BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – It’s been a busy week of hockey at the XL Center starting with Tuesday night’s UCONN non-conference meeting with Brown University (ECACHL) at 7 pm.
The Huskies (4-4-1 overall, 2-3-1 HEA) are coming off a tough 3-2 loss last Friday at Matthews Arena in Boston against Northeastern.
UCONN sports a three-game winning streak against the Bears, who are struggling early (1-4-1 overall, 1-3-1 ECACHL) in the season. It will be UCONN’s third ECACHL matchup so far this season with Quinnipiac University and RPI being the others.
Goalie, Adam Huska, (36 saves) was simply spectacular as he kept the game scoreless until late in the second period. Huska’s right-to-left moving glove save on Northeastern’s Lincoln Griffin was particularly amazing. UCONN didn’t have the puck possession in the third period and two calls hurt them, particularly a late penalty that allowed Northeastern to score the game-winner late.
Freshman Roman Kinal had a strong night with a goal and an assist that were his first collegiate points.
Northeastern shut off the Huskies power source, Jachym Kondelik, and stopped his six-game point scoring streak. Kondelik’s winger, Sasha Payusov, sits atop Hockey East with eight goals. Kondelik still leads Hockey East with 10 assists and is tops among freshmen in scoring. Along with senior winger Karl El-Mir, the trio has combined for 20 points (11 goals).
The Huskies will be in action again on Friday at home against UMASS-Lowell. Then on Saturday, they will be on the back-end of the home-and-home at Tsongas Arena in Lowell. Next week, UCONN heads off to Belfast, Northern Ireland to play in the Belpot tournament along with Union College, Yale, and Boston University.
Wednesday, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers come to the XL Center for the 11 am Annual Edu-Skate game which will be the first of three Hartford Wolf Pack games for the week.
The Wolf Pack are struggling mightily. Over their last ten games, they’ve put up an abysmal 2-6-0-2 record (13 pts) and they sit in seventh place, just one point ahead of the Providence Bruins in the Atlantic Division. The Pack are 12th in the conference and 23rd overall in the 31-team AHL.
The Wolf Pack have surrendered an AHL worst 61 goals in their first 16 games which is a shade under four goals a game on AVERAGE. They are on pace to surrender at least 300 on the year. The only reason they’re not dead last in the league San Antonio has won just three times this season in 15 games the Pack has the second worst point percentage at .706.
Very sloppily played hockey has naturally led to some nasty and earned, negative numbers.
Wolf Pack captain, Cole Schneider, spent Saturday’s game against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, mired on the fourth line. Last year when that happened to a captain. Joe Whitney, five weeks later, he was sent packing to Hershey. It’s not a good sign.
The new top line of Peter Holland-Matt Belesky and Ville Meskanen couldn’t find any chemistry managing to generate just five shots on net between them. Meskanen had none. In his first game back, Boo Nieves registered a minus-3. In all fairness, he wasn’t the cause of the three goals he was on for.
The two forward bright spots have been Meskanen and Steven Fogarty. Meskanen was given his second promotion this season, now moved up to the first line. Fogarty has been perhaps the most consistent forward.
Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Penguins came on the heels of an inexplicable 4-3 shootout loss to the Utica Comets where they lost a 3-1 lead in the last five minutes of regulation.
For the second time, this season they surrendered three goals in the first five minutes of a game with the same goalie in net, Dustin Tokarski.
At the 1:50 mark, Thomas DiPauli got inside position on rookie rearguard Libor Hajak in the right corner and then buried his first of the year off a great pass by their prized rookie, Anthony Angello. At 3:23, defenseman Matt Abt was just outside the Penguins blue line when he sent the puck into the right-wing corner. Derek Grant outraced both Rob O’Gara and Peter Holland to the loose biscuit as it came out off the right backboards. Grant beat Tokarski through the five-hole.
At 4:36, DiPauli was able to migrate out of the right corner and then made a deke on Vince Pedrie before putting a solid shot on net, and Teddy Blueger jammed home the rebound.
The fourth Penguins goal came at 13:03 of the second. Jimmy Hayes was all alone in the left wing circle. He buried Blueger’s pass from behind the net that he muscled away from Hajak.
Hayes is the older brother of the Rangers’ Kevin Hayes and their cousins are all in pro hockey, the Fitzgeralds and the Tkachuk’s. Hayes is is on a one-year, two-way deal.
The Pack has got to find a way to string some wins together or trades and other measures may be coming to try to straighten out the course they are presently on. The Pack host Utica Saturday night and another Empire State opponent the Rochester Americans come to town at 3:00 pm Sunday.
NOTES:
Despite two injuries up front to New York Rangers forwards, Pavel Bucknevitch (out for 4-6 weeks with a broken thumb) and Mats Zuccarello (groin) no pne has been recalled from the Pack …yet.
Bridgeport will be without two players and both have been tough on the Wolf Pack.
Steve Bernier, a major net-front presence, received a two-game AHL ban for a major for charging and game misconduct call on Saturday against the Providence Bruins and captain defenseman, Kyle Burroughs received a one-game ban for another incident.
Ex-Pack Chris Bourque tallied his 700th AHL point against the P-Bruins n Saturday, which is one of the four New England teams he’s played for.
The Sound Tigers shipped former Yale Bulldog, Ryan Hitchcock, to Worcester (ECHL).
Ex-Pack and Sound Tiger, Micheal Haley, was assigned by Florida to Springfield Thunderbirds for conditioning after completing a 30 stay stint in rehab.
Ex-Sound Tiger and Springfield Falcon Rob Schremp announced his retirement
AHL Player of the Week Drake Batherson was recalled from Belleville by Ottawa.
Ex-Pack Brandon Mashinter signs with Rapid City Rush (ECHL) he played with San Jose (AHL) last year.
Former UCONN Husky Brian Morgan was released from his second ECHL team in the first month of play, first Reading now Indy.
First US collegian to leave for Canadian major junior hockey is Paul Cotter after just eight games with Western Michigan University (NCHC) and a Las Vegas Golden Knight 4th round draft. Cotter signs with the London Knights (OHL) with the Hunter brothers, former Whaler Mark the GM and head coach Dale.
Ex-Pack, Ranger, and Springfield Falcon, Gordie Dwyer, was dismissed as head coach from Dynamo Minsk (Belarus-KHL) on Monday.
Kevin Goumas (Canterbury Prep) leaves IF Bjorklovenm (Sweden-Allsvenskan) to Villacher SV (Austria-EBEL).
Niklas Svedberg who played in Rockford last year signs with Linkopings HC (Sweden-SHL).
