WOLF PACK ROCKED BY ROCKET, 5-2
WOLF PACK ROCKED BY ROCKET, 5-2
By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack
HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack fell 5-2 to the Laval Rocket in front of 4,417 at PeoplesBank Arena on Sunday, unable to sustain offense and marking their second straight home loss of the young season.
“We fell short. We’ve had a good start to the season, then ran into injuries and fatigue, and we’re learning to play professional hockey. Wolf Pack Head Coach Jay Leach said after the game. “We certainly have a long way to go.”
With just 39 seconds remaining in the second period, Sasha Pastujov scored the eventual game-winner on a two-man advantage to give the Rocket a 3-1 lead. Pastujov’s third of the season came off a deflection from Laurent Dauphin’s shot, earning him his third assist of the game. The Wolf Pack took back-to-back penalties late in the period, giving the Rocket the 5-on-3 advantage. Luke Mittelstadt recorded the secondary assist.
“It just can’t happen.” Leach on the penalties. “We have to check with our feet and make sure we’re smart in those situations.”
Anton Blidh picked up his first tally of the season when he corralled a loose puck in the crease after Nathan Aspinall’s initial shot deflected off a couple of skates, and put it past Kappo Kahkonen (19 saves) on a Pack power play to give the team their only lead of the contest, 1-0 at 4:20 of the first period. Dennis Cholowski picked up the helper.
Mittelstadt bettered Callum Tung (27 saves), releasing a quick wrister from the dot that snuck in to knot the game at 13:49 of the first period. Dauphin and David Reinbacher earned assists on Mittelstadt’s second goal of the season.
Glen Gawdin went to the box on a double-minor for a High-Sticking call, putting the Pack behind the 8-ball for four minutes. Josh Nadeau made them pay and gave the Rocket the lead for good at 2-1. His deflection on the resulting power play found the back of the net at 17:18 of the first period. It was Nadeau’s first of the season with Dauphin and Mittelstadt earning the apples.
“We were playing a little bit more of an east-west game,” Leach said of his team’s 5-on-5 play. “We’re trying to find a combination that works.”
Dauphin earned his first of the season when he wasn’t picked up by Pack defense and put away a one-timer while alone between the circles after the Wolf Pack lost a puck battle along the boards, extending the Rocket lead to 4-1 at 8:15 of the third period. Dauphin received the puck from behind the net on a pass from Pastujov. Fillip Mesar recorded the secondary assist.
To their credit, the Pack didn’t quit.
With Middlestadt in the box for a holding call, Liam Greentree put away a second straight man-advantage tally after Kahkonen failed to retrieve and clear the puck. Greentree picked up the resulting loose puck on the left of the net and buried it, cutting the Rocket lead to 4-2 at 11:00 of the third period. The goal is Greentree’s second of the season.
Speaking of Greentree, Leach said, “He’s in the right lane in the defensive zone. The puck finds him.”
Xavier Simoneau finished the game’s scoring with his first of the season, taking the puck from Jackson Dorrington and roofing a shot past Tung at 13:27 of the third period to make it 5-2.
After dropping their first two home games, the Wolf Pack’s record falls to 3-2-0-0. They host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Wednesday night in downtown Hartford.
