CANTLON: PACK HANG ON AND WIN IN OT AGAINST BRIDGEPORT
CANTLON: PACK HANG ON FOR OT WIN OVER SOUND TIGERS
VERSUS 
BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – It must seem at times like nothing is ever easy for the Hartford Wolf Pack.
A 4-0 lead entering the third period after two solid periods of play evaporated as the Sound Tigers scored two goals in a 42-second span in with the goalie pulled for both in the last two minutes of regulation to tie the game, but the Wolf Pack prevailed in overtime to win 5-4.
The game-winning goal was what three on three hockey was designed for.
The Wolf Pack’s Scott Kosmachuk in Wolf Pack end of the ice hit Lias Andersson at the Sound Tiger blue line. Andersson went in curled and atop the faceoff circle hit Kosmachuk coming into the Sound Tigers zone at full speed then spotted Ryan Sproul in the lower left wing circle hit him with the pass.
Sound Tigers goalie Krister Gudlevskis playing the percentage on Kosmachuk shooting lost as Sproul a right-handed shot with a perfect angle put in his second goal of the game ninth of the season and second two-goal game of the season in at 3:51 of the extra session.
For Andersson, it was his third point of the game in his first multiple-point pro game.
The Pack record is now 22-20-4-3 (51 points) good for sixth place in the AHL’s Atlantic Division, but still two points behind Bridgeport (23-17-5-2) in the AHL Eastern Conference for the eighth and final playoff spot. Bridgeport has two games in hand on Hartford which can be a huge factor in determining who goes to the dance and who goes home.
The Sound Tigers ended Alex Georgiev’s shutout bid early in the third period scoring two goals in just 26 seconds as they began mounting their comeback from a 4-0 deficit.
The first goal came as defenseman Mitchell Vande Sompel came off of the right point. Vande Sompel took Kellen Jones’ pass from behind the net. His shot went off Georgiev’s left arm and skittered into the net at 2:03.
Ryan Bourque, the former Wolf Pack captain, followed with his seventh of the season on a gorgeous three-way play.
The play began with Quinnipiac University grad Travis St. Denis making a perfect backhanded pass at the right side of the net below the goal line to Steve Bernier. While at the left side of the net, Bernier one-touched the pass to Bourque who quickly buried it past Georgiev, who had absolutely zero chance, at 2:29.
Pack head coach Keith McCambridge wisely took his timeout following Bourque’s goal.
Following a terrific save on Bourque, the theatrics began.
With 1:28 remaining, the puck came back to Parker Wotherspoon who unleashed a slapper from the left point. In front of the net, Bourque turned to face him and quickly put the puck right to Bernier on the left wing side. The veteran righthander fired his 12th of the season by Georgiev at 18:29.
Then with just 48.5 seconds left, John Stevens, Jr. found a loose puck after a Michael Del Colle shot went off some skates and rifled his third of the season to the fallen Georgiev’s short side to complete the four-goal comeback and force overtime.
The Wolf Pack got an early, second power-play that they were able to capitalize on.
John Gilmour was at the left point and in tight space. He pushed the puck back to Adam Tambellini on the left wing boards. Tambellini sent a cross-ice pass to Filip Chytil in the right wing circle and he one-timed it to the far side on Gudlevskis at 3:37. The goal was his eighth of the season and gave the Pack a commanding 4-0 lead.
The Wolf Pack PK did as well as the power play. The Pack got two solid blocks by Neil Pionk and Boo Nieves on their first PK. Then on the second successful PK stop, Steven Fogarty made a strong play to force a turnover in the neutral zone by the Sound Tigers Josh Ho-Sang. He scooted up ice and made two dipsy-doodle moves and visions of another shorthanded goal by Fogarty ended when he lost the puck on his last move.
The Pack’s fourth line had a late solid offensive zone cycle as Catenacci-Eric Selleck and Dawson Leedahl kept the Sound Tigers pinned. Fogarty got on the ice during a line change for Leedahl and had a wraparound chance stopped.
Then just before the period expired Georgiev stopped Kyle Schempp last second bid.
The Wolf Pack were held without a shot for the first 7:58 of the game then the offense finally clicked in.
Andersson was behind the net and disrupted the Sound Tigers goalie, Christopher Gibson, who was handling the puck. The biscuit came up the left wing boards. Ryan Gropp retrieved the loose puck and passed it to Ryan Graves at the left point. Graves let an accurate 55-foot shot go. Gibson made the save, but Andersson was right there and out positioned Sound Tigers defenseman Kane Lafranchise. Andersson grabbed the rebound and tucked in his first AHL goal to the short side.
57-seconds later, the Pack capitalized on an ill-advised, blind backhanded pass by the Sound Tigers’ Kyle Burroughs that went right to Scott Kosmachuk. He then went straight to the net and whistled his 11th goal of the season over the left shoulder and gave the Pack a 2-0 lead.
The Wolf Pack worked in practice on how to handle the Sound Tigers’ highly effective penalty killers. Entering the game, Bridgeport has the AHL 2nd best penalty kill at 85.4%.
It took the Pack just seven seconds.
Andersson won the draw cleanly from Bridgeport’s Ben Holmstrom. The puck got to Ryan Sproul who passed it to Neal Pionk at the right point. Pionk’s low slapper was blocked by Sound Tigers defenseman, Seth Helgeson. It went right to Sproul who let a rocket fly and it sailed past Gibson for his eighth goal of the season at 11:37 giving the Pack a 3-0 lead.
That was all for Gibson’s day as he gave up three goals in his last three games total as head coach Brent Thompson had seen enough.
The Wolf Pack had a fourth goal waived off as Leedahl directed the puck with his hand at 14:34.
NOTES:
The Wolf Pack go on the road to play at Syracuse against the Crunch on Friday and then visit Hershey to play the Bears on Saturday night.
Sproul had a game-high five shots for the Wolf Pack.
Wolf Pack Lines
Nieves-Tambellini-Kosmachuk
Fogarty-Chytil-Schneider
Andersson-Gropp-Chapie
Catenacci-Leedahl-Selleck
Gilmour-Graves
Pionk Crawley
Pedrie-Sproul
The Canadian Hockey League announced that Ty Ronning of the Vancouver Giants is the CHL Player of the Week for the week ending February 4, 2018. Ronning scored 5-goals and 2-assists for 7-points in three games. Ronning had a plus-minus rating of plus-3.
Ronning, who was selected in the seventh-round, 201st overall, by the Rangers in the 2016 NHL Draft. He delivered a trio of multi-point performances last week. His performance helped the Giants win all three of their games and improved their record to 28-16-5-3 in the Western Hockey League’s B.C. Division standings.
Opening the week with two home games against the Calgary Hitmen, Ronning scored twice with an assist in Wednesday’s 4-1 victory then scored another two goals including the game-winner on Friday. That earned him first star honors in the 4-2 win. On Saturday, Ronning produced another first-star effort, scoring once and assisting on the game-winner to reach the 200-point milestone for his career in a 5-4 triumph over the Medicine Hat Tigers. The Giants sit just four points back of the Kelowna Rockets and Victoria Royals who are tied for the division lead.
A 20-year-old, 5-foot-9, 172-pound forward from Burnaby, BC, Ronning is playing in his fifth season with the Giants, who chose him in the first round, 15th overall, of the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft. He currently ranks second in the WHL with 47 goals through 52 games, a new career-high for the forward. Ronning is now just one goal shy of Evander Kane’s single-season record of 48 goals and ranks third on the club’s all-time list with 113 in 267 games played.
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