BY: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack
HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack will look to right the ship this evening as they head to Pennsylvania for the final time during the 2021-22 regular season. The Wolf Pack will take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a one-off road game before returning home for a pair of contests this weekend.
The puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m.
Tale of The Tape:
This is the fifth of six meetings between the Wolf Pack and the Penguins during the 2021-22 regular season. It is also the third and final meeting between the sides at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. The clubs will complete their season series on April 24th at the XL Center in Hartford.
The Penguins skated to a 4-2 victory in the last meeting between the foes on March 13th. Filip Hallander, Alexander Nylander, and Drew O’Connor pushed the Pens to a 3-0 lead before Matt Lorito, and Ty Ronning scored with the goaltender pulled to make it a 3-2 game. Jonathan Gruden deposited an empty-net tally at 19:59 to end the intrigue and give the Penguins two massive points.
The home team is 4-0-0-0 in the season series. The Wolf Pack has a record of 2-1-1-0 against the Penguins this year, with a record of 0-1-1-0 in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Wolf Pack Outlook:
The Wolf Pack dropped their seventh game in their last nine outings in regulation time on Monday night. The Pack surrendered a season-high seven goals for just the second time in a 7-3 defeat on home ice at the hands of the Utica Comets. Zac Jones, Anthony Greco, and Lauri Pajuniemi lit the lamp, but Fabian Zetterlund’s third-period tally proved to be the difference.
The Wolf Pack were outscored 4-1 in the third period. Hartford has surrendered two powerplay goals in three straight games. The Wolf Pack have also been outscored 5-1 in the second period throughout their last three games.
Greco leads the Pack in scoring with 49 points (16 g, 33 a) on the season. He also leads active skaters in goals with 16.
On Monday, the parent New York Rangers (NHL) traded defenseman Tarmo Reunanen to the Carolina Hurricanes for forward Maxim Letunov. Letunov has been assigned to the Wolf Pack and will wear number 91 with the club. He has scored a career-high 13 goals this season with the Chicago Wolves.
Penguins Outlook:
The Penguins suffered a 5-3 setback last time out on Saturday afternoon at the hands of the Laval Rocket. Chris Bigras tied the contest 3-3 7:49 into the third period, but Nate Schnarr put the Rocket ahead at 15:15 with his 14th tally of the season. Michael Chaput and Sam Poulin also scored for the Penguins in the loss.
The Pens are currently 28-26-4-4 and have a points percentage of .516. They are currently seventh in the Atlantic Division.
Valtteri Puustinen leads the Penguins in scoring with 35 points (18 g, 17 a) on the season. Nylander, meanwhile, leads the club in goals with 19. He has scored eleven since being acquired from the Rockford IceHogs earlier this season.
On Monday, the Penguins shipped Bigras to the Chicago Wolves, while the parent Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL) assigned forward Kasper Bjorkqvist.
Game Information:
WATCH: AHLTV
The Pack is back at the XL Center for two more games this weekend! The Wolf Pack will play host to the Belleville Senators for the second and final time this season on Friday, April 1st, at 7:00 p.m. Join us for $2 beers and $1 hot dogs presented by our friends at Nomads Entertainment! On Saturday, the Syracuse Crunch makes their lone visit to the XL Center at 7:00 p.m. Join us for Hartford Sports Weekend and a Coffee Mug giveaway courtesy of Xfinity!
Tickets are available at www.hartfordwolfpack.com.
