CRAWFORD: PACK PUT TOGETHER FIRST SHUTOUT WIN OF THE SEASON
BY: Bob Crawford, Hartford Wolf Pack
Hartford, CT, December 19, 2018 – Dustin Tokarski registered the Hartford Wolf Pack’s first shutout of the season Wednesday night at the XL Center, stopping 29 Providence Bruin shots in a 3-0 Wolf Pack win that ended a five-game losing streak.
Tokarski had just returned from a recall stint with the parent New York Rangers, in which he did not see any action, and had not played since December 1.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous,” Tokarski said. “The biggest thing I saw tonight was a little bit of maturity. At times this year we’ve lost leads, but tonight we did the right things for most of the game.”
“It’s nice for the guys to be rewarded for their hard work,” Wolf Pack head coach Keith McCambridge said. “We feel that our last few games we’ve played very well defensively.”
The Wolf Pack’s previous two games had both been one-goal losses at Eastern Conference-leading Charlotte, 1-0 on Thursday and 3-2 on Saturday.
The Wolf Pack scored a pair of special-teams goals in the first period Wednesday to jump out to a 2-0 advantage.
On the game’s first power play, with the Bruins’ Jordan Szwarz off for tripping, Tim Gettinger scored his sixth goal of the season at 6:03.
Gabriel Fontaine broke the puck out for the Wolf Pack, off of a feed from Chris Bigras, and then handed to Ville Meskanen. He stickhandled up the middle in the Providence zone and fed back to Fontaine, who played the puck across to the right side. Gettinger found it there and backhanded it into the net.
Then, the Wolf Pack scored their fourth shorthanded goal of the season with 2:08 remaining, after Gettinger was called for elbowing at 16:14.
Brandon Crawley blocked a Providence pass across the middle in the Wolf Pack zone, and Fontaine and Cole Schneider headed into the Bruin end on a 2-on-1. Schneider held the puck on the left side before dishing across to Fontaine, who easily poked it in behind Providence goaltender Dan Vladar (30 saves).
“I have to give credit to my coach and my teammates,” Fontaine said. “I was told to go to the net more and obviously it paid off tonight.
“Tonight was a good bounce back from that Charlotte trip. To have our guys step up their play just proves that we have a good team, good leadership, and we can make a run for the playoffs.”
The game then went nearly two full periods without any more scoring, until Peter Holland increased the Wolf Pack’s lead to 3-0 at 13:47 of the third session.
That goal came one second after an interference penalty to the Bruins’ Chris Breen expired. Bigras passed the puck out of the left-wing corner to Holland at the top of the circles, and he one-timed it past Vladar.
The Wolf Pack hit the road for their next action, which is this Friday night, December 21 at Rochester. Faceoff is 7:05 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’s next home game is next Saturday, December 29 vs. the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Faceoff is 7:00 PM and the first 2,000 fans into the XL Center for that game will receive a free Wolf Pack team trading card set, presented by CM Concessions.
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.
Providence Bruins 0 at Hartford Wolf Pack 3
Wednesday, December 19, 2018 – XL Center
Providence 0 0 0 – 0
Hartford 2 0 1 – 3
1st Period-1, Hartford, Gettinger 8 (Fontaine, Meskanen), 6:03 (PP). 2, Hartford, Fontaine 3 (Schneider, Crawley), 17:52 (SH). Penalties-Szwarz Pro (tripping), 4:52; O’Gara Hfd (tripping), 11:22; Gettinger Hfd (elbowing), 16:14.
2nd Period- No Scoring. Penalties-Fontaine Hfd (high-sticking), 2:03; Lauzon Pro (holding), 4:18; Breen Pro (fighting), 6:28; Gettinger Hfd (high-sticking, fighting), 6:28; Johansson Pro (tripping), 18:51.
3rd Period-3, Hartford, Holland 7 (Bigras, Gilmour), 13:47. Penalties-Clifton Pro (interference), 6:05; Breen Pro (interference), 11:46.
Shots on Goal-Providence 8-11-10-29. Hartford 8-10-15-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 0 / 4; Hartford 1 / 5.
Goalies-Providence, Vladar 5-6-2 (33 shots-30 saves). Hartford, Tokarski 6-3-1 (29 shots-29 saves).
A-2,248
Referees-Brandon Schrader (46), Alex Garon (64).
Linesmen-Kevin Briganti (39), Glen Cooke (6).
