CANTLON: PACK BEAT PROVIDENCE BREAK LOSING STREAK 

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

MARLBOROUGH, MA – The Hartford Wolf Pack marched into the New England Sports Center and erased a nine-game winless streak by toppling the Providence Bruins 4-2 in an old-style, physical Providence-Hartford meeting.

The Wolf Pack record improves to 4-6-1-0 (9 pts). Providence’s record drops to 11-3-1-0 (23 pts) and is still tops in the Atlantic Division by 14 points over Hartford.

The Wolf Pack face-off against the 3-7-0-0 (6 pts) Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Saturday at 1 PM at the XL Center.

All the tweaks to the Wolf Pack lineup had their desired effect in what was their most complete game since the start of the season.

PACK DOMINATE FIRST PERIOD

The first twenty minutes added up to the best period since their opening game and where the Wolf Pack did their most damage of the day.

The team’s moribund power play, which entered the game operating at 12%, awoke scoring on their first two chances.

Rookie James Sanchez scored his first professional goal as he got the puck back after a shot on goal. Paul Thompson dislodged it from Bruins starting netminder, Jeremy Swayman. He couldn’t cover the puck, and Sanchez swooped in and jammed it home at 8:03.

Just 2:01 later, the Wolf Pack cashed in on an instigator penalty that was issued to the Bruins’ Ian MacKinnon in a wrestle/scrap with Patrick Sieloff.

Tarmo Reunanen cut to the middle of the ice just below the blue line and made a high-end, behind-the-back pass to Anthony Greco at the right point. Greco sent a low shot on the net. Morgan Barron was positioned in front and deflected the shot off the crossbar for his sixth goal of the season.

The offensive roll for the Pack continued in gaining a 3-0 lead with a solid transition play.

Justin Richards got Tim Gettinger moving. As he crossed the Bruins blueline from left-to-right, he was tripped by Urho Vaakanainen and a penalty was called. During the delayed penalty, Gettinger was on the ice and swept the puck back. Ty Ronning quickly got to the loose puck and picked it up and swept across the net. He snuck a backhander past Swayman to the short side for his third goal of the season at 17:22.

The Pack outshot the Bruins 16-5 in the period and were committed to stepping in front of pucks and blocking shots which benefitted goaltender, Adam Huska, who made his first start since February 27th, just his fifth start of the entire season, who also looked solid throughout.

LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE

After having already played each other eight times to this point in the season, in the third-period tensions spilled over and the gloves came off.  The Pack’s 6’7 rookie, Auston Rueschhoff, outdueled Matt Filipe in the first pro fights for both players.

Mason Geersten was battling in front protecting Huska when the Bruins’ Jakub Lauko took an extra swipe at the puck. That act sent the two to pair off for a battle.

Lauko, a rookie and a willing combatant, fought the much larger Geersten who scored a TKO as he cut Lauko open, sending him to the locker room for repairs.

With 2:09 left in the game and a screen in front of Huska (23 saves), Robert Lantosi’s snapshot found the back of the net spoiling the shutout for the former UCONN Husky netminder. It was his first win since playing in Slovakia.

Before the goal was scored there was a final eruption of hostilities. The officials prevented it from turning into a major melee with MacKinnon trying to go with Huska and everybody paired off. No punches were thrown and MacKinnon was tossed at 14:56

SECOND PERIOD

The Wolf Pack managed to avoid their season-long second-period blues. They did so by widening their lead and surrendering just one on a power play. They exited the period up 4-1.

The Pack clamped down on the Bruins, holding them to just two shots on goal in the first ten minutes of the period, and made it 4-0 on Barron’s excellent effort.

Barron received a pass from Reunanen in the Pack zone. He took that pass and went upright, thru center unchecked. Barron gained entry into the Bruins’ end of the ice and ripped a 35-foot wrist shot past Swayman (27 saves) for his second goal of the game and seventh of the season at 11:57.

The loss was Swayman’s first of the season against seven wins.

The Wolf Pack had to kill a roughing call to Geersten, who was roughing it up with MacKinnon in front of the Wolf Pack bench.

The Bruins took advantage after Brady Lyle’s first shot was blocked by Richards, he launched another from the left point. Huska made the save, but Anton Blidh, who was alone in front, jammed in the rebound for his third goal of the season at 14:33 to make it 4-1.

