By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack
BRIDGEPORT, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack opens the 2024 calendar year with a four-game road trip against the Bridgeport Islanders tonight. This is the first of three games in four nights for the club. The Wolf Pack will visit the Hershey Bears and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this weekend.
The puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m., and coverage is available on both AHLTV and Mixlr.
Tale of The Tape:
This is the fourth meeting of the season between the Wolf Pack and the Islanders. In total, the sides will face off ten times this season. Tonight is the second of five games at Total Mortgage Arena between the foes.
Hartford holds a 2-1 edge in the season series thanks to wins in the first and third meetings. The Wolf Pack blanked the Islanders 3-0 in their lone visit to Total Mortgage Arena on November 10th, with Anton Blidh potting the game-winning goal. Riley Nash scored twice in the win, while Dylan Garand made 37 saves to collect the shutout.
After a wild 5-4 Islanders victory in Hartford on December 22nd, the Wolf Pack struck back with a 3-2 win in their last outing on December 30th at the XL Center.
The Islanders jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to a pair of first-period redirections. Samuel Asselin kicked off the scoring 4:47 into the game, tipping a Robin Salo shot past Louis Domingue on the powerplay. Ruslan Iskhakov extended the lead at 13:42, deflecting a bid from Seth Helgeson while at five-on-five.
The Wolf Pack roared back with a pair of second-period powerplay goals, tying the affair through two periods of play. Karl Henriksson’s first career powerplay goal got Hartford on the board 4:16 into the frame as he fired a shot from the left-wing circle. At 7:32, Brett Berard drew the Wolf Pack even when he jammed a rebound by Ken Appleby for his eighth goal of the season.
Cristiano DiGiacinto potted his sixth career goal against the Islanders 6:57 into the third period, putting the Wolf Pack ahead for good. DiGiacinto got a piece of a Connor Mackey shot, fooling Appleby for his first goal of the season in his third appearance.
Louis Domingue preserved the victory with 14 saves in the third period. He improved to 9-2-2 on the campaign.
The rivals next meet at the XL Center on February 9th, 2024. That game will be the 2,000th game in Wolf Pack history.
Wolf Pack Outlook:
The Wolf Pack’s victory on Saturday night over the Islanders snapped the club’s five-game (0-3-2-0) losing streak. It was their longest losing streak of the season. The victory improved the Wolf Pack to 7-5-3-0 when surrendering the first goal and 5-4-1-0 when trailing after one period of play.
The win was Hartford’s sixth (6-2-0-0) this season when tied after two periods of play. The Wolf Pack are 15-2-2-0 when either tied or winning through 40 minutes of play this season.
This was the fifth time this season that the Wolf Pack had overcome a two-goal deficit to win a hockey game. It’s the first time they have done so since trailing 2-0 and 3-1 in Laval on December 8th, a game they won 4-3 in a shootout over the Rocket.
Alex Belzile and Jonny Brodzinski, on recall with the parent New York Rangers (NHL), lead the Wolf Pack in goals with eleven each. Belzile leads the team in points with 26 (11 g, 15 a), while Mac Hollowell leads the team in assists with 22.
On Tuesday, the Wolf Pack inked veteran forward Artem Anisimov to a professional tryout agreement (PTO). Anisimov has yet to appear in a game this season. The 771-game NHL veteran played for the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms a season ago, recording 36 points (19 g, 17 a) in 55 games. He will wear #42 with the Wolf Pack.
On Wednesday, the Rangers recalled forward Brennan Othmann. Othmann is third on the Wolf Pack, scoring 23 points (9 g, 14 a) in 28 games. He sits in the top ten in the AHL among rookies in points (23, T-6th), goals (9, T-7th), and assists (14, T-8th).
Islanders Outlook:
The loss to the Wolf Pack on Saturday night dropped the Islanders to 4-12-1-0 on the road this season. It also snapped a four-game point streak (3-0-1-0) for the club on the road.
Over their last six games, the Islanders’ powerplay has erupted. The unit is 6-for-21 (28.57%) over that time. The team has collected points in four of those six games, going 3-2-1-0.
Saturday’s loss was the first time since December 15th at Charlotte (3-0 L) that the Islanders failed to score at least three goals in a game.
Tonight opens a busy stretch of home games for the Islanders. The club will play their next five games at Total Mortgage Arena and seven of their next eight at home. During this five-game homestand, the Isles will also welcome the Charlotte Checkers to town on Saturday (7:00 p.m.) and Sunday (3:00 p.m.), the Springfield Thunderbirds on Wednesday night (7:00 p.m.), and finally the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on January 13th (7:00 p.m.).
The Islanders’ next road game, the only one in their next eight contests, is on January 14th at Providence against the Bruins (3:05 p.m.)
Iskhakov leads the club in both goals with ten and points with 24 (10 g, 14 a). He and Dennis Cholowski are tied for the team lead in assists with 14 each.
On Wednesday, the parent New York Islanders (NHL) recalled goaltender Ken Appleby from Bridgeport. Appleby is 1-1-0 against the Wolf Pack this season.
Game Information:
Play-by-play voice of the Wolf Pack, Alex Thomas, will have ‘Wolf Pack Pregame’ starting live at 6:45 p.m. on both AHLTV and Mixlr.
The Wolf Pack continue their four-game road trip on Saturday night when they visit the Hershey Bears for a 2023 Atlantic Division Final rematch. The puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m., and coverage is available on both AHLTV & Mixlr starting at 6:45 p.m.
The Pack is back at the XL Center on Saturday, January 13th, when they host the Providence Bruins. The puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.; 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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