HARTFORD WOLF PACK RALLY FALLS SHORT. LOSE GAME 3 TO PROVIDENCE BRUINS 

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – The Providence Bruins received multi-point nights from Jack Ahcan, Oskar Steen, and Josiah Didier, and two goals from Justin Brazeau to deny a Hartford Wolf Pack comeback effort in a 6-3 win at the XL Center on Wednesday in Game 3 in the best-of-five series.

The Wolf Pack lead the series 2-games-to-1 with game 4 to be played at the XL Center on Friday at 7:00 PM.

“We didn’t have the start we wanted to. We gave up chances. When you get guys back, and they return to your lineup, there’s always a tendency that guys take a breath and figure they’ll take over, that they will do it for you.

“The players that got you here don’t feel the need to play the way they were. In the third period, we had a good pushback. There was a chance to tie the game. We had opportunities. We were inches from tying the game up and going to overtime.

“I saw something out there that was out of character for us. We didn’t play the way we have. We’re going to have to put it behind us and get ready for Friday,” Wolf Pack Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said.

The Pack’s fourth-year bench boss gave props to the Bruins.

“Players know it’s going to be hard. That’s a good team. They won the Atlantic Division, so to sweep them in three was pretty much unrealistic before the series started. We’re not going to win that last game until we get back and play the game with the details, and we got away from the things we usually do,” Knoblauch stated. “That will be addressed by the coaching staff. I don’t think nothing much has to be said. They know it too. We’ll be ready for Friday.”

THIRD PERIOD

In the third period, the Pack scored a shorthanded goal early to cut the lead to one goal and began to rally a comeback that would ultimately come up short.

Anton Blidh was able to get two shots on the net. Tim Gettinger followed in and blasted his second goal past a screened Brandon Bussi at 2:21.

The Bruins restored their two-goal edge by taking advantage of a bad defensive change by the Wolf Pack. Ahcan was left alone, walked in, and registered his second point of the night on a clean breakaway. Ahcan put his shot over Dylan Garland’s glove hand at 5:58.

The scrums continued as they had all game. It helped the Bruins in slowing the Wolf Pack down. Connor Carrick, Lauri Pajuniemi, Ryan Carpenter, and Steen were all tagged with roughing minors at 7:49.

“It’s that time of year. Everybody has one goal in mind (to win). I like the physicality. We’re not looking for big hits or big fights. If it comes, it comes,” remarked Zac Jones.

KEEP FIGHTING

The Wolf Pack clawed back again.

Lauri Pajuniemi was in front of the net. Jones sent a crisp left-point pass to Tanner Fritz. The Pack forward sent a pass in front from off the right boards to Pajuniemi, who buried it at 13:34.

“We wanted to finish it off tonight, but we didn’t,” Fritz said, “We kinda beat ourselves tonight. We’ll get back in the room and practice tomorrow and get ready for Friday.”

The Pack had a golden chance to tie as Bobby Trivigno won a one-on-one battle, came out of the right-wing side fired a pass over to Pajuniemi, who had an open half of the net. But instead, Bussi showed why he was one of the top goalies in the AHL with a remarkable glove save, reaching back to snare what would have been a game-tying goal with 2:21 left in regulation. It was the Pack’s last gasp.

“We had the setup. The bench stood up (we) thought it was going in, but it’s a game of inches and we had other chance, a couple of back door plays, that got deflected or just missed. We had our opportunities in the third period. We’re built to play 60 not 20 (minutes),” remarked Knoblauch.

EMPTY NET GOALS

Brazeau registered the first of two empty-net goals with 1:23 left. Then, with 7.7, Lettieri potted the second empty net goal to make the 6-3 final.

Switching the netminder for Friday is a tricky proposition.

“We have a great possibility (of winning) with either one of them. I have lot of confidence with both goalies. Dylan has played very well; tonight, we lost. Something we’ll think about (goaltending) and make a decision tomorrow,” Knoblauch said. He’s scheduled a morning practice for 10:00 AM.

“Louie (Domingue) was our starter for most of the season, till the last four starts when the playoffs started,” Knoblauch added.

The Bruins pressed hard with their forecheck and were all over the Pack. The pressure led to a 5-2 edge in shots.

The score became 3-0 as the Bruins got to more loose pucks and converted them into opportunities.

Achan came out of the Bruins’ end, rushing through center ice. He fed Luke Toporowski, who went with speed down the right wing. He established an outside position and sped around Wyatt Kalynuk. Toporowski then snuck it past Garand off his post, on the short side for his second of the postseason at 14:03.

BIG HIT

The first of playoff nastiness occurred with 2:21 left in the second period as Clendening caught Fabian Lysell, crossing to the center from the right wing, and just after releasing the puck, clocked him with a brutal hit which left him crumpled on the ice.

A scrum ensued, and Joona Koppanen came to Lysell’s aid.

Clendening received an interference major and a fighting penalty. Koppanen received two as the instigator and then five-for-fighting and a ten-minute misconduct.

Jones scored for the Pack just seconds into their third power play. He blasted a shot from the right point with 24 seconds to go after a Jake Leschyshyn faceoff win.

