By: Jason Alwang, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT: The Hartford Wolf Pack rode goaltender Dylan Garand’s 24 saves and received six points (2G, 4A) from their third line of Dylan Roobroeck, Ryder Korczak, and Jaroslav Chmelar and shut out the Rockford IceHogs 4-0 at the XL Center on Friday.
“Something that we’ve been striving for all year is sustainable success.” Wolf Pack Head Coach Grant Potulny said of his team’s 60-minute play. “Eventually, you just start to find some space and some room. We did a nice job getting to the net front.”
After strong forechecking from the Pack’s third line, Roobroeck converted his fifth goal of the season at 5:31 of the middle period for what proved to be the game-winner. On the goal, Chmelar got the puck to Korczak behind the net. Korczak circled the net before putting the puck to Roobroeck’s backhand. Roobroeck lifted it past Drew Commesso (31 saves) and gave the Pack the 1-0 lead.
“We are just starting to work together as a line. We’ve had a few games with each other now and just getting pucks to the net.” Roobroeck said.
The third line pounced again after more sustained offensive pressure. The pressure resulted in multiple shots put on Commesso. Eventually, Chmelar got hold of a rebound and buried his third of the season and the third line’s second of the game at 14:36 to take a 2-0 lead. Roobroeck and Korczak each recorded assists on the play.
Potulny spoke on the third line’s drive. “Get to the net front; you get rewarded. There’s a little chemistry going on there. Hopefully, those guys can continue that.”
In the third period, Jake Leschyshyn scored his second of the season when Case McCarthy took away the puck in the offensive zone and advanced it to Adam Sykora. He found Leschyshyn wide-open in the middle of the zone for a wrist shot that went through Commesso and made it 3-0 at 3:27.
With a little over three minutes remaining and Commesso pulled, Alex Belzile scored his eighth of the season after firing a puck to the empty net off the face-off win from Bo Groulx for the 4-0 final score.
The Wolf Pack killed off three penalties in the first period and five in the game to shut down the IceHog’s offense throughout the game. They also got timely saves by Garand.
“They’re unreal. There’s been some tough shutouts before, and there’s been some easier ones. This was on the easier side.” Garand was happy with his teammate’s defensive play, which led to the shutout. “We’re competing harder, as time goes on you get more familiar with the structure.”
McCarthy, whose loan was recalled from the Pack’s ECHL affiliate, the Bloomington Bison, and Christian Berger (PTO) both played significant minutes due to a Brandon Scanlin injury (lower body, day-to-day) and Casey Fitzgerald (illness, day-to-day) being sidelined for the game. Goaltender Louis Domingue is also day-to-day with an illness, leading to Talyn Boyko’s call-up from the Tulsa Oilers of the ECHL.
“The message doesn’t change,” Potulny said on the defensive changes and the message in the locker room. “It’s anybody, anywhere, anytime.”
The Wolf Pack (10-8-2-1) will host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday, looking for their third straight win.
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