WOLF PACK / ISLANDERS – ALL GOOD THINGS MUST END
WOLF PACK / ISLANDERS – ALL GOOD THINGS MUST END
By: Jason Alwang, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT: The Hartford Wolf Pack dug an early 4-0 hole and lost 5-2 to the Bridgeport Islanders in the final ‘Battle Of Conncticut’ at the PeoplesBank Arena on Wednesday.
Matthew Maggio scored what proved to be the Islanders’ game-winner, giving them a 3-0 lead at 12:33 of the first period off a burst to the net and roofing the puck over Pack starting netminder, Callum Tung’ for his 12th goal of the season. Cole Eiserman notched the lone assist. It was his fifth of the season.
“You have to be ready to play every night… we didn’t do that tonight,” Wolf Pack Head Coach Grant Potulny said. “It’s too hard to be able to win when you can’t generate offense.”
Semyon Varlamov made his return to professional hockey since November of 2024 on a conditioning stint by Bridgeport’s NHL parent, New York Islanders. Varlamov has been out of action recovering from multiple surgeries to deal with several knee injuries. Varlamov made 18 saves on 20 Hartford shots in the victory.
Victor Eklund capitalized on a Bridgeport two-man advantage. He would finish a backdoor play putting the biscuit past Tung tallying his third goal of the season giving Bridgeport a 1-0 lead at 2:44 of the first period. Ethan Bear and Eiserman recorded power play assists following Hartford penalties to Trey Fix-Wolansky for Hooking at 2:07 and then Carey Terrance 14 seconds later on a double minor High-Sticking call.
Liam Foudy doubled the Bridgeport lead on the second half of the power play recording his 26th of the season at 4:11. Foudy skated down the ice and leaned into a wrister from the high slot past Tung to the glove side for a 2-0 Islanders lead. Eiserman and Bear recorded the assists on the tally.
Adam Beckman finished a pass from the circle off a two-on-one rush, ripping his shot past Tung making it 4-0. The goal was Beckman’s 29th coming at 16:19 of the opening period. Matthew Highmore and Matt Luff recorded the assists.
“Decision making with the puck can definitely be better.” Potulny said. “You’ve got to set the next guy up to be able to do something with the puck, and I don’t think we did that enough tonight.”
Bryce McConnell-Barker finished a shot in the crease off a far side feed by Casey Fitzgereald on the power play to put the Wolf Pack on the board at 19:00 of the first period. The goal is McConnell-Barker’s 14th of the season, which made it 4-1. Aidan Thompson recorded the secondary assist on the goal, after feeding the puck to Fitzgerald.
Spencer Martin (11 relief saves) entered the game for the pulled Tung (8 saves), who surrendered four goals on twelve shots in the first period. Potulny sent in Martin to start the second period.
Fix-Wolansky charged down the ice on a four-on-four and wristed a quick shot past Varlamov to make it 4-2 at 9:57 in the third period. The goal was Fix-Wolanksy’s 28th of the season with Fitzgerald recording the lone assist.
“He’s got a great shot,” Potulny said of Fix-Wolansky. “He can find those dead open ice areas in the offensive zone.”
Luke Rowe recorded his 2nd of the season and made it 5-2 with an empty net goal with 28 seconds remaining in regulation in the final battle in the history of these two teams.
The Wolf Pack record falls to 25-37-5-3 with just two games remaining in the season,. Both of those games will be against the Springfield Thunderbirds in a Home-and-Home set. The first of the two will be at PeoplesBank Arena on Friday night.
