BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
CHARLOTTE, NC – The Hartford Wolf Pack’s late-season swan dive continued in a 3-2 loss to the Charlotte Checkers despite a push in the game’s last five minutes. The Pack has now lost seven straight and 13 of their previous 15 games. Their playoff hopes grow dimmer with each loss as time runs out on their season.
The Pack (29-28-6-2) sit in sixth place, with a .508 winning percentage. They are now behind the fourth-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and the fifth-place Hershey Bears, each with a .530 winning percentage.
Meanwhile, Charlotte becomes the first team in the Atlantic Division to punch their ticket to the Caldor Cup playoffs with the win. The Checkers (39-23-4-0) are in second place and just .02 points behind division-leading Springfield Thunderbirds.
PACK DIDN’T QUIT
The Pack showed life in a 1:13 span late in the third to make the score close, but the Checkers were in control for two-thirds of the game.
The Wolf Pack scored off an offensive zone draw.
Tim Gettinger won the puck back to Zach Giutarri. The right-handed shot and former Loomis Chaffe prep school player whistled his shot at the net. However, the puck missed the net and took a fortunate bounce off the backboard for the Pack to Nick Merkley, who was wide open on the left-wing side. Merkley deposited his 15th goal of the season into the net before goaltender Joey Daccord could get back to try and stop him at 15:56.
Merkley was acquired from the San Jose Sharks at the trade deadline and has registered seven points in ten since coming to Hartford.
Just 1:13 later, at 17:03, Pack leading scorer, Anthony Greco, found the back of the net on the Charlotte doorstep. Greco converted a rebound of a Zac Jones shot from the left side off a cross-ice diagonal pass from Nils Lundkvist. For Greco, it was his 16th goal and 52nd point.
GAME WINNER GOAL
The game-winning goal came at 1:52 of the third period. For the third straight game, the Pack surrendered a shorthanded goal. In this case, it came with six seconds remaining in a power play. Chase Priskie, the ex-Quinnipiac star, started the play with a pass to Alexander True, who did the rest. He evaded Greco’s stick and scooted past Matt Robertson from the right-wing side before whistling his 16th goal of the season past Kinkaid. It gave the Checkers a commanding 3-0 lead and cemented their control of the game with their twelfth shorthanded goal.
They are tied for second in the AHL with Lavalin power play goals.
GOALIES SHINE
Daccord, an ASU grad, executed a solid game plan. He was yielding single chances and then freezing the puck for faceoffs or making a kick save that moved the puck to the corners.
In the second and third periods, Kinkaid did everything he could do to prevent Charlotte from scoring. Gustav Olsson reversed, then curled and dragged the puck to the center of the ice midway through the third and was denied. Then True and Luke Hernan, with 6:42 remaining in the third, and Cole Schwind were all stopped by the 6’5 goalie.
Midway through the second period, Daccord stopped Nils Lundkvist on the power play without any second and third opportunities for rebounds. Then at 13:09, Daccord made a stop and put the puck out of the zone. Finally, at 1:38 of the third period, Daccord stopped Greco.
Meanwhile, 200′ away, Kinkaid stopped Zac Dalpe at 1:09 and then a two-on-one.
TINORDI FIGHTS TO KEEP THE PACK IN IT
Jarred Tinordi tried to spark the team with his second fight off the game with Serron Noel, but the short scuffle didn’t light the flame of desperation in the Wolf Pack but left the team defensively shorthanded for the remainder of the game.
Tinordi had his first bout after a clean but hard hit on Cody McCormick that left him dazed and bloodied after hitting the ice with a thud. Tinordi earned the instigator by referees Carter Sandlak (son ex-Hartford Whaler Jim Sandlak) and Justin Kea even though True dropped the mitts first.
FIRST PERIOD
In the first period, Charlotte grabbed a 2-0 lead. Cole Schwindt got his 19th at 9:47 off a rebound of a Serron Noel shot. They extended the Checkers’ lead to 2-0 at 13:54 as Henman tallied his fifth goal of the season by converting the rebound of Logan Hutsko’s shot.
LINES
Ronning-Trivigno-Letunov
Lorito-Greco-Khordorenko
Fritz-Gettinger-Merkley
Whelan-Richards-DiGiacinto
Tinordi-Scanlin
Jones-Lundkvist
Robertson-Guittari
Kinkaid
Huska
SCRATCHES
Pajuniemi
Rueschoff
Taylor
Skinner
Ethan Brodzinski
NOTES
Belleville had a flurry of transactions as Mark Kastelic is still on recall. Ottawa sent back Cole Reinhardt, then released Josh McKechney and Paul McAvoy, and both were assigned to Atlanta (ECHL).
Former UCONN Husky goalie Darion Hanson is released by Lehigh Valley and sent to Reading (ECHL).
The Wolf Pack’s season-long nemesis saw the Flyers recall Hayden Hodgson again from Lehigh Valley.
Former PC goalie Jaxson Stauber, son of ex-Wolf Pack and New Haven Nighthawk, Robb Stauber, is assigned to Rockford.
Syracuse goalie Amir Miftakhov, despite winning over Hartford with nearly two months of inactivity due to injury, is assigned to Orlando (ECHL).
Canon Pieper, a former QU Bobcats, signs with his fourth ECHL this season, Indy. He played previously with Orlando, Adirondack, and Iowa.
Ex-Pack and Springfield Falcon, Luke Adam, and ex-Sound Tiger Nick Shilkey were let go by Iserlohn (Germany-DEL), and so was Paul Carey (Salisbury School) from Djurgårdens IF (Sweden-SHL)-no new address for any of the players yet.
