By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack
HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack returns to the XL Center for the first time since October 27th when they host the Providence Bruins for the first time this season tonight. This is the middle game of a three-in-three weekend for both clubs.
The puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m., and coverage is available on both AHLTV and Mixlr.
Tale of The Tape:
This is the second of ten meetings between the Wolf Pack and Bruins this season and the first of five at the XL Center. The sides met on October 13th in Providence, with the Wolf Pack taking a 3-2 victory in the shootout.
The Bruins struck first, as Jayson Megna potted his first goal with the club just 13:51 into the hockey game while on the powerplay. Megna took a feed from Luke Toporowski on an odd-man rush for the first goal of the season for the Bruins. The Hartford powerplay struck with a goal of their own 15:03 into the middle frame. Jonny Brodzinski sent a pass into the right-wing circle for Brennan Othmann, who fired a one-timer by Brandon Bussi for his first goal in the AHL.
Oskar Steen tipped a Michael Callahan shot home at 11:36 of the third period, but Hartford again had the answer. Othmann buried his second goal of the night at 17:19 on a six-on-four advantage to force overtime. After a frantic overtime solved nothing, the sides went to a shootout.
Brodzinski scored the lone goal of the skills competition, while Louis Domingue denied all three Bruins to preserve the Wolf Pack’s first win of the season.
The clubs will meet two more times during the month of November. They will meet tomorrow in Providence at 3:05 p.m., then again in Hartford on November 22nd at 7:00 p.m.
Wolf Pack Outlook:
The Wolf Pack took a 3-0 decision last night in the first round of the ‘Battle of Connecticut’ against the Bridgeport Islanders. Anton Blidh scored the eventual game-winning goal just 12:25 into the game, jamming home a rebound for his second tally of the season.
Riley Nash then struck twice in the middle stanza, first lifting a shot over the right pad of Jakub Skarek after Brett Berard set him up in front of the Islanders net 5:50 into the period. Nash then fired a low shot by Skarek on a partial breakaway down the right-wing side at 12:16. It was Nash’s second multi-goal effort of the season. Dylan Garand made 37 saves to collect his first shutout of the campaign, improving to 4-1-1. He made 15 saves in the third period to preserve the victory.
The Wolf Pack penalty kill went four-for-four in the win and is now nine-for-nine in their last two games.
The club is currently riding a four-game point streak (3-0-1-0) and posted a record of 3-1-1-0 on their season-long, five-game road trip.
Brodzinski leads the Wolf Pack in both goals with six and points with eleven (6 g, 5 a). Mac Hollowell, meanwhile, leads the team in assists with nine. Berard has the club’s longest active point streak at four games (6 a). He picked up an assist on Nash’s first goal last night.
Late on Friday afternoon, the parent New York Rangers (NHL) recalled goaltender Louis Domingue from the Wolf Pack. Domingue made 25 saves in his debut with the Rangers on Thursday night, defeating the Minnesota Wild by a score of 4-1.
Bruins Outlook:
The Bruins won a wild 5-4 tilt over the Springfield Thunderbirds on home ice on Friday night. Drew Callin and Zachary Bolduc put the T-Birds ahead 2-0 on goals 9:40 and 14:01 into the game, but the Bruins rattled off three unanswered goals to push ahead 3-2.
Georgii Merkulov got the Bruins on the board at 17:24, while Luke Toporowski evened the affair at 18:47. Fabian Lysell struck just 1:31 into the second period, giving the B’s all the momentum. Will Bitten drew the T-Birds back even just 17 seconds later at 1:48, however, stunning the crowd.
Alec Regula allowed a sigh of relief at 2:22, scoring his first with the Bruins to put the club ahead 4-3.
The seesaw continued when Nathan Walker again evened the contest at 17:44. Brandon Bussi slammed the door shut from there, however, making eight saves in the third period to keep the T-Birds off the board. Dan Renouf then played the role of hero, scoring the game-winning goal at 18:14 of the third period. That completed a three-point night (1 g, 2 a) for the veteran.
Toporowski leads the Bruins in goals with five, while Lysell leads the club in points with ten (4 g, 6 a) through eleven games this season.
On Friday, the Bruins loaned defenseman Ryan Mast back to the Maine Mariners (ECHL). The parent Boston Bruins (NHL) assigned defenseman Parker Wotherspoon to Providence on Friday.
Game Information:
Play-by-play voice of the Wolf Pack, Alex Thomas, will have ‘Wolf Pack Pregame’ starting live at 7:10 p.m. on both AHLTV and Mixlr this evening.
The Wolf Pack concludes their three-in-three weekend tomorrow afternoon when they visit the Bruins. The puck drop is set for 3:05 p.m., with ‘Wolf Pack Pregame’ slated to start on AHLTV and Mixlr at 2:50 p.m.
The Pack is back at the XL Center on Wednesday, November 15th, when they host the Springfield Thunderbirds in the annual ‘School Day Game’! The puck drop is set for 11:00 a.m., and tickets are available at hartfordwolfpack.com.
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ABOUT THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK: The Hartford Wolf Pack has been a premier franchise in the American Hockey League since the team’s inception in 1997. The Wolf Pack is the top player-development affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers and plays at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack has been home to some of the Rangers’ newest faces, including Igor Shesterkin, Filip Chytil, and Ryan Lindgren. Follow the Wolf Pack on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
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