WOLF PACK WIN STREAK ENDS IN LOSS TO PENS
By: Jason Alwang, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack win streak ended at three games on Saturday in a 6-2 loss at the XL Center to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, who rode a Vasily Ponomarev hat trick to victory.
“I thought we started the game well; I thought the first ten minutes we were playing well.” Wolf Pack Head Coach Grant Potulny said. “On the second (power play goal) when they scored, I thought it just took the air out of the ballon.”
The Penguins would score the game-winner with 13 seconds left in the first period. Joona Koppanen scored his third goal of the season on a shot that may have deflected off a Pack defender’s stick and fooled Pack netminder Louis Domingue (17 saves), who made his return to the Pack net after missing time while recovering from an illness. The goal made it 3-0.
The Penguins already had scored twice on the power play in the opening period. Valtteri Puustinen scored his first goal of the season at 12:14 when he received a pass inside the circle from Fillip Kral and wristed it past Domingue to make it 1-0.
After receiving their third power play of the period, Puustinen scored again after breaking down the middle of the Wolf Pack defense. He got in front of Domingue and roofed one over his shoulder for the second of the two man-advantage tallies at 18:18. Tristan Broz and Fillip Kral recorded assists on the goal.
“It was a little area of concern to start the year,” Potulny said, speaking of his team’s special team’s play. “It’s too hard; you got to get both cleaned up.”
In what was an eventful second period, it began with a goal from the Wolf Pack fourth line when Byrce-McConnel-Barker got to the side of the net and released a sharp angle shot from the side of the net that sneaked in past Joel Blomqvist (28 saves) for his fourth of the season to cut the lead to 3-1 for the Penguins.
“Two of the last three games Bryce has scored,” Potulny said of his rookie. “I think the last three games he’s really put together a nice little streak; now it’s about building on the consistency of that.”
After Bo Groulx was sent off for cross-checking, the Penguins scored for a third time on the power play on a shot from behind the net. It went over and behind Domingue, and Ponomarev tapped the puck in to take the lead 4-1 at 7:39 of the middle frame.
The Penguins surrendered back-to-back quick penalties that sent the Wolf Pack on a two-man advantage that they capitalized on at 9:25, where Jake Leschyshyn scored on a wrister from the left of Blomqvist to cut the lead to 4-2 off passes from Bo Groulx and Chad Ruhwedel.
The Pack had an early four-minute power play in the third period after Mac Hollowell was sent off on a double minor for roughing. It gave the Wolf Pack a chance to get back into the game. However, the Penguins would score a shorthanded goal after catching the Wolf Pack in a bad line change that resulted in an odd-man rush, and the second goal of the game off the wrist shot from Ponomarev to extend the lead to 5-2.
“If you ask the players, they would say they wished they shot more. If you asked the coaches, we’d say please shoot more.” Potulny said of the team’s power play. “Maybe just a half-second quicker decision, and we can maybe catch some people (out of position).”
Ponomarev would record his third goal of the game for the hat trick on the empty net for the Wolf Pack while shorthanded to mark the game’s final score 6-2 for the Penguins. They scored three power-play goals and two shorthanded goals. Special teams proved to be the difference maker in this game.
The Wolf Pack’s focus now turns to Wednesday when they host the defending champions, the Hershey Bears, at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack are now 10-9-2-1 on the season.
