BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – Jonny Brodzinski set up Morgan Barron for a power play goal as the Hartford Wolf Pack defeated the freshly-renamed Bridgeport Islanders 2-1 at the XL Center on opening night.
The announced crowd of 4,117 was the worst opening night attendance in the 25 years of the team’s existence.
Despite a lackluster performance by the team surrounding him, Keith Kinkaid was spectacular in the net and kept the Pack in the game.
“If we didn’t have (Kincaid) we would have been down 2, 3, or 4-0. There would have been very little chance we could come back,” Brodzinski said after the game. “We got better as the game went along.”
KINCAID SHINES
He then assessed his team’s performance. “In the first period, we didn’t start out the way we wanted to; and thank God for Kinkaid. In the first period, it could have gotten away from us pretty quickly. In the second period, we got a little bit better and stayed in the zone a bit more. In the third, we put it all together finally and spent more time in their end.”
Barron was able to get inside position and took Brodzinski’s cross-ice feed from the left-wing side, burying his first goal of the season at 7:53 of the third frame.
”It’s good to have the big man on my line,” said Brodzinski.
Wolf Pack Head Coach, Kris Knoblauch sang the praises of his best forward. “He was a difference-maker in the first game and showed how close he is to his being an NHL player. He could be an NHL regular. He showed he’s worthy of call up.”
SECOND PERIOD
It was a scoreless second period because Kinkaid was tremendous. He stopped Robbie Czarnik midway through the period. He then made a couple of solid stops on Richard Panik and then on Simon Holmstrom, who was in close on the left side of the net. Holmstrom is a former Swedish WJC team stand out and had another solid bid that Kincaid smothered.
The Pack displayed little chemistry putting just eight shots on goal through two periods. Several passes were mistimed which cost them opportunities. Barron and Lauri Pajuniemi had strong performances and were the team’s top forwards by far. Braden Schneider and Matt Robertson were the team’s best defensive pair. Zac Jones did his best to try and create offense from the backend.
FIRST PERIOD
The Islanders controlled and dominated in the first period with 15 shots. Chis Terry found the back of the net scoring the first goal of the new season.
At 9:00, Arnaud Durandeau was in the lower RW circle. From a sharp angle, he found Terry on the far side of the net and he had the inside position on defenseman, Anthony Bitetto. The pass found a piece of Terry’s stick, or perhaps the blade, whatever it hit, it was the only one that would evade Kinkaid on the day and gave the former Sound Tigers, a 1-0 lead.
Hartford would tie the score late in the period when Pajuniemi, a Finnish rookie, was able to be able to keep his goal-scoring streak alive at four games. Pajuniemi had three straight games scoring in the pre-season coming into the game. He managed to get it past Islanders’ netminder Jakub Skarek when his shot went off the post and slithered over the goal line at 18:14.
“(Pajuniemi) was one of our better forwards and didn’t give away the puck, like some others did,” Knoblauch said. “He wasn’t one of them. He didn’t play as much in the second because of the penalties, but at the end of the second, he played with everybody. To start the third we put him out with (Justin) Richards and (Tim) Gettinger.”
LINES
GETTINGER (A) – RICHARDS – RONNING
BRODZINSKI (C) – BARRON – FRITZ
O’LEARY – KHORDORENKO – PAJUNIEMI
DIGIACINTO – RUESCHHOFF – GRECO
BITETTO (A) – JONES
SCHNEIDER – ROBERTSON
GIUTTARI – TAYLOR
KINCAID
HUSKA
NOTES
Knoblauch was non-commital on a Saturday night starter between the pipes.
Greg McKegg reported after being sent down by the New York Rangers. He skated yesterday but was recalled today. Ex-Sound Tiger, Ryan Strome, tested positive at the Canadian border for Covid so he is not playing for the Rangers tomorrow night at the Bell Centre in Montreal or their four-game road trip.
No surprise that winger Vitali Kravtsov did not report. He high-tailed it back to Russia. He is likely contemplating requesting a trade and finding a KHL team to play for. It is likely that he has been suspended by the Rangers, who went through this same scenario with Lias Andersson (Ontario) who did the same thing two years ago.
Knoblach has no comment on the matter.
The newest Wolf Pack is 14-year veteran Pierre-Cedric Labrie, who hails from Quebec. The Wolf Pack agreed to a 25 game PTO deal with him for now. A veteran now of 630 AHL games, Labrie has recorded 198 points (89 goals, 109 assists) and 1,105 PIM’s during his 14 seasons in the league.
His father-in-law is Montreal Canadiens great and current Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) head coach/GM, Patrick Roy. and he played the last two years with Eisbaren Berlin (Germany-DEL) winning the championship last year. He had 13 goals in 70 games plus won a Calder Cup in 2011-12 with Norfolk.
Former Bridgeport goalie François ”Frank” Marrotte last season made the San Diego Gulls roster this week.
Former Wolf Pack/Sound Tiger Jack Combs played in German Division III with EC Rostocker. He has three assists in four games returns to North America with the Allen Americans (ECHL). His younger brother Charles, a graduated from MSU last year is in training camp with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (ECHL).
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