By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack
BRIDGEPORT, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack hit the road intending to shake off a tough loss on Friday night. Tonight, the Wolf Pack make the trek south to battle their Connecticut rivals, the Bridgeport Islanders.
Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m., and coverage is available on both AHLTV and Mixlr.
Tale of The Tape:
This season, this is the tenth of twelve meetings between the Wolf Pack and the Islanders. It is the final meeting of the season at Total Mortgage Arena. The sides wrap their season series up with two games at the XL Center on March 29th and April 7th.
On Wednesday night, the Wolf Pack snapped a two-game home losing streak against the Islanders with a 7-5 comeback victory at the XL Center. The Islanders jumped out to a 3-1 lead on goals from Ruslan Iskhakov, Kyle MacLean, and Andy Andreoff, finding twine on their first three shots of the night. Will Cuylle had Hartford’s lone goal in that span, then Lauri Pajuniemi gave the home team life with a goal at 14:39.
Jonny Brodzinski tied the game at 1:26 of the second period, scoring from a sharp angle. William Dufour put the Isles back on top at 7:33, making it a 4-3 game with his shot from the point. That score would be after two periods, but the Wolf Pack would not be deterred.
Ryan Carpenter tied the affair 99 seconds into the final frame, then Tim Gettinger put the Pack ahead at 6:15. Brodzinski blasted home his second goal of the night at 12:59, making it 6-4. Tanner Fritz hit the empty net at 17:08 before Collin Adams scored at 19:10 to make things slightly tighter.
The Wolf Pack are 4-5-0-0 against the Islanders this season and 2-3-0-0 at Total Mortgage Arena. However, Hartford has won their last two trips to Bridgeport, outscoring the Islanders 16-3 in the process. They took a 9-0 decision in their previous visit on March 4th and won 7-3 on December 27th.
Wolf Pack Outlook:
The Wolf Pack lost in regulation for the second time all season when leading after two periods of play on Friday night, falling 4-2 to the Springfield Thunderbirds. Anton Blidh and Will Cuylle scored in the game’s opening minutes, with Blidh lighting the lamp at 4:32 and Cuylle at 5:55. Hartford would take that lead to both the first and second intermissions before hitting a speed bump in the final frame.
Will Bitten scored twice, at 6:21 and 11:41, to tie the game 2-2. Martin Frk then gave the Thunderbirds the lead for good at 14:39, blasting a shot home on the club’s third powerplay. Bitten completed the hat trick at 18:47, hitting the empty net.
It was Hartford’s second loss in three games in regulation at home when leading by two or more goals after two periods of play.
Cuylle leads the Wolf Pack in scoring with 37 points (21 g, 16 a) on the campaign. In addition, his 21 goals pace the club in that category.
Islanders Outlook:
The Islanders bounced back convincingly last night, handing the Syracuse Crunch a 5-2 result at Total Mortgage Arena. Trevor Carrick scored 3:04 into the game, lighting the lamp on the powerplay to put the Crunch ahead 1-0 after one.
The Isles exploded for three goals in the second period, taking a lead they’d hold for the rest of the night. Andreoff scored twice, hitting twine at 10:05 to tie the game and again at 18:09 to pot the eventual winner. Adams also scored in the period, nabbing his second goal in as many games at 13:56.
Chris Terry tacked on an insurance marker at 5:24 before Rudolfs Balcers scored Syracuse’s second powerplay goal of the night at 17:01. Any drama would be neutralized when Andreoff completed the hat trick with an empty net goal at 17:29.
Terry leads the Islanders in scoring with 60 points (19 g, 41 a) in 55 games this season. Andreoff, meanwhile, leads the club in goals with 29. He’s one of two Islanders to hit the 20-goal mark this season, as the rookie Dufour has 20 on the campaign.
Game Information:
Play-by-play voice of the Wolf Pack, Alex Thomas, will have ‘Wolf Pack Pregame’ starting live at 6:45 p.m. on both AHLTV and Mixlr.
The Pack is back at the XL Center next Friday, March 24th, when the Springfield Thunderbirds return to town. Join us for $2 beers and $1 hot dogs until the end of the first intermission. Tickets are available at hartfordwolfpack.com.
