Steve Smith’s first home game as bench boss of the Hartford Wolf Pack couldn’t have gone much better. The Wolf Pack rode a dominant first period to a 5-1 win over the Springfield Thunderbirds in the latest installment of the I-91 Rivalry on Wednesday morning.
A Dominant Start
In his postgame press conference, Wolf Pack captain Jonny Brodzinski called the first period “our best period of the year”. It was the captain himself who got the scoring started. Joseph Duszak was called for cross-checking at 4:51, giving the Wolf Pack the game’s first powerplay opportunity. It wouldn’t last long, as Brodzinski blasted a feed from Alex Belzile into the back of the Springfield net just 14 seconds later. The tally was Brodzinski’s team-leading eighth of the year.
Belzile would score a goal of his own six minutes later. Brodzinski fended off Matthew Kessel behind the Springfield net and sent a backwards pass to Belzile. Belzile went bar down over Vadim Zherenko to double the Hartford lead and put the game out of reach.
Adam Sýkora capped off the scoring with just over a minute left in the period. Turner Elson held the puck along the right wall and snapped a pass to Sýkora. Sýkora motored towards the net and ripped a wrist shot into the Springfield net, pushing the lead to three. It was Sýkora’s first goal in the American Hockey League, and he was fired up, celebrating with some kids sitting along the glass.
The Rout is On
Hartford continued the scoring in the second period. This time it was Nikolas Brouillard who lit the lamp. Matt Rempe tried to jam the puck home, but was denied by Zherenko. The puck came loose and Brouillard managed to flip it into the Springfield net to push the lead to four.
Springfield was able to get on the board at 15:20 of the second period. Mathias Laferriere beat Louis Domingue with a sharp angle shot that trickled into the net. It was the only blemish on the Hartford netminder’s game, as he stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced.
The Wolf Pack would reinstate the four-goal lead about six minutes into the final stanza. Connor Mackey blasted a shot from the top of the zone, but it ricocheted off Springfield defender Zach Dean. Mackey took another shot, and Adam Edström deflected it into the T-Birds goal. It was the fourth tally on the season for the towering Swede, tying him with Belzile for third most on the team.
Tempers would flare as time ticked away, and Springfield was called for three penalties in the final eight minutes of action. However, it would have no impact on the score, and the Wolf Pack cruised past their I-91 rivals to a 5-1 win.
Steve Smith’s First Win
In his first home game as interim head coach of the Wolf Pack, Steve Smith earned his first AHL win. In his postgame press conference, Smith said that the playing hockey was the best job in the world, and coaching hockey was the second best job in the world. Smith, a veteran of 804 NHL games and a winner of three Stanley Cups as a player, now has his first win as a head coach.
I asked Smith if he had learned anything while working as an assistant coach for Kris Knoblauch. Smith said he learned “an awful lot” from Knoblauch, with the two of them talking about systems and players on “a daily basis”. Clearly, the systems Knoblauch and Smith had in place were successful, as Smith has earned three out of a possible four points since being named Wolf Pack interim head coach.
Up next
The Wolf Pack will play a home-and-home against the Syracuse Crunch this weekend. The Wolf Pack will travel to Syracuse on Friday night before hosting the rematch on Saturday at the XL Center. Puck drop for both games is set for 7:00 pm.