Jones nearly got another tally with 12.6 seconds left when he came in on a breakaway going backhand-to-forehand but ran out of real estate and was in too close, and failed to score.

“I over-complicated it a little bit. I tried the same move in Springfield and it worked for me, tonight it didn’t,” remarked Jones.

“It could have been a nice turnaround to score again just after we scored. We did that (early) shorthanded goal in the third. It was 3-2. We scored and then they scored. Jones played well if he got that goal at the end might have changed the outcome of the game at the end,” commented Knoblauch.

In the first period, both teams had chances, but both goalies stood their ground.

The Bruins broke through as Libor Hájek, who returned from being part of the “Black Aces” in New York and replaced Blake Hillman. Unfortunately, he took a needless crosschecking penalty that would cost the Pack as the Bruins tallied on the early power play.

Puck management left much to be desired.

“No, we made plays we typically don’t do and ultimately, we had less (offensive) zone time. We had to defend more than they did. Those turnovers cost us the game. A lot of times they do. The last goal they scored it did,” Knoblauch recounted.

Carrick fired one from the right point. Garand made the initial save with the left pad, but there were three Bruins in front, and Brazeau could find it and put it in at 15:54.

The Bruins made it 2-0 in the dying seconds of the first period with 2/10ths of a second remaining with Didier at the right point. He took a shot off Lysell’s pass. Steen deflected it and put it over Garand’s glove for his first of the postseason at 19:59.

There were numerous after-whistles and scrums in the first.

LINES:

Trivigno-Carpenter-Elson
Fritz-Pajuniemi-Blidh
Henriksson-Gettinger- Lockwood
Cullye-Leschyshyn-Brodzinski

Jones-Emberson
Hájek-Scanlin
Clendening-Kalynuk

Garand
Domingue

SCRATCHES:

Talyn Boyko #40
Adam Sýkora (healthy)
Blake Hillman (healthy)
Matt Rempe (upper body, day-to-day)
Louie Roehl #4 (healthy)
Bryce McConnell-Barker #8 (healthy)
Brett Berard #27 (healthy)
Parker Gahagen #35
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:

Providence was without Chris Wagner due to the birth of his daughter earlier in the afternoon. In addition, Marc MacLaughlin (upper body) is out for the series, with Lauko taking his lineup spot.

Ex-Pack Vinni Letterieri has been nursing a lower-body injury suffered in Boston late season, and complications have arisen.

Maxim Barbashev’s older brother, Ivan Barbasev, of the Las Vegas Golden Knights, scored twice in a 6-4 win over the Edmonton Oilers in a track meet of a hockey game.

Utica recalled former UCONN defenseman Jarrod Gourley from the Adirondack Thunder (ECHL). The Comets hosted the Toronto Marlies last night on Utica at the Adirondack Bank Center.

Ex-Pack Carl Klingberg leaves EV Zug (Switzerland-LNA) and heads back home to play next year for the HC Frölunda Indians (Sweden-SHL).

Reports out of the desert paint a grim picture for the Arizona Coyotes. The pending arena referendum may be defeated, prompting a possible relocation to Houston that keeps the NHL’s 16 West and 16 East formulas intact.

It’s one of four reasons, despite great attendance numbers for the Quebec City junior team, the Quebec Remparts at the Videotron Centre recently built to NHL specs that Quebec City won’t be getting the Coyotes or anyone else.

Should they move, they will likely impact their AHL team out of Tucson and somewhere closer to Houston, which is heavily rumored to be the location they would be heading. Seven possible markets could see a relocated AHL team if NHL relocation comes to pass.

One old AHL market, one old ECHL, and one current market, three old WPHL markets from the league that folded in the early part of this century. One city (Austin) became an AHL city.

In no particular order.

Beaumont, Texas, was an old ECHL market for five years early in this century. It’s East of Houston on the Texas-Louisiana border that played in the Ford Arena in South Beaumont, seats 8,500 seats perfect for the AHL run by OVG along I-10.

San Antonio, which saw the NHL strong-arm the AHL Rampage to be sold to the Avalanche to become the Colorado Eagles. The NBA’s San Antonio Spurs run the AT&T Center building. It seats 18,000 and is easy access for Houston down I-10 Southwest of Houston and due South from Austin, now home to the AHL Texas Stars.

The old WPHL market down the Southeast Coast in Corpus Christi, with a new one, is currently home to US junior A  hockey in the NAHL, the Corpus Christi Ice Rays. The original Memorial Coliseum was demolished a la the New Haven Coliseum in 2010.

Another WPHL market on the radar is Waco. They played in the Heart O’ Texas Coliseum (now called the Extraco Events Center) seats 9,000.

San Angelo is home to the WPHL San Angelo Outlaws, who played in the central Texas city, and the arena, the San Angelo Coliseum (now Foster Communications Coliseum), seats 5,260.

The Amarillo Rattler played in the Amarillo Civic Center seats just under 5,000.

The wild card would be flipping the ECHL Allen Americans, a suburb of Dallas, to the AHL. The team calls home at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center, which seats 6,275.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

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