BY: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack
HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack pushed hard but could not solve Belleville Senators goaltender Filip Gustavsson on Wednesday night at CAA Arena. Gustavsson stopped all 25 Wolf Pack shots in a 1-0 victory for the Senators.
This night, Andrew Agozzino opened and closed the scoring, scoring his 18th goal of the season just 8:10 into the proceedings. Roby Jarventie fired a puck on Wolf Pack starter Keith Kinkaid, who was able to make a save. However, the puck bounced off Kinkaid and was eventually deflected by Viktor Lodin into the near faceoff circle. Agozzino collected the puck and fired it over the glove of Kinkaid to give the Senators a lead they would not lose.
The Wolf Pack got their first powerplay of the game at 15:20 of the middle frame, as Scott Sabourin fired a puck directly over the glass and out of play. However, the Pack were unable to connect and went to the second intermission trailing by a goal.
Bobby Trivigno and Mark Kastelic were tied up in the third period, and both were sent off for roughing just 91 seconds in. The four-on-four produced no offense, however. Hartford was able to keep it a 1-0 game with two huge penalty kills in the final frame. First, Matt Lorito was whistled for roughing at 3:25. Then, the club took a bench minor for ‘too many men on the ice’ at 14:50.
Following both kills, the Wolf Pack summoned Kinkaid in the final two minutes for an extra attacker. Zach Giuttari and Anthony Greco both had good looks on Gustavsson but could not solve the netminder.
The victory gives Belleville a 3-1-0-0 series advantage this season. Gustavsson personally finished the season series with a 3-0-0-0 mark and finished with 119:37 of consecutive shutout play.
The Wolf Pack continue their seven-game road trip on Friday night when they visit the Toronto Marlies. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. The road trip concludes with a visit to Rochester to face the Americans on Saturday, April 16th.
