By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack
HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack snapped their brief two-game losing streak on Wednesday morning, knocking off the Springfield Thunderbirds in the third edition of the ‘I-91 Rivalry’.
Now, the Pack gets set for a weekend home-and-home with a North Division foe.
Friday, November 17th, 2023, @ Syracuse Crunch: The Wolf Pack make their lone trip to Syracuse on Friday night to meet the Crunch for the first of two meetings this season. The Pack scored a 4-1 victory in Syracuse last season, spurred on by a pair of Jonny Brodzinski goals. Brodzinski scored the game-winning goal on the powerplay 11:11 into the game, then tacked on an insurance goal while shorthanded at 14:57 of the middle frame.
Louis Domingue, a former member of the Crunch, made 37 saves in the victory.
The Wolf Pack are 8-10-1-0-1 all-time in Syracuse.
Saturday, November 18th, 2023, Vs. Syracuse Crunch: The Wolf Pack and Crunch will pack the bus on Friday night and trek four hours east to Hartford for Saturday night’s rematch at the XL Center.
The Crunch have enjoyed their last two trips to the Connecticut capital, scoring 15 goals in those games. They scored an 8-5 victory on April 2nd, 2022, then won last season’s visit by a final score of 7-3.
Gabriel Fortier had three points (1 g, 2 a) in the 7-3 victory on January 28th, 2023, while Cole Koepke tacked on two helpers.
Matthew Robertson collected two assists for Hartford in the defeat.
The Wolf Pack are 9-8-1-2-0 all-time at home against the Crunch.
The Pack will host ‘Military Appreciation Night’ on Saturday night, while select Wolf Pack players will be available for a postgame skate on the ice with fans!
Tickets and more information are available at hartfordwolfpack.com.
Quick Hits:
- The Wolf Pack took a 5-1 decision over the Thunderbirds on Wednesday morning in the first ‘School Day Game’ in Hartford since November 20th, 2019.
- Jonny Brodzinski (1 g, 1 a), Alex Belzile (1 g, 1 a), Nikolas Brouillard (1 g, 1 a), Connor Mackey (2 a), and Turner Elson (2 a) all collected two points in the win.
- Interim head coach Steve Smith collected his first victory as a head coach in professional hockey.
- Adam Sýkora became the fourth Wolf Pack player to record his first AHL goal this season. He joins Brennan Othmann (10/13/23), Brett Berard (10/20/23), and Ryder Korczak (11/3/23).
- Congratulations to former Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch, who picked up a 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders in his NHL head coaching debut with the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night. Knoblauch picked up win number two on Wednesday night, thanks to a 4-3 overtime victory over the Seattle Kraken.
- Thanks to his two points yesterday, Brodzinski enters Thursday tied for ninth in the AHL in scoring with 14 points (8 g, 6 a). His eleven games played are tied for the fewest of any player inside the top ten.
- Brett Berard sits tied for third in assists among rookies in the AHL with seven.
- Following his 23-save victory on Wednesday, Louis Domingue is fifth in the AHL in save percentage with a .938 mark through five games played.
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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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