By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack
HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack collected four important points to kick off the month of March. The club opened the month with a 2-1 victory at home over the Laval Rocket on Friday night, then ended the five-game winning streak of the Providence Bruins on Sunday afternoon by a final score of 5-2.
The Pack is back for the final 20 games of the 2023-24 regular season starting tomorrow night. The club will play two key Atlantic Division games as it opens a stretch that will see it play seven of nine games on the road.
Friday, March 8th, 2024, Vs. Providence Bruins (7:00 p.m.): NHL Trade Deadline Day will end with some action on the ice as the Wolf Pack welcome the Bruins to town for the final time this season. It’s the ninth of ten overall meetings between the clubs during the 2023-24 campaign.
The Wolf Pack evened the season series with a 5-2 victory on Sunday afternoon at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. Among the highlights of the afternoon, Karl Henriksson struck just 43 seconds into the contest for Hartford’s fastest goal to start a game on the road this season. Bryan Yoon’s tally 1:58 into the second period was his first career AHL goal and gave the Wolf Pack a lead they never lost.
Brett Berard’s first goal back in his hometown of Providence would stand as the game-winner. The goal, Berard’s team-leading 19th of the year, came at 6:02 of the second period. It was his team-leading seventh game-winning goal.
The Wolf Pack have a record of 4-3-1-0 against the Bruins this season, while the B’s are 4-2-1-1 in the head-to-head matchup.
The sides will wrap up their season series on April 21st, back in Providence.
Saturday, March 10th, 2024, @ Bridgeport Islanders (7:00 p.m.): The ‘Battle of Connecticut’ makes its final stop in Bridgeport during the 2023-24 season on Saturday night. It’s the ninth of ten overall meetings between the rivals.
The Wolf Pack have dominated the season series, winning seven of the first eight meetings. In the most recent matchup, the Pack took a 2-1 decision at the XL Center on February 21st.
Jake Leschyshyn opened the scoring with a powerplay goal 5:29 into the contest, his fifth goal of the season. Brennan Othmann’s 14th goal of the year at 4:14 of the second period would stand as the game-winner, his third of the season.
Matthew Maggio had the only goal of the night for the Islanders, striking at 12:03 of the middle frame.
Dylan Garand made 29 saves in the victory, improving to 5-0-0 against the Islanders on the season. In the head-to-head matchup, Garand has a .975 save percentage (155 saves on 159 shots).
The Wolf Pack have won each of their last seven visits to Total Mortgage Arena and are a perfect 4-0-0-0 there this season. Overall, they have won six straight against the Islanders and have held the Isles to one or fewer goals in each of the last four meetings.
The season series wraps up back at the XL Center on April 3rd.
Quick Hits:
- On Wednesday, the parent New York Rangers (NHL) acquired forward Alex Wennberg from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a second-round selection in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft and a conditional fourth-round selection in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft (originally belonging to the Dallas Stars).
- On Tuesday, the Rangers assigned forward Alex Belzile to the Wolf Pack. Belzile leads the Pack in points with 37 (14 g, 23 a) through 43 games. He is currently tied with Othmann for second on the club in goals with 14.
- Also, on Tuesday, the Wolf Pack released forward Tag Bertuzzi from his professional tryout agreement. Bertuzzi collected one assist in eight games with the club. He was returned to the ECHL’s Reading Royals.
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ABOUT THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK: The Hartford Wolf Pack has been a premier franchise in the American Hockey League since its 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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