BY: Gerry Cantlon – Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – Alex Barré-Boulet’s goal and two assists paced an 8-4 Syracuse Crunch victory as the tumble down the Atlantic Division standings for the Hartford Wolf Pack continues.
The Pack dropped their seventh straight and have lost nine of their last eleven games while surrendering 24 goals in the previous four games and allowed seven or more goals three times in a month.
Only the exemplary efforts of newcomers former UCONN Husky Maxim Letunov and UMASS Minuteman Bobby Trivigno, who had two primary assists in his debut game, have stood out.
The team had a players-only meeting after the game, while the coaches and upper management were in post-game meetings as they separately tried to sort out what had caused this unraveling. In addition, the team pulled the plug on their post-game Zoom press conference for the first time to deal with this on-ice collapse.
The Wolf Pack leave home for what remains of the regular season in an all-important seven-game road trip.
As a result of their strong play earlier in the season, the team remarkably is still in the playoff hunt sitting in fifth place with a .524 winning percentage, just a fraction ahead of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, who were 9-2 winners at home against the Bridgeport Islanders who led 2-0 in the first period but allowed nine unanswered goals.
Bridgeport has a .523 winning percentage, but the Wolf Pack still control their destiny as just the Penguins and the Charlotte Checkers, 3-1 winners over the Hershey Bears, took advantage of the losses in the division.
SECOND PERIOD
Both the first and second periods were a wild affair as in the first period, the two teams exchanged goals. However, when the second intermission came, the Wolf Pack trailed 6-4.
The goal-scoring started early as Cole Koepke registered his 19th of the season at 1:32 from new defenseman Brandon Scanlin. An assist each went to Barré-Boulet and ex-New York Ranger, Frederik Claesson. The Pack came back to within one at 4-3 after Hunter Skinner sent his fourth of the season into the net from a cross-ice pass from Trivigno, who registered his first pro point at 7:36.
However, the Pack’s poor play continued as the Crunch tallied just 1:23 later.
Simon Ryfors was in the slot in the shooter’s position on one knee and blasted home Gabriell Fortier’s left-wing corner pass past Pack starter Keith Kinkaid at 10:28.
At 17:51, Ty Ronning brought the Pack back to within a goal on his 17th of the season, taking advantage of Alex Whelan’s second effort hustle on the left-wing boards. He beat ex-Pack Darren Raddysh to the puck and caught Ronning in full stride with a backhand chip pass. Ronning snapped it past Amir Miftakhakov to the glove side. Miftakhakov hasn’t played since February 19th.
The Wolf Pack gave the goal right back just 59 seconds later.
HERE WE GO AGAIN
Ronning was the first Pack player to tally multiple goals in a game in a month. His last multiple-goal game came on November 5th.
Syracuse’s Otto Sompii beat everyone to a loose puck on the left-wing side and shipped it back to ex-Pack Sean Day at the blue line. Day beat Kinkaid from 55-feet out with a high shot to the short side and off the post.
In the third period, Nick Merkley cashed in for his 13th goal to make it 6-5, with Trivigno earning his second pro point with a nice setup in tight at 3:29.
The Pack power-play continued to sputter, going 0-for-9 on the weekend, and gave up their ninth shorthanded tally.
Merkley had a quality chance stopped, and Lauri Pajuniemi’s cross-ice pass for Austin Rueschoff late in the power play was picked off by Gabriel Dumont.
Anthony Richard broke away from Scanlin and Ronning and slipped in his 13th goal on Dumont’s lead pass at 8:09. Finally, Richard put the last nail in the coffin with his second goal into an empty net at 17:13.
FIRST PERIOD
A wild first period started with Barré-Boulet’s tally at 1:50. Syracuse had the edge in shots, 6-1 in the game’s first two minutes. However, the Wolf Pack answered as Patrick Khordorenko snaked a pass for his eighth goal off assists by Zac Jones with the primary helper and Zach Guittari earning the secondary assist at 4:47.
The Pack took a rare lead at 2-1 when Ronning got his 16th goal at 3:05. His shot went off rookie Declan Carlile.
Gabriel Fortier, who could operate freely from behind the net, found Simon Ryfors open on the doorstep, and he jammed home his eighth goal at 10:28.
Again operating behind the net, Riley Nash found Carlile, a former Hockey East second-team All-Star, up top. Carlile put a nice shot over Kinkaid’s right shoulder to restore Syracuse’s lead at 13:56 with his first AHL goal.
LINES
Merkley-#10-Bobby Trivigno-Letunov
Ronning-Greco-Khordorenko
Rueschoff-Pajuniemi-Fritz
Whelan-O’Leary-DiGiacinto
Lorito
Tinordi-Skinner
Jones-Scanlin
Robertson-Guittari
Kinkaid
Huska
SCRATCHES:
Gettinger – (Upper-Body)
Taylor
Lundkvist (Illness, day-to-day, Questionable for Monday)
Brodzinski #17
NEWS
Abbott Girduckis was released from his PTO and sent back to the Jacksonville Icemen (ECHL) with Trivigno and Brodzinski now in Hartford.
The signing of Ethan Brodzinski from St. Cloud State (NCHC) to a PTO deal makes him the third Brodzinski to put on a Wolf Pack sweater this season. Only one Brodzinski brother hasn’t yet. That would be Bryce Brodzinski, who is currently going to the Frozen Four next weekend in Boston with the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
It’s not the first-time siblings there have been brought into the Wolf Pack fold, but the first time in the regular season and three of them.
Michael Brodzinski is back with the Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL) and played three games mid-season. But, of course, Jonny, the team’s leading goal scorer and captain of the Wolf Pack, is currently on recall in New York.
Over 25 years, just a few brothers have been on the ice in three separate training camps. Wolf Pack great and AHL Hall of Famer, Ken Gernander, saw his twin brothers Jim and Jerry here one fall. PA (Pierre-Alexandre) Parenteau brought brother Guillaume, and Dane Byers had brother Cole to Hartford one year.
Only a few have played together in the regular season. The most famous were brothers Chris and Ryan Bourque, the sons of Hall-of-Famer Ray Bourque. They were the only duo to play together. The other two did not, Peter and Chris Ferraro, and Chris (older) and Michael (younger) St. Croix.
In the lineup, Syracuse had ex-Pack’s P.C. Labrie, Daniel Walcott, Day, and Raddysh.
Scratched as he was when he was here was Brandon Crawley.
Day was hurt late in the game in the neutral zone. At the first break in play, he exited to the dressing room with an undisclosed injury. He never returned.
In 16 months of playing and a little over two years since the Las Vegas Golden Knights purchased their AHL team, The Henderson (NV) Silver Knights debuted their new $84 Million Loan Arena on Saturday night in a 5-2 loss to the Bakersfield Condors.
Next season San Jose Barracuda and Coachella Valley Firebirds will debut new state-of-the-art-new arenas.
Tarmo Reunanen will be wearing #29 for his new team, the Chicago Wolves. He will skate along with ex-Hartford Whaler and Trumbull product Ted Drury’s son, Jack Drury, ex-Pack skaters Chris Bigras, Joey Keane, and former Yale Bulldog Alex Lyon. also on the roster are the loaned-out former Bridgeport Islander, Richard Pánik. They will host the Texas Stars featuring one-time Sound Tiger Blake Comeau and GM, one-time New Haven Senator MVP Scott White.
