BY: Bob Crawford, Hartford Wolf Pack
Hershey, PA, November 4, 2018 – The Hartford Wolf Pack finished a three-game weekend with a 2-1 shootout loss to the Hershey Bears Sunday at Giant Center.
Matt Beleskey had the only Wolf Pack goal, and Marek Mazanec made 28 saves in the Hartford net. Juuso Ikonen scored for Hershey, and Aaron Ness had the only goal of a seven-round shootout. Parker Milner made 32 saves for Hershey, in his first AHL action of the season, and went 7-for-7 in the shootout.
The result gave the Wolf Pack three out of a possible six points on the weekend, after a 5-3 loss Friday night at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and a 3-2 win over the Penguins in a rematch Saturday night.
“I liked that game a lot,” Wolf Pack head coach Keith McCambridge said of Sunday’s contest. “As a team, we like where our game’s at right now. We feel we had a strong weekend, a split on the road. You look at the way that game went, we wanted to score the first goal on the road. One-one game goes to a shootout, I thought both goaltenders played excellent. There’s nothing about that game, or this weekend, that we can’t build off, lots of positives.”
After a scoreless first period, Beleskey scored his first goal in five games since joining the Wolf Pack 2:01 into the second.
Vince Pedrie prevented Liam O’Brien from getting the puck out of the Bear end at the right point and passed to Michael Lindqvist along the boards. He fed to Beleskey in the slot, while Pedrie headed to the front of the net. With Pedrie skating in front of Milner, Beleskey’s shot hit Milner’s catching glove and went into the net.
That lead lasted until the 1:49 mark of the third period when Ikonen ended Mazanec’s shutout bid with his first North American pro goal. Former Wolf Pack Jayson Megna worked the puck to Connor Hobbs at the right point, and Ikonen deflected his shot past Mazanec.
The Wolf Pack had 1:29 of a two-man advantage later in the third but were unable to convert, and the game went to overtime despite at 12-4 shots advantage for Hartford in the third frame.
Mazanec preserved the tie with a sparkling save early in overtime, sliding to his left to rob Mike Sgarbossa, and none of the shooters could solve either goaltender through the first six rounds of the shootout. In the seventh round, Ness was finally able to connect for Hershey, beating Mazanec with a move to the backhand, and Milner denied Bobby Butler to end it.
The Wolf Pack are now off until Friday night when they will wrap up a stretch of five straight road games with a visit to Utica, NY to take on the Comets. Faceoff is 7:00 PM and all of the action can be heard live on News Radio 1410 WPOP, and online at newsradio1410.com and iHeartRadio. Video streaming is available at theahl.com/AHLTV.
The Wolf Pack are back home this Saturday night, November 10, when they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at 7:00. That is “Country Night” at the XL Center, and tickets for all 2018-19 Wolf Pack home games are on sale now at the Agera Energy Ticket Office at the XL Center, online at hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499. Tickets purchased in advance for kids 12 or younger start at just $13 each, and all tickets will have a $3 day-of-game increase.
Season ticket information for the Wolf Pack’s 2018-19 AHL season can be found online at hartfordwolfpack.com. To speak with a representative about all of the Wolf Pack’s many attractive ticketing options, call (855) 762-6451, or click here to request more info.
Hartford Wolf Pack 1 at Hershey Bears 2 (SO)
Sunday, November 4, 2018 – Giant Center
Hartford 0 1 0 0 – 1
Hershey 0 0 1 0 – 2
1st Period– No Scoring. Penalties-Gilmour Hfd (high-sticking), 1:32; Lindqvist Hfd (slashing), 13:09; Williams Her (holding), 14:45.
2nd Period-1, Hartford, Beleskey 1 (Lindqvist, Pedrie), 2:01. Penalties-Fontaine Hfd (tripping), 10:25; Gettinger Hfd (holding), 19:40.
3rd Period-2, Hershey, Ikonen 1 (Hobbs, Megna), 1:49. Penalties-Megna Her (hooking), 12:23; Siegenthaler Her (tripping), 12:54.
OT Period– No Scoring. Penalties-No Penalties
Shootout – Hartford 0 (Gropp NG, Holland NG, Fogarty NG, Meskanen NG, Andersson NG, Lindqvist NG, Butler NG), Hershey 1 (Gersich NG, Barber NG, Sgarbossa NG, Pilon NG, O’Brien NG, Jonsson-Fjallby NG, Ness G).
Shots on Goal-Hartford 8-9-12-4-0-33. Hershey 9-11-4-5-1-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 0 / 3; Hershey 0 / 4.
Goalies-Hartford, Mazanec 3-4-1 (29 shots-28 saves). Hershey, Milner 1-0-0 (33 shots-32 saves).
A-7,348
Referees-Mitch Dunning (43), Michael Markovic (47). Linesmen-James Tobias (61), Richard Jondo (55).
