BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – Tim Gettinger’s first professional hat-trick and a four-point night helped fuel a six-goal third-period explosion as the Hartford Wolf Pack winning streak grew to four games with a 7-2 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
The win pushed Hartford’s record over the .500 mark at 7-6-1-0 (15 points). They still trail the first-place Providence Bruins by 15 points.
“We didn’t create things early. Things opened up later, and we capitalized on a lot of good opportunities. We didn’t have very much in the first two periods as a credit to them; they played with a lot of structure. We were able to break them down in the third period,” Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch said.
The Sound Tigers’ season-long struggles continue as their record falls to 3-11-1-0 (7 points). Their winless streak is now four games. Over the last 11, they are 3-8-1-0 with nine games left in their abbreviated season.
The Wolf Pack will face Providence on Saturday at 1 pm at the XL Center. Ten games are remaining, five at home and five on the road for the Wolf Pack.
THIRD PERIOD
In the third period, Hartford’s relentless on-ice pressure caused a quick collapse by the Sound Tigers. The Pack poured in six goals in the period after being a relatively quiet first 40 minutes.
“We knew this was a game we wanted to win,” Gettinger said. “We knew we had to come out and play our best period of the game, and we were able to do that and get ourselves a big win.”
Before the Wolf Pack scored at 1:55, Pack starting goaltender Tyler Wall made a huge save on Cole Bardreau off a feed from Jeff Kubiak, moving to his left to snuff out a quality chance.
Rookie James Sanchez scored his second pro goal and first in Hartford at 2:07 with a deft tip-in of Tarmo Ruenanen’s left point shot following an intelligent pass from Justin Richards in the lower left-wing corner as he got inside position on the Sound Tigers.
Gettinger scored 1:04 later with his second of the night off a two-on-one with Richards on the right-wing. Gettinger used Richards as a decoy before snapping his shot to the far-side on the stick-side high on starter Jakub Skarek. Gettinger was sprung free by Ty Ronning, and the goal gave the Wolf Pack some breathing room.
“The last three or four games, I had chances; they just weren’t dropping for me. The whole team was shooting on net, and they were just going in for us,” said Gettinger with a major smile. “The whole play started from our own zone as Patty (Sieloff) made a nice play up the wall, and Ty just chipped it to me in the middle.
KNOBLAUCH PRAISES GETTINGER
“Getsy has been playing well for us the last couple of weeks. Sometimes you just need that goal to feel better about yourself. In Bridgeport, he scored one off the defenseman (Seth Helgeson), and that just takes the pressure off you. Ugly as it was, it does so much for your confidence.
“The door has opened up for the (whole) line, and they are playing well for us.”
Gettinger completed the first Wolf Pack hat trick of the season in fine style.
Despite losing the offensive zone draw to Bardreau, the second line center won it cleanly from Morgan Barron. It was the Wolf Pack’s Tarmo Reunanen who stopped Seth Helgeson’s wraparound clearing attempt.
Then in one motion, he went backhand-to-forehand and put the puck on the tape of Gettinger’s stick, allowing him to redirect it past a defenseless Skarek at 5:58.
Gettinger extended his point-scoring streak to four games.
POWER PLAY SIZZLES
The powerplay contributes continued its hot play of recent games, going three-for-six pushing the team’s PP efficiency to 25%.
“Tarmo plays with such skill, and our whole (power play) unit has been really clicking the last several games or so. We just gotta keep this power play going, “said Gettinger.
The waterfall of offense continued at 8:48.
James Sanchez fed the biscuit to Darren Raddysh, who launched a low 50-foot shot with Paul Thompson screening in front of the crease. The puck went off the backboards, hit Skarek’s back, and in making it a 5-2 game.
TIC-TAC-TOE
The Pack execution continued to intensify with their connecting on a beautiful tic-tac-toe goal. Morgan Barron broke out of the Wolf Pack zone. He hit Anthony Greco with a pass just outside the Bridgeport blue line. In turn, Greco made a beautiful one-touch pass to Patrick Newell coming into the zone with speed down on the left-wing side.
Demonstrating excellent agility, Newell moved in from the left-to-the-center and lifted a backhander over the glove of Skarek for a 6-1 lead at 11:09.
The Sound Tigers’ Bode Wild ended the six-goal run by getting an outlet pass from Raddysh that went past Will Cullye. He took the puck, zipped around Cullye, and put a forehand shot past the Wall’s glove to make it 6-2.
The Pack closed out the scoring after a ferocious forecheck led by Ronning getting a pass from Gettinger and then launching a stopped shot.
THE FINAL GOAL
Ronning had another shot at Sharek. He tried to poke check it, and the puck went right back to Ronning, who came around the net. Rookie Hunter Skinner took the pass from Gettinger and launched a shot that went off Skarek and into the net for a 7-2 commanding lead. Ronning retrieved the puck for Skinner.
The third period featured a penalty shot in the period. Patrick Sieloff was caught putting his hand over the puck in the blue paint, and Sound Tigers Dmytro Timashov was elected to take it on Wall, who faced his first penalty shot as a professional and the tenth in the AHL this season. Wall went to his right and stopped Timashov at 14:40.
