By: Jason Alwang, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT: The Hartford Wolf Pack third-period rally came up short as Logan Mailloux scored twice for the Laval Rocket, including the game-winner, in a 4-3 win before 6,358 at the XL Center Friday night.
With 35 seconds left in regulation, Mailloux put away the game-winner off a clean look from between the circles and went top shelf on Pack netminder Louis Domingue (34 saves) to seal the win for the visitors.
“It’s a heartbreaker,” Wolf Pack Head Coach Grant Potulny said afterward. “I don’t know that you can sit here and say that we deserved to win, but we most certainly were right there, and we had a crack at it if we could’ve held on for 30 more seconds.”
The scoring began at 7:45 of the first period. The Rocket applied offensive pressure, which resulted in Mailoux’s first goal. For Mailoux, it was his seventh of the season. A shot from Vincent Arseneau bounced off Domingue’s pad to teammate Brett Berard, who lost control of the puck, setting up Mailloux, who fired a wrister off the post past Domingue for the 1-0 lead.
Brennan Othmann drew a tripping penalty from his hard work along the boards that sent the Wolf Pack to the power play at 13:44 in the first period. Sixty seconds later, the Pack cashed in. A quick pass from Berard to Jake Leschyshyn, who spun around on the backhand and found a wide-open Bo Groulx, who one-timed it for his team-leading 14th goal to tie the game at one.
The tie score lasted only 1:08 when the Rocket’s Owen tallied off the rush on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle, beating Domingue for his tenth of the season, giving the Rocket the 2-1 lead.
Laurent Dauphin scored his 13th at 1:30 of the middle period off a rebound of a Mailloux shot that Domingue couldn’t get all of. Dauphin was standing on the right side of the crease for an easy tap-in goal to put the Rocket up a pair.
“It starts with offensive zone time,” Potulny said.
A few penalties to start the third period resulted in no goals for either team. The Pack did have an 11-second 5-on-3 but could not get any shots off. But, at 10:52, the Pack would draw within a goal after Berard flew down the middle of the ice on a rush with Blake Hillman. The Pack defenseman fed the puck to the speedy Berard, who came crashing down as he put the puck in the back of the net to cut the Wolf Pack deficit to 3-2.
“He plays the game 100 percent,” Potulny said of Berard. “He just loves to score.”
The Wolf Pack continued their offensive pressure as the pace picked up, and with two minutes to go, Potulny gambled and won by pulling Domingue for the extra skater. Othmann tied the game with 1:50 remaining after he sped down in front of Cayden Primeau (27 saves) and put the puck past him for the 3-3 score.
The good vibe in the XL Center didn’t last long. Mailloux would tally with 35 seconds to send the Pack to defeat.
“(We made a) good effort in the third; it’s just unfortunate how it ended,” Potulny said.
After scoring on their first power play, the Wolf Pack failed to convert on the other five they received throughout the game.
The Wolf Pack will host the Rochester Americans on Saturday, then head to their I-91 rivals, Springfield Thunderbirds, on Sunday.
18-18-2-1 is the current Wolf Pack record.
