‘I don’t think it’s poorly timed or anything,’’ Thompson said. ‘‘I think we were playing well, and I don’t see any reason why that shouldn’t continue to be the case. The guys have been working extremely hard to get to the position we’re in, back in a good spot.’’
The Wolves didn’t end up in a good spot against the Admirals and might be looking at time without a key player.
The Admirals scored four times in the second period, and the Wolves allowed seven goals for the first time since Nov. 3. Cole Schneider and Frederick Gaudreau each had two goals and two assists, and Daniel Carr had a goal and three assists for the Admirals.
‘‘It’s not about [the Admirals],’’ Thompson said. ‘‘They’re good; we know that. That’s why they’re in first place. We didn’t play poorly. We’ve played them really, really well the last four games, and I thought we played them well [tonight]. We didn’t dominate or anything like that, but we were there.’’
The Wolves got goals from Tye McGinn, Brandon Pirri and Lucas Elvenes but played the third period without forward Keegan Kolesar. At 19:54 of the second, Kolesar went down quickly during a fight with the Admirals’ Tanner Jeannot. Kolesar immediately grabbed his right knee and was helped off the ice by Elvenes and trainer Kevin Kacer.
Thompson had no update on Kolesar after the game, and Elvenes stressed what he means to the Wolves.
‘‘I was [ticked] when I saw him laying on the ice,’’ Elvenes said. ‘‘I was like: ‘This is not good; this is not good for the team.’ He does so much for his team, and that’s a tough loss. I hope he comes back quickly.’’
