By: Jason Alwang, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT: Ryder Korczak scored 2:44 into overtime, and Dylan Garand recorded 22 saves in the Hartford Wolf Pack’s (4-2-0-1) thrilling comeback victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins Wednesday night at the XL Center.
“Feels nice to get the goal,” Korczak said of his game-winner. “I think we battled back in the third period, and it’s definitely nice to get the goal and the win.” He added, “It shows (the team’s) character. Our first two periods, we didn’t play our best, but we stuck with it, and I feel like the third period we dominated.”
In the five-minute 3-on-3 overtime, the Pack got puck possession with Casey Fitzgerald, Adam Sykora, and Korczak on the ice. Korczak received the puck from Fitzgerald and then dropped it off for Sykora for the shot. The puck went off the side of the net and right off Griffins netminder, Sebastian Cossa. Korczak then redirected the shot as he had his stick down on the ice at the right time to direct it into the net for the game-winner.
The Griffins started the scoring in the first period at 3:43 when Dominik Shine found himself in the offensive zone and received the puck after the Wolf Pack were unable to get control of the puck from Antti Tuomisto. Shine wristed one through Garand to give the Griffins the 1-0 lead. For Shine, it was his third goal in the campaign and Tuomisto’s third helper of the season.
Garand made a massive stop in the crease with multiple Griffins on top of him as they attempted to pounce on a loose puck late into the opening period.
The second period did not start as Pack Head Coach Grant Potulny would have liked, as Brett Berard was sent to the box at 1:37 for slashing.
The Griffins made the Pack pay for Berard’s transgression, capitalizing only 28 seconds into their man advantage for a goal. Shines tallied his second of the game, going to the bottom of the circle, and rang one into the net off the post. The assists went to Joe Snively and Shai Buium and put the Griffins up 2-0 at 2:05 of the middle period.
Self-inflicted wounds were an issue for the Pack in this one, as they found themselves on the penalty kill three times in the period. The team’s best penalty killer was Garand, who only allowed one on the three attempts to keep the Pack within striking distance.
“Sometimes a goalies got to make a save, and Dylan made some saves tonight,” Potulny said of his goaltender’s performance. “I thought we did a nice job in front of him, but when he needed to, he made some nice saves.”
It would be an uphill battle for the Pack in the third period, trailing by a deuce, with Cossa on his game looking sharp in the Griffins net. However, the Pack did not allow Cossa to intimate them. They kept working and finally broke through at 2:38 after Cossa lost track of a puck, and it got behind him at 2:38.
On the goal, Dylan Roobroeck took a shot from the circle and got it behind Cossa, who backed into the puck past the goal line to make it 2-1.
“First, we had to keep it away from [Cossa], and we did a much better job of that.” Potulny said. “You’ve got to get to the net so you can find some rebounds and deflections.”
Meanwhile, across the ice, The Pack received a stellar performance with a couple of key saves by Garand, who stopped a shorthanded breakaway attempt with a little over six minutes having ticked off the clock in the final period.
This momentum would swing to the Pack, who would score the tying goal at 16:31.
Sykora ripped a shot off a one-timer in and out of the net to tie the game at 2. Matthew Robertson was assisted with both regulation goals. Sykora’s goal would force the OT icebreaker.
The Pack travels to Pennsylvania for a division matchup with the Scranton Penguins. They will return to the XL Center next Wednesday, November 6, for a matchup with the Syracuse Crunch.
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