WOLF PACK KNOCK OFF SENS IN OT
By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack defeated the Bellville Senators 4-3 in Overtime, riding Riley Nash’s late-game heroics and Brennan Othmann’s two goals at the XL Center on Saturday.
The Senators, last in the AHL North Division, sure didn’t play that way.
“Teams like that, you don’t play a lot. Early on, it’s a feeling-out process,” Nash said in the post-game press conference. “We played well in the second period). They took it to us in the third, but we stood our ground, and G (Garand) made big saves for us.”
Nash said his approach to overtime play has a “science” to it.
“You always hope to catch somebody flat-footed,” he said while holding his son Rett in his lap.
On the game-tying goal with just 1:12 remaining in regulation and playing with the net empty on a 6-on-4 power play, Jonny Brodzinski shuffled a short pass to Nash, who was open on the left side of the net. Nash then forwarded a cross-the-crease pass to Othmann, who was coming via the back door, and made it count, guaranteeing the Pack at least a point for the evening.
“It’s been our thing to find a way to get ourselves out of situations we’re in,” Nash said. “It’s been our MO this week. We come back late in the third. It shows a lot of character of the group. There’s no panic. “Fortunately, we were able to tie it. We got it done against Providence. We shut it down late against them and tonight scoring late.
“It’s kinda like a power play. We have that chemistry established to get it done. The six-on-five is similar, and (Othmann) got himself into good shooting position,” commented Nash.
Belleville kept working hard early in the third period. Brandon Scanlin chased Jiri Smejkal around the left wing to the circle, leaving his area exposed. Josh Currie was there and set up Angus Crookshank to bury his sixth at 5:35. It gave the Sens a 3-2 lead.
“You could see (their effort) paid off for them in the third,” remarked Nash.
Just 53 seconds into the second frame, while behind his net, Matt Robertson tried a highly ill-advised clear up the middle of the ice. The pass was intercepted and got to Orrin Centazzo, who was in front of Garand and quickly buried his first goal of the season.
The Wolf Pack got it back.
Brodzinski, the AHL’s leading scorer, feathered a cross-ice pass from the left to the right-wing side. Othmann then fired it over the shoulder of Sens goalie Kevin Mandolese for his fourth tally on the season at 3:37.
The Pack took control and dictated play.
A strong setup from Anton Blidh to feed Matt Robertson at the point. Robertson launched a shot on the net with traffic in front.
Adam Sýkora was slightly removed from the net-front congestion and effectively redirected Robertson’s shot past Mandolese for his second goal of the campaign.
The Pack went to the first intermission trailing 1-0.
With 1:34 remaining in the period, Crookshank made an excellent pass to Maxence Guerrence in the lower right-wing face-off circle, where he beat Garand.
Belleville and Hartford will meet twice this season. They will not meet again until late March at the CAA Arena in Belleville.
LINES:
Karl Henriksson – Anton Blidh – Adam Sýkora
Alex Belzile – Riley Nash – Brennan Othmann
Adam Edström – Jonny Brodzinski – Brett Berard
Matt Rempe – Ryder Korczak – Bobby Trivigno
Nikolas Brouillard – Zach Berzolla
Brandon Scanlin – Grant Gabriele
Matt Robertson – Mac Hollowell
Dylan Garand
Louie Domingue
SCRATCHES:
D Ben Harpur (upper body, indefinite)
F Jake Leschyshyn (out, upper body, week-to-week)
F Turner Elson (healthy)
D Matt Cairns (healthy)
D Blake Hillman (healthy)
F Drew Worrad (not in residence).
NOTES:
Brodzinski added two assists against Belleville. He surpassed the Springfield Thunderbirds’ Adam Gaudette for the AHL scoring lead with 25 points. Of his 25 points, 11 are from goals, the fourth-best in the league. Defenseman Mac Hollowell also has 14 assists.
The Wolf Pack had never beaten the Senators at the XL Center (0-2-2-1). The last win against the Ottawa affiliate was on February 26, 2017, against the defunct and relocated Binghamton Senators, 3-1. Former Pack captain Steven Fogarty had the game-winning goal.
Belleville’s lineup features forward Graham McPhee. He is the son of former New Haven Nighthawk / New York Ranger and current Vegas Golden Knights President and CEO George McPhee.
Ex-Sound Tiger Ryan MacKinnon, a defenseman, was playing on the third-line at right wing because of injuries. Nathan MacIver was behind the bench as an assistant coach, plus former Springfield Falcon David Bell is the head coach.
Tyler Boucher, the son of Brian Boucher, is out with a troublesome groin injury that he suffered back in training camp. He tweaked it again on Thursday in practice, setting back his recovery progress.
He is one of two Arizona hockey-born players in the organization. Mark Kastelic, the son of ex-Hartford Whaler Ed Kastelic, is the other.
Matt Boucher, the son of Philippe Boucher, no relation to Tyler, is in his sixth pro season. He started the year with the Trois-Rivières Lions (ECHL).
Part of the Hockey Day doubleheader in Hartford saw UCONN (HE) defeat Dartmouth College (ECACHL) 5-1 earlier in the afternoon in a non-conference matchup. It was one of the rare games to be held at the XL Center this year. The games will be sparse over the next few years as almost all Hockey East conference games will be played on the UCONN campus.
