BY: Bob Crawford, Hartford Wolf Pack
Hartford, CT, March 20, 2021 – A third-period goal by Patrick Sieloff prevented a Providence Bruin shutout Saturday at the XL Center, but Alex-Olivier Voyer scored twice, and Jakub Lauko had a goal and an assist for the Bruins in a 6-1 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Paul Carey, Joel Messner, and Samuel Asselin also scored for Providence, and Kyle Keyser made 27 saves in his first AHL appearance of the season. Tyler Wall stopped 24 shots in the Wolf Pack net.
FIRST PERIOD
The first period was scoreless until the 18:45 mark, when Carey, the Bruin captain, scored on a solid individual effort. Carey broke up a Wolf Pack pass high in the Providence zone and stormed into the Wolf Pack end, moving to the middle and whipping a shot in off the goal post on Wall’s catching-glove side.
After that late goal in the first, Providence got an early one in the second, with Voyer making it 2-0 at 3:15. Matt Filipe poked the puck away from Will Cuylle just inside the Bruin blue line, and Filipe and Voyer broke 2-on-1. Filipe carried down the left side in the Wolf Pack end, drawing the one defender back, Tarmo Reunanen, to him and feeding to a wide-open Voyer on the right side of the slot.
Messner then made it a 3-0 advantage in a 4-on-4 situation with 4:44 remaining in the period. Lauko stickhandled from the right point went up the middle before dishing to Messner, who had moved in from the blue line, and he had most of the net to shoot at.
LEAD GROWS
The lead grew to 4-0 at 3:58 of the third, when Anton Blidh passed the puck off of the left-wing boards to Lauko, and he unloaded a quick backhand shot that trickled just over the goal line after Wall could not squeeze it between his arm and his body.
Sieloff scored his first Wolf Pack goal only 1:03 later, at 5:01, to stop Keyser’s shutout bid. Sieloff crashed down from the left point to keep a loose puck in the Bruin zone and sent it towards the net. It squeaked through Keyser to cut Providence’s lead to 4-1.
Voyer got his second of the game to answer that, though, at 12:53. Ian McKinnon moved behind the Wolf Pack net and wrapped the puck around from Wall’s left side, finding Voyer’s open stick at the other side of the goalmouth.
Lauko completed the scoring with a power-play goal at 15:34, with Justin Richards in the penalty box for holding. Wall stopped a shot by Robert Lantosi, but the rebound created a scramble around the goal crease, and Lauko was able to poke the puck past a sprawled Wall.
The Wolf Pack’s next action is also against the Bruins, a 1:00 PM faceoff this Thursday, March 25, at the New England Sports Center in Marlboro, MA. All of the Wolf Pack’s 2021 action can be seen live online at theahl.com/AHLTV.
SCORESHEET
Providence Bruins 6 at Hartford Wolf Pack 1
Saturday, March 20, 2021 – XL Center
Providence 1 2 3 – 6
Hartford 0 0 1 – 1
1st Period-1, Providence, Carey 1 18:45. Penalties-Sieloff Hfd (tripping), 5:59.
2nd Period-2, Providence, Voyer 2 (Filipe), 3:15. 3, Providence, Messner 1 (Lauko, Hughes), 15:06. Penalties-McKinnon Pro (slashing), 3:38; Blidh Pro (slashing), 14:50; Thompson Hfd (roughing), 14:50.
3rd Period-4, Providence, Asselin 5 (Blidh), 3:58. 5, Hartford, Sieloff 1 (Khodorenko, Barron), 5:01. 6, Providence, Voyer 3 (McKinnon), 12:53. 7, Providence, Lauko 5 (Hughes, Lantosi), 15:34 (PP). Penalties-Wolff Pro (delay of game), 10:43; Richards Hfd (holding), 14:51.
Shots on Goal-Providence 8-10-12-30. Hartford 9-10-9-28.
Power Play Opportunities-Providence 1 / 2; Hartford 0 / 2.
Goalies-Providence, Keyser 1-0-0 (28 shots-27 saves). Hartford, Wall 1-4-1 (30 shots-24 saves).
A- 0 (Covid Protocol)
Referees-Mitch Dunning (43), Jason Williams (18).
Linesmen-Glen Cooke (6), Brent Colby (7).
