THOMAS: PACK LOSE CRITICAL GAME TO PENS
BY: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack
HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack got a goal from Anthony Greco on Wednesday night, but in the end, they came up short against a desperate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins team. In the second period, the Penguins used four goals to skate away with a 5-1 victory at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. The victory puts the Penguins back into a playoff spot.
The second-period onslaught of goals from the Penguins saw three tallies in three minutes and 43 seconds. Will Reilly polished off a passing play for his first goal of the season at 13:07, making it a 2-0 game at the time. Drew O’Connor collected the puck along the near wall inside the Wolf Pack zone, then quickly snapped a pass cross-ice. Reilly, pinching in from the blueline, cut into the far faceoff circle undetected and fired home the eventual winning goal.
The first period concluded with no goals for the second straight meeting between the foes. However, for the second straight meeting, the Penguins struck first in the second period. Kasper Bjorkqvist opened the festivities 4:27 into the frame with his seventh goal of the season. Kyle Olson entered the Wolf Pack zone after gaining possession following a neutral zone turnover. Olson dropped a pass into the slot for Bjorkqvist, who snapped a shot over the glove of Keith Kinkaid.
Reilly’s goal, the eventual winner, made it a 2-0 game at 13:07 and opened a frantic stretch in which the Penguins scored three times in 3:43. Sam Poulin extended the lead to 3-0 at 16:08 with a powerplay marker. Poulin collected possession in the near faceoff circle inside the Wolf Pack zone, then wired a shot that beat Kinkaid.
The bombardment concluded at 16:50, as Felix Robert put home his 14th of the campaign. Kinkaid denied Nathan Legare’s shot, but a juicy rebound popped right to Robert for the easy goal.
Hartford finally beat Louis Domingue at the 18:58 mark of the period. Greco deflected a Patrick Khodorenko shot for his 17th goal of the season and 50th point. Greco becomes the first Wolf Pack player to hit that plateau this season.
The Pack appeared to cut the deficit to 4-2 early in the third. Maxim Letunov, in his Wolf Pack debut, deflected a Nick Merkley shot by Domingue. However, the goal was waived off as it was determined there was goaltender interference on the play.
Hartford could not beat Domingue again, while Michael Chaput put the exclamation point on the evening for the Penguins with his eighth goal of the season at 13:41.
The Wolf Pack have now dropped eight of their last ten games, all in regulation time. Meanwhile, the home team is now 5-0-0-0 in the season series between the Wolf Pack and Penguins.
The Pack returns home Friday night when they host the Belleville Senators at 7:00 p.m. Join us for $2 beers and $1 hot dogs presented by our friends at Nomads Entertainment. Hartford will conclude the weekend on Saturday when they host the Syracuse Crunch at 7:00 p.m.
Tickets are available at hartfordwolfpack.com.
