WOLF PACK BLANK T-BIRDS, 3-0
By: Jason Alwang, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT: Dylan Garand and the Hartford Wolf Pack got their first win of the season, with a 3-0 blanking of their I-91 rivals, the Springfield Thunderbirds. The shutout victory was Garand’s 50th AHL career victory at the PeoplesBank Arena in downtown Hartford, Wednesday night.
“Our foundations got to be a work-based forechecking team, and tonight I thought we did a really nice job of that.” Wolf Pack Head Coach Grant Potulny on the team’s process.
Bryce McConnell-Barker scored the game-winning goal 7:40 into the second period. McConnell-Barker took the puck into the Springfield circle and fired a rocket from the dot past Georgi Romanov for his first of the season and the 1-0 lead.
Carey Terrance scored his first professional goal, finishing a pass from the side of the Springfield net from Anton Blidh right on his stick, lifting the puck top shelf to double the Wolf Pack lead to 2-0 at 8:38 of the third period. Jackson Dorrington was credited with the secondary assist.
“Each game (Carey) has got a little bit better.” Potulny said. “Hopefully he can just take this step and keep building where he’s trying to get to.”
Adam Sykora finished his strong night defensively with a block in the defensive zone, which then led to the third goal of the night on the empty net with 22 seconds remaining in regulation play, marking the final score of 3-0. Sykora’s tally was his second of the season.
Sykora’s night defensively was strong, primarily because of the number of penalties Hartford surrendered. The Wolf Pack successfully killed eight penalties with the help of Sykora and the rest of the Hartford penalty kill.
“He’s probably our top pair penalty killer.” Garand said on Sykora. “It’s great to have him on our penalty kill unit, and we know what we’re going to get from him.”
Garand (28 saves) had to make several key saves, most notably when the Wolf Pack had to kill a 5-on-3 power play from the Thunderbirds. Garand made a series of saves, including a diving stop on a one-timer from the circle, which kept Springfield off the scoresheet.
“I’ve learned a lot over my past few years.” Garand said. “As much as they need me, I’m going to go in there and give the guys a chance to win.”
With their first win of the season, the Wolf Pack will look to carry this momentum into Friday night when they host the Bridgeport Islanders at the PeoplesBank Arena. The Wolf Pack are 1-3-0-0 on the season.
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