By: Jason Alwang, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT: With 10,074 emotional fans on hand at the XL Center celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hartford Hockey, the Wolf Pack put 26 shots on goaltender Parker Gahagen, who stopped all of them in a 3-0 Lehigh Valley Phantoms win.
“Great crowd, a really cool night, really good hockey game,” Wolf Pack Head Coach Grant Potulny said of the game’s atmosphere. “Just no room on the rink for either team. (Phantoms) made a couple plays on their chances.”
At 12:09 into the second period, the game’s first penalty was called and went to the Phantoms. Early in the power play, Jake Leschyshyn’s wrist shot from the circle was denied by Gahagen’s pad save, but it didn’t turn out well for the New York Rangers top farm team. With the time ticking down on their power play, the Phantom’s Garrett Wilson took advantage of a costly Wolf Pack miscommunication that led him up the ice for a rush and a slapper that went right past Louis Domingue (24 saves). It gave the Phantoms their first score of the game.
Later, in the third period, after quickly getting possession of the puck, the Phantoms scored again off the rush. Emil Andrae put the puck in the net when he executed a toe drag that fooled Domingue and made it 2-0 at 8:19.
With 1:59 in the contest, the Phantoms delivered the final dagger with an empty net goal for the final 3-0 score off the stick of Rhett Gardner. The empty netter came after the Wolf Pack had a brief power play and, with Domingue pulled, gave them a 6-on-4. Victor Mancini’s shot deflected off the blocker and went toward Gahagen, which created chaos around him, but the Pack could not put the puck in.
“The effort was there. The attitude was there; we just didn’t execute on a couple of our chances,” Potulny said. “Too bad some of those didn’t go in.”
In the first period, Nathan Sucese had a good look early off a two-on-one rush but could not cash in. This became the story of the night for the Wolf Pack, where they evened the shot total for the game but could not cash in on their opportunities.
Brennan Othman appeared to have scored a little over halfway through the third period when he put the puck in the back of the net; however, the net was pushed off during the play, negating the goal.
“The turnout and the jerseys, such a great job by everybody involved,” Potulny said of the 50th anniversary. “Fun night. Too bad we just didn’t come out on the right side of it.”
The Wolf Pack and Lehigh Valley split their home-and-home set. They will meet again on February 8 at the PPL Center to conclude their six-game season series. The Wolf Pack record is now 16-15-2-1.
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