By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack
BRIDGEPORT, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack wrap up their season-long, five-game road trip with a quick drive down I-84 to Bridgeport this evening to take on the rival Islanders in round one of the ‘Battle of Connecticut.’
The puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m., and coverage is available on both AHLTV and Mixlr.
Tale of The Tape:
This is the first of ten meetings between the Wolf Pack and the Islanders this season and the first of five at Total Mortgage Arena. The rivals won’t meet again until December 22nd and December 30th, when the Islanders make their first two trips of the campaign to the XL Center. The next meeting in Bridgeport after tonight doesn’t come until January 4th, 2024.
The Islanders won the first three meetings of the series in 2022-23, but the Wolf Pack would claim seven of the final nine battles to take the season series with a 7-5-0-0 record. The Islanders posted a 5-7-0-0 mark as all twelve games were decided in regulation.
Hartford finished off the season series in style, winning 6-2 at the XL Center in the last meeting on April 7th. Adam Clendening struck just 1:21 into the game to give the Wolf Pack a lead they never lost. Will Lockwood and Karl Henriksson both tacked on goals in the opening frame, while Ryan Carpenter, Anton Blidh, and Jonny Brodzinski found the back of the net in the final 40 minutes.
The Wolf Pack posted a 3-3-0-0 record in Bridgeport a season ago, having won each of their final three trips.
Wolf Pack Outlook:
The Wolf Pack are opening the second of five three-in-three stretches this season tonight. They’ll host the Providence Bruins tomorrow night at the XL Center (7:30 p.m.) before traveling to Providence for a Sunday afternoon tilt (3:05 p.m.).
The Pack has points in three consecutive games (2-0-1-0) following a 1-0-1-0 weekend through Allentown and Utica. A 3-2 road victory in Utica wrapped things up last Saturday night, as Dylan Garand made 31 saves to propel the team to victory.
T.J. Friedmann opened the scoring 16:31 in with his first goal in the AHL. The Pack responded less than three minutes later, however, when Mac Hollowell blasted his first goal with the club by Erik Kallgren on the powerplay at 19:00.
Zach Berzolla put Hartford ahead 13:51 into the middle stanza. He put a shot through Kallgren from a sharp angle for his first of the season in his season debut. Ryan Schmelzer responded at 15:05, however, tapping the puck into an open net after a fortuitous bounce of the puck off the glass.
Adam Edström put the Wolf Pack in front for good just 3:40 into the third period, as he collected the rebound from a Matthew Robertson shot and swept a backhander by Kallgren. The goal was Edström’s third of the season and his first game-winning goal in the AHL.
Hartford’s penalty kill went five-for-five in the win, including two-for-two in the third period.
Jonny Brodzinski leads the Wolf Pack in both goals with six and points with eleven (6 g, 5 a). Hollowell, meanwhile, leads the club in assists with nine and has the longest active point streak in the league at nine games (1 g, 9 a, 10 pts).
On Tuesday night, the parent New York Rangers (NHL) assigned Brodzinski to the Wolf Pack. On Wednesday, the Rangers recalled goaltenders Garand and Louis Domingue and defenseman Connor Mackey from the Wolf Pack. The trio returned to Hartford from New York on Friday morning.
Islanders Outlook:
The Islanders knocked off the Springfield Thunderbirds on home ice in their last outing on Sunday by a final score of 3-2. Nathan Walker struck twice for the visitors, but both times, the Islanders had an answer.
Following Walker’s goal 8:40 into the game, Samuel Asselin countered with his third goal as an Islander at 16:44. Walker gave the T-Birds the lead back at 5:00 of the middle stanza, a lead that Springfield took into the third period, but a response was again in the cards.
Matthew Maggio tied the affair 12:02 into the third period with his third goal of the season. Then, 2:23 later at 14:25, Robin Salo gave the Islanders their first lead of the hockey game with his second goal of the campaign. That goal was the game-winning tally, as the Islanders held the T-Birds to just four shots in the final stanza.
Ruslan Iskhakov leads the Isles in both assists with six and points with eight (2 g, 6 a), while Asselin and Maggio lead the way in goals with three each.
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 this evening.
The Wolf Pack continues their three-in-three weekend tomorrow night with their first home game since October 27th! The Pack plays host to the Providence Bruins on ‘Hockey Fights Cancer’ Night, with the puck drop set for 7:30 p.m. For more details and for tickets, visit hartfordwolfpack.com.
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ABOUT THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK:
The Hartford Wolf Pack has been a premier franchise in the American Hockey League since the team’s inception in 1997. The Wolf Pack is the top player-development affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers and plays at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack has been home to some of the Rangers’ newest faces, including Igor Shesterkin, Filip Chytil, and Ryan Lindgren. Follow the Wolf Pack on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
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