SECOND PERIOD
There were more shots on goal and a little more action in the second period, and Bridgeport scored the game’s first goal.
Samuel Bolduc, the Sound Tigers’ impressive rookie rearguard, caught Kyle MacLean at the Wolf Pack blue line with a perfect outlet pass. MacLean snuck over the blue line and waited for the hard-charging Tanner Fritz to arrive, and he slipped him a short pass.
Fritz had an open pathway on the right-wing. When he got to the faceoff circle, he launched a 35-foot shot that Wall couldn’t handle for the goal. Wall was making his first start in three games. The goal was Fritz’s second of the season at 11:37.
The Wolf Pack answered back quickly on their third power play of the game. Patrick Newell took a shot on goal from the right-wing side, with Skarek unable to control the rebound. Gettinger had two whacks at the puck before sweeping in his third goal at 13:12, just 28 seconds into the five-on-three man-advantage.
“That’s where you go when things are going in. You get to the net. You never know what can happen. I was in the right spot.”
KNOBLAUCH AGREES
“Right now, we’re riding the power play, but early in the year, that wasn’t the case.”
POWER PLAY
The Wolf Pack power play was three-for-six with seven power play tallies in three games. The PP percentage of 27.8 % is now second best in the AHL to the Rochester Americans’ 30.6 %. Quite an improvement from the 12% they were at just a few weeks ago.
The last Wolf Pack player to record a hat trick was last season when Vinni Letteri took one against the Hershey Bears.
PENALTY SHOTS
The last penalty shot against the Wolf Pack was taken by Adam Johnson of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins against Adam Huska in OT on February 22, 2020.
There have been eight penalty shots between the teams in the twenty years of the Sound Tigers’ existence.
Huska faced three penalty shots last season. In the Wolf Pack history, the team has faced 45 penalty shots and has taken 55. The last successful shot was by Daniel Catenacci on April 14, 2017, against the Utica Comets.
The last attempt by a Wolf Pack player was Shawn O’Donnell on November 24, 2018, against Bridgeport. The very first Wolf Pack penalty and goal was by Bob Errey on November 4, 1998, against the Providence Bruins.
Bridgeport is 0-3 on penalty shots this season.
Gettinger and Austin Rueschhoff each had four shots on goal. Gettinger, however, put three of the four into the net.
LINES
Richards-Gettinger-Ronning
Newell-Barron-Greco
Sanchez- Rueschhoff-Geersten
O’Leary-Thompson-Cullye
Raddysh-Reunanen
LoVerde-Hunter Skinner
Giutarri-Sieloff
Huska
Wall
THREE STARS
Tim Gettinger
Ty Ronning
Tarmo Reunanen
HONORABLE MENTIONS
1. James Sanchez
2. Anthony Greco
3. Hunter Skinner
SCRATCHES
Jonny Brodzinski (out for 3-4 weeks upper-body injury) will likely begin skating next week.
Jeff Taylor
Alex Whalen
Patrick Khordorenko
Brandon Crawley
Ryan Dmowski
Zach Bezzola
Francois Brassard
Gabriel Fontaine (upper-body, done for the season)
NOTES
Rangers prospect, Nils Lundkvist, won the prestigious Swedish Hockey League Salming Trophy for the best defenseman. Lundkvist finished the year with 52 games played, registering 14 goals and 32 points, and was a plus-30.
The SHL LeMat Cup playoffs begin on Saturday, and his Lulea HF team will host a quarterfinal game against Skelleftea AIK.
Two Sound Tigers were traded after the game as part of a significant Islanders’ deal and unusual inter-division trade. The Islanders moved Mason Jobst and AJ Greer, who was scratched, to the Devils for Travis Zajac and Kyle Palmieri. The teams swapped draft choices as well.
The NHL Trade Deadline is Monday.
Former Sound Tigers captain Kyle Burroughs made his NHL debut with the Colorado Avalanche in a 5-4 loss in Minnesota on Monday night. He played 6:18 with one shot, was a minus-1. He also had his first NHL fight with Nick Bjugstad.
Burroughs’ 313 games with Bridgeport is the third-most in Sound Tigers history behind long-time captain Mark Wotton (368) and current Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton (326).
That historical fact comes courtesy of Mike Fornabaio of the CT Post.
Wotton’s youngest son, Colby, plays Canadian major junior hockey with the WHL’s Regina Pats. He scored his first junior goal in six games. He counts Easton Armstrong, the son of Wolf Pack great Derek Armstrong, as one of his teammates. He has a goal in 12 games of action. The GM of the team is Wolf Pack legend and AHL Hall-of-Famer, John Paddock.
Plenty to celebrate in Sound Tigers head coach Brent Thompson’s household in Milford. On Tuesday night, his son Tyce (Salisbury School) made his NHL debut for the New Jersey Devils, playing against the Buffalo Sabres and his older brother, Tage (UCONN). The more senior Thompson and his wife, Kim, were on hand for the game. Both got primary assists. Tyce got his assist on his first shift. He shot a deep shot from the right-wing, and Damon Severson put in the rebound. Then on the Sabres second goal, Brandon Montour was set up by Tage. It was the first time in their hockey lives that they had played against one another.
