By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – Will Cullye had four points, and Jonny Brodzinski had five to lead the Hartford Wolf Pack to a late four-goal comeback to edge out a stunned Springfield Thunderbirds team for a 6-5 win.
Matt Peca and Martin Frk each had three points for Springfield.
The win helped the Pack stay within a distance (three points) of the Bridgeport Islanders, who won in Belleville and will be in Hartford on Wednesday.
The Wolf Pack had a critical weekend with their last three in three where points are paramount. They have the back-back battles with Springfield tonight and Saturday, then travel to PA to take on Wilkes Barre/Scranton Sunday afternoon.
They’ll have to do so minus of couple players.
Anton Blidh was out for personal reasons because of a loss in his family and was out of the country, and defenseman Matt Robertson has developed an upper body and is out for possibly till the end of the regular season.
Knoblauch has been able to handle and make lineup changes on the fly, but this is tough.
In the climactic third, it was ugly in the first minute of play. Springfield scored twice in 38 seconds, and it looked like another Pack collapse was underway in full. The game seemed decided, however, over, done, fine, but the Wolf Pack scored four goals, two with Louie Domingue pulled for the sixth attacker in the final
13:01 to pull out an improbable 6-5 win.
It was back and forth all night and was a special teams game. We got three power-play goals, they got three power-play goals, that was the game,” said an exhausted head coach Kris Knoblauch.
The type of penalties even surprised him.
“To see three pucks over the glass calls was amazing. Your lucky to see three all year, let alone in one game, but was it was a game of special teams for both clubs (combined seven for 14 on the powerplay) it was an exciting game, and the fans got their money’s worth. We needed a little more desperation and got it,” said Knoblauch.
Pulling a goalie and scoring two is very rare. To do it twice in a minute-and-a-half span is an amazing lightning-in-a-bottle occurrence.
“The first was easy because we were down two goals with five minutes left. The second was three minutes to go we were just extra aggressive (and it paid off). Even on the last goal, even Lou (Domingue) was jokingly looking at me with his eyes (go ahead pull me !). We weren’t gonna be that aggressive !! “ laughed Knoblauch.
Cullye had his first pro hat trick and an assist for his four points, and the captain Jonny Brodzinski had a goal, and three assists as each tallied four points. Jake Leschyshyn tallied two assists to pump up a raucous, rowdy 6,391 fans at the XL Center in another strong lower bowl sell-out.
“That was wild and crazy and it was pretty loud in here. It was pretty fun to play in. The first powerplay goal was huge it got us back in the game,” said a smiling Cullye.
Springfield aided the win by repeatedly taking penalties in the third period the Pack as a power play came to life. Two personnel changes on the powerplay helped the Wolf Pack, which had scored just once against the Thunderbirds all season the powerplay.
Cullye started all the fun on the powerplay and scored his 22nd at 6:05 with Jonny Brodzinski and Ryan Carpenter, who found him alone in his wheelhouse in front of the net and converted his pass.
They made Springfield goalie Vadim Zherenko’s life miserable for a change.
“We capitalized on every chance (they gave us) and stuck with it. Your right, it was a focus on that before the game and we executed it well,” remarked Cullye.
At the time, it seemed an inconsequential goal. However, putting Zac Jones and Tanner Fritz on the powerplay paid immediate and critical dividends.
Brodzinski got his 17th from Jake Leschyshyn at 16:02 from Cullye and the Pack on the powerplay and crept to within 5-4.
Another penalty, another goal just 1:20 later.
Tanner Fritz got his seventh at 17:22 as Brodzinski, a determined player, caught him moving down the right-wing circle. Brodzinski is an MVP, if there ever was one. He makes the team completely different when he is in the lineup.
“He’s our captain plead’s us and he took me under his wing early and has made a big difference for me it’s a privilege to play with and we’ve built some good chemistry over the last month or so (since his return from New York),” commented Cullye.
Knoblauch agreed on his MVP worth to this club.
“Jonny definitely makes our team better. Our powerplay struggles when he’s not here. So does our penalty-killing. Our five-on-five struggles without him. Jonny is a top elite player in the American Hockey League. I’m sure if he played most of the 72-game schedule, he would get some votes and be considered MVP.
The fact his season is half the season hurts him in that, but in my opinion, he should get recognition,” remarked Knoblauch.
Cullye claimed his third and 24th from Carpenter at 19:06, clinched his hat trick and the game-winner.
“A couple from Carpenter and Brodzinski made my job easier, I just kept my stick on the and made sure I was ready.”
It was all Springfield in the second period. They erased the Pack lead, and the Thunderbirds took a 3-2 lead as the Pack had no answer to their powerplay till the third.
Springfield got their first goal as they scored 32 seconds into the first powerplay. Frk ripped his 28th from atop the right-wing circle.
Springfield was nearly tied just after with a poor turnover by Will Kalynuk’s blind over-shoulder pass that was a perfect pass to the wrong guy Will Bitten who took the gift right off the left wing boards he sent cross-ice to Adam Gaudette but made the shot on the left wing side and Louie Domingue sliding across made the save. While the Pack did score in the long frame of the night, that save turned out to be a difference-maker,
Then at 14:26, as Greg Printz, a Selects Academy at South Kent Prep grad, tallied his sixth as QU grad Matt Peca’s shot was stopped, the rebounded effort by Printz was able to jam it in.
Then successive high sticking penalties by the Pack led to a five-on-three, and Adam Gaudette finally scored his 23rd at 18:39, open on left-wing converted.
The first period saw the Pack as they did a week ago, jumping out to a 2-0 lead.
The Pack scored early as Turner Elson smartly tipped a Brandon Scanlin lead pass to prevent it from becoming the icing that it could have been. However, Lauri Pajuniemi put in his 18th goal of the season, winning a one-on-one battle with Hugh McGing at the left side of the net on the rebound.
It was Elson coming off the left-wing wall into the left-wing faceoff circle that was stopped by Vadim Zherenko. However, he left that rebound lying around.
The Pack nearly got another as Brett Berard making his AHL debut on his first shift, sent Karl Henriksson in alone, who was stopped by Zherenko.
The Pack it 2-0 as Will Cullye on the doorstep jammed in his 22nd as again Zherenko made the save on Brodzinski, but Cullye muscled it home at 9:31.
Jake Leschyshyn popped Zherenko’s mask strap with a shot as part of their 11 shots.
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