HARTFORD WOLF PACK TAKE GAME 2 FROM PROVIDENCE BRUINS 

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

PROVIDENCE, RI – The Hartford Wolf Pack were solid from the net out as their defense and goaltending continued to confound the Providence Bruins as the New York Rangers American League affiliates roll continued in a 2-1 win in Game 2 of their second-round playoff series on Saturday night.

It was the fifth win in a row in the Ocean State. It was also the Pack’s 14th win in their last 16 games. They now hold a commanding lead in the best-of-five series, two games to none. After that, the teams head back to Hartford, with the Pack having a chance to close out the series in front of the home crowd on Wednesday night.

A win by the Pack would send the Cinderella team to the Atlantic Division final against either the Charlotte Checkers or the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Checkers currently have a 2-games-to-one lead in that best-of-five series.

THIRD PERIOD

Both teams pushed to try and score early in the third period. Bruins looked for the equalizer from Luke Toporowski, Mike Reilly, and Oskar Steen, who took a Turner Elson turnover for a shot ass Dylan Garand  (29 saves) continued his impressive netminding for the Pack and denied them all. Across the way, Brandon Bussi (26 saves) flashed the leather stopping Adam Sýkora, Wyatt Kalynuk, Will Lockwood, and Lauri Pajuniemi as they sought a cushion goal for the Wolf Pack.

The Bruins came close when defenseman Connor Carrick put a shot off the crossbar with 2:58 remaining in the contest.

At 18:45, the Bruins pulled Bussi for an extra attacker. However, former Pack, Vinni Lettieri, was denied by Garand from the left circle. As the clock was ticking down, with just 15 seconds left and for the second night in a row, the Bruins looked to their regular season points leader, Georgii Merkulov, to take their final shot, but he was stopped by Garand to preserve the win.

SECOND PERIOD

A goal was scored in the first five-plus minutes of the period as John Beecher had an end-to-end rush stopped by Garand just two minutes in.

Two Wolf Pack goals in a span of 3:26 put the Bruins on their heels on their home ice.

Tim Gettinger was on the puck early and got off a shot on net from the right point before Bussi made a right pad save. Ex-Bruin, Anton Blidh, took the rebound and registered his second postseason goal at 6:17.

The Wolf Pack refused to rest on their laurels. Adam Clendening, who had a strong shift earlier in the period, moved off the right point to the top of the center point, just below the blue line. He took a cross-ice pass from Kalynuķ, his defensive partner, fired off a 55-footer, and beat Bussi at 12:16 for the game-winner.

The Pack came close to a 3-0 lead at 13:13 when Zac Jones was at the left point and fired a shot to the net. Ryan Carpenter reached up to redirect the shot that looked to have gone up and under the crossbar. The referees immediately waived off the goal, and after a lengthy review, it was ruled no goal. The ruling was Carpenter’s stick was above the crossbar, negating the goal.

The Bruins’ Justin Brazeau was on the left wing on the next shift. He found Pack killer Jonna Koppannen on the right wing and sent him a cross-ice pass. Koppannen then sent a backhanded pass to the slot where Toporowski was open and fired off a shot that found the back of the net at 14:02, cutting the Pack lead in half.

FIRST PERIOD

The first period saw the Pack start where they left off the previous night and registered the game’s first three shots, coming from Clendening twice and Lockwood.

Ty Emberson went to launch a shot and had his twig break in half, leading briefly to a two-on-zero for the Bruins. However, Emberson kept his position, and the Pack did some serious backchecking. It became a three-on-two, and he timed going down perfectly to get a piece of the puck as the Bruins passed back to the trailer.

Providence’s John Beecher had a solid, long-range, low shot stopped by Garand.

Then Jones used his speed to cut Beecher off on another open opportunity and took it away.

Gettinger had a strong shift on the second power play unit in the last five minutes. He hit the side of the net and had a tip deflection dribble wide. He then got off a third attempt that Bussi stopped.

The end of the period had a scrum between Clendening and Toporowski, Lockwood, and Connor Carrick. They were the only players penalized at 20:00.

The Bruins had 12 shots on goal for the period after having just 14 for the whole game the night before.

LINES:

Cullye-Carpenter-Elson
Fritz-Pajuniemi-Blidh
Gettinger-Edström-Lockwood
Henriksson-Sýkora-Trivigno

Jones-Emberson
Hillman-Scanlin
Clendening-Kalynuk

Garand
Gahagen #35

SCRATCHES:

Talyn Boyko #40
Matt Rempe (upper body, day-to-day)
Louie Roehl #4 (healthy)
Bryce McConnell-Barker #8 (healthy)
Brett Berard #27 (healthy)
Maxim Barbashev #18 (healthy)
Ryder Korczak  #38 (healthy)
Matt Robertson (upper body, may return in the latter half of this  round of the playoffs)
Patrick Khordorenko (season-ending shoulder surgery).
C.J. Smith (hip area surgery done for the season)

NOTES:

The Rangers forced a game seven with a 5-2 win in Game 6. Five different players scored in the game at MSG.

Joe Snively (Yale University) had a goal, and two assists in a Game Two 5-1 win over the Charlotte Checkers.

The Jacksonville Icemen won their South Division ECHL semifinal in a 5-4 fashion. Former Quinnipiac University player Craig Martin and another former Bobcat and ex-Pack, Brandon Fortunato, scored.

MATT WOOD

Team Canada at the U-18 tournament captured bronze with a 4-3 overtime win over Slovakia. The team included Matt Wood (UCONN-HE), who scored the game-tying goal with 1:10 left in regulation with the goalie pulled. The primary assist, off a short slide pass, sprung Celebrini Macklin on a breakaway for the game-winner. Wood finished with a goal and three assists, six shots on goal, and a plus-four. Wood seems to have cemented a high first-round pick status for the upcoming NHL Draft in late June in Nashville.

Wood came to the Huskies after being drafted as a second-round pick (41st overall) in the WHL Bantam Draft in 2020 by the Regina Pats. He turned down the Pats’ offer to play with the consensus #1 overall pick, Connor Bedard, and to be coached by ex-Pack head coach John Paddock.

In 2021, Wood was drafted by the Sioux Falls (SD) Stampede (USHL) as their 9th pick (121st overall) in the USHL Futures Draft.

Team USA played Team Sweden for gold at the U-18 championship in Switzerland. The US won gold in come-from-behind fashion, 3-2 in overtime. It’s their first gold in six years. The game-winner from draft-eligible Ryan Leonard (Amherst, MA) from Pope Francis (MAPREP) (Springfield, MA) and the Springfield (MA) Rifles program. The head coach was former Yale University (ECACHL) and Sacred Heart University (AHA) assistant coach Dan Muse. His assistant coach is ex-Pack, Chad Kolarik. Two players from the Mid-Fairfield program, Sal Guzzo and Ryan Fine, were on the team.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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