By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack
TORONTO, ON – For the first time this season, the Hartford Wolf Pack used the extra attacker in the final minute of a hockey game to earn a point. Despite the late goal to earn the club a standings point, the Pack couldn’t hold off the Toronto Marlies in the extra frame, as they prevailed 3-2 in overtime in the first of two games between the clubs this season.
Logan Shaw rifled his 18th goal of the season by Louis Domingue 2:39 into overtime, earning the second point for the Marlies. The Toronto captain worked his way into the slot and perfectly placed a shot over the veteran’s glove to end the proceedings in Toronto.
In their first meeting of the season, the Wolf Pack and Marlies spent the first 20 minutes of the contest feeling each other out. Hartford successfully killed off two Toronto penalties, holding the league’s top powerplay at bay in the opening frame. Domingue made ten saves to keep the Marlies off the board, while Joseph Woll turned aside five Hartford shots.
The Wolf Pack finally broke the ice 15:04 into the middle stanza, as Will Lockwood scored his first goal with the club. Lockwood fired the puck from the right-wing wall, with Woll stopping the shot with his glove. However, the puck took an awkward bounce off of Woll’s glove and rolled down the back of the netminder before trickling over the line. The goal was Lockwood’s 13th of the season, continuing a career year.
The Marlies tied the contest just over three minutes later at 18:46, scoring off a fortunate bounce of their own. William Villeneuve fired a shot from the point that Domingue denied, but the rebound bounced into the air. Radim Zohorna, acquired via trade from the Calgary Flames on March 3rd, knocked the rebound out of mid-air and deposited his first goal with the Marlies.
Toronto took their first lead of the night 11:11 into the final frame, as Kyle Clifford made it 2-1. Clifford fired a puck from the top of the left-wing circle that Domingue never saw, as four bodies combined to create havoc in front of the Hartford net. The goal, Clifford’s sixth of the season, was his second in as many games.
The Marlies had two chances to hit the open net and cement the victory but rang iron on their second try. With a new lease on life, the Wolf Pack hurried up ice and did something they hadn’t done all season to this point.
Adam Clendening waved his way deep into the Toronto zone before sending a backhand pass to the front of the goal. Clendening’s pass hit the leg of Jake Leschyshyn and beat Woll at 19:23 to force overtime. It was the first time in 2022-23 that the Wolf Pack scored with the extra attacker to force overtime.
In overtime, however, the Wolf Pack couldn’t hold off the Marlie attack. Domingue made a terrific save on Filip Kral moments into overtime, but Shaw would bury Toronto’s fourth shot of the extra period to give the home team the important second point on this night.
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