With 25 seconds left in the period and the Wolf Pack again on the PK, Greco had a shorthanded breakaway bid late in the PK, but Swayman stopped him.

Huska responded for the Pack with a big and timely stop on Alex-Olivier Voyer with two seconds left in the period. Filipe made a strong play on a pass from behind the net, but Huska kept the advantage to three goals.

There was some rough stuff as the period ended between Thompson and Voyer, the Bruins Josiah Didier with Sieloff, and a Euro shoving match with Reunanen and Vaaakanainen.

LINES

Newell-Barron-Greco
Richards-Gettinger-Ronning
Khordorenko-Thompson-Whelan
Sanchez- Rueschhoff-Geersten

Raddysh-Crawley
LoVerde-Reunanen
Giutarri-Sieloff

Huska
Wall

SCRATCHES

Gabriel Fontaine (upper-body injury)
Jeff Taylor
Will Cullye
Michael O’Leary
Ryan Dmowskinewly
Zach Bezzola

Michael Lackey
Francois Brassard

COACHES

Pat Boller
Jeff Malcolm
Brook Ballard

It was Boller’s first time, since 2016-17 when he was an assistant to Ken Gernander, that he was behind the bench. He’s coaching his third game since head coach Kris Knoblauch and associate coach Gord Murphy were recalled to the New York Rangers last Wednesday after David Quinn and his entire staff were subject of COVID protocols.

Malcolm, the team’s goalie consultant, and a Yale grad is handling the defensemen, and Ballard is one of the Rangers skills coaches.

THREE STARS

1. Morgan Barron (2 goals)
2. Tarmo Reunanen (2 assists)
3. James Sanchez (first pro goal)

HONORABLE MENTIONS

1. Ty Ronning
2. Patrick Sieloff
3. Darren Raddysh

NOTES

The Wolf Pack adds another defenseman as Hunter Skinner is recalled from his loan to the Utah Grizzlies (ECHL).

Skinner, 19, was a fourth-round (112th overall) selection in 2019 from London (OHL). Since the OHL has not been in session, the 6’3 200-pound rearguard has been playing in Utah.

Boston recalled goalie Callum Booth (Salisbury School) to their taxi squad and simultaneously reassigned both Swayman and defenseman Vaakanainen to Providence.

Ex-Pack captain, Steven Fogarty, was recalled by the Buffalo Sabres from the Rochester Americans. He has five goals (four on the power play) and eight points in ten games, which is good for the second-best on the Americans roster. Heading back to Rochester and three others is ex-Wolf Pack goalie, Dustin Tokarski, after returns after two NHL starts, one of them against the Rangers earlier this week.

The Avalanche returns ex-CT Whale, Jayson Megna, to the Colorado Eagles.

Philadelphia recalls goalie, Alex Lyon (Yale University), from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to be on their taxi squad. The same thing for Mark Kastelic, the son of former Hartford Whaler Ed Kastelic, as he is recalled from the Belleville Senators by Ottawa.

Mike McKee (Kent School) is loaned to the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL) by the Tulsa Oilers (ECHL).

Marc Johnstone, the captain for the last two years at Sacred Heart University (AHA), signs a deal with the South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL).

Former Wolf Pack great, Derek Armstrong, saw his youngest son, Easton, lace them up with the WHL’s Regina Pats. They are in their limited hub city playing a 25 game schedule with Regina’s Brandt Centre being one of the sites. The team GM and VP of Operations is Wolf Pack great, and AHL Hall of Famer, John Paddock.

The younger Armstrong is pointless in five games though he played earlier this season with brother Dawson for six games tallying six points with the Utah Outliers (USPHL-Premier).

The team did go to the league national finals losing in the quarterfinal round to the Chicago Cougars in Virginia Beach, VA, the home of the USPHL’s Hampton Roads Whalers. The team did win the Mountain Division title beating the Pueblo (NM) Bulls 5-3 back on March 14th.

Dawson Armstrong finished the season with 15 goals and 31 points in 45 games, second on the team while sporting the very familiar number 17 jersey that his father Derek wore with the Wolf Pack. That very same 17 is one of three numbers that should be retired by the organization.

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