WOLF PACK COME UP SHORT AGAINST PROVIDENCE 

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – Providence capitalized on their key scoring opportunities and got 34 saves from Michael DiPietro to secure a 4-1 road win over the Hartford Wolf Pack before 7,754 fans at the XL Center Saturday night.

“They (the Bruins) played good offense by playing strong defense.” Pack Interim Head Coach Steve Smith said.

In the third period, Providence’s John Farinacci redirected the puck into the net for his second goal of the game and his 11th tally of the season off a shot from the left point from Brett Harrison at 13:56.

“We were a little snakebit tonight. We created some good chances; on one power play, we had a shot go off the goaltender’s (DiPietro’s) stick. There goaltender played really well, we played a solid game, we worked really hard, but their goalie gave them a chance to win.

“Not that Dyland (Garand) didn’t give us a chance to win, just a little disappointed in the results,” Smith said. He could have used a little more defensive support.

The second period saw Providence score early at 1:42 to make it 2-0.

Brett Berard was at the left point near the boards and tried to send a cross-ice pass. The Bruins’ Marc McLaughlin intercepted it and sent a short backhand pass to ex-CT Whale Jayson Megna, and away he went into what became a three-on-one.

John Beecher fed Megna on the right wing. He toe-dragged on Nikolas Brouillard and pulled the puck to the inside. He passed it over to Patrick Brown on the left wing, where he buried his third.

Providence then had a clean Megna breakaway at the Providence blueline, beating Garand to the far side at 6:21, making it 3-0.

“Giving up a three-on-one is something you don’t ever wanna do, and shorthanded no less. We had major breakdowns in the second, and we gave Providence a two-goal lead, and they are one of the better teams in the entire American Hockey League (with a lead) that are hard to come back when they have a two-goal lead.” Commented Smith.

The Pack got one back on the powerplay two minutes later.

Berard then fed it cross-ice to Alex Belzile, who moved across the center slot and he found Brennan Othmann open deep on the right wing almost the goal line. He fired a one-timer upstairs to get the Pack in business with his 13th at 8:38.

“Special teams have been good for us. It felt like we were starting to build something. It gave us some confidence with the puck on the several plays after that goal.

“That’s Othmann (style) – get the puck away quickly and he did give us energy for sure,” remarked Smith.

The shots were 16-6 for the period, but Wolf Pack gave up too many odd-man rushes.

On a dump-in, Garand fielded the puck and fired it around the boards. Robertson had his back turned to him and didn’t see it. The puck found Justin Brazeau at the right-wing boards. He moved out and sent a five-foot backhand pass to Georgii Merkulov, who fired his 18th from the right wing, sending it top shelf, over Garand’s right shoulder at 13:48.

LINES:

Brennan Othmann-Brett Berard-Alex Belzile
Adam Sýkora-Karl Henriksson-Anton Blidh
Adam Edström-Matt Rempe-Bobby Trivigno
Artem Anisimov-Ryder Korczak-Turner Elson

Matt Robertson-Brandon Scanlin
Connor Mackey-Nikolas Brouillard
Blake Hillman-Mac Hollowell

Dylan Garand
Louie Domingue

SCRATCHES:

Ben Harpur (upper body, indefinitely)
Riley Nash (lower body, week to week)
Zach Berzolla (lower body, week to week),
Matej Pekar (lower/upper body, week to week)
Bryan Yoon and Tag Bertuzzi (healthy)

NOTES:

The Rangers’ President/GM, Chris Drury and Director of Player Development, Jed Ortmeyer, were in the house and made some post-game moves. After missing 12 games and and just having started playing the previous night, Adam Edström was recalled along with Matt Rempe moved up from the fourth line to the second in the game before getting his first regular season call up to New York.

Concurrently, with Edström up center, Jake Leschyshyn was returned to Hartford.

Kaedan Korczak, the older brother of the Wolf Pack’s Ryder, was sent back to Henderson by Vegas.

Ex-Pack Zach Jordan was recalled from Indy (ECHL) to the Chicago Wolves.

Josh Wesley, an ex-Pack, was recalled from Utah (ECHL) by The Colorado Eagles.

HARTFORD WOLF PACK

HOWLINGS