HARTFORD, CT – After a flat game against the Charlotte Checkers on Friday night, the Hartford Wolf Pack hit the road for Saturday’s contest. The Wolf Pack and Lehigh Valley Phantoms met in Allentown for the final meeting between the division rivals this season.
The Wolf Pack found the effort they were looking for in this game. A three-goal second period and a 31-save performance from Louis Domingue led the Wolf Pack to a 4-2 win, snapping a seven-game losing skid.
Familiar Feelings
For the second time this weekend, the Wolf Pack got off to a slow start. Lehigh Valley more than doubled Hartford’s shot total in the opening frame with a 13-6 margin. As a result, the Phantoms found the game’s first lead. Alexis Gendron opened the scoring, snapping a feed from Helge Grans by Domingue’s glove near the halfway mark of the period. It was the third time in their last four games that the Wolf Pack conceded the opening goal.
The Phantoms took the 1-0 lead into the first intermission with a prime chance to double it after the break. Brandon Scanlin took an interference minor with just nine seconds to play in the first, forcing Hartford to the penalty kill to start the second period.
The Big Shorty
On the ensuing power play, Connor Mackey hounded a pair of Phantoms, allowing Brett Berard to collect the puck. Berard tapped it back to Casey Fitzgerald, and the Wolf Pack captain fired a bank pass off the boards. Bo Groulx corralled the puck at center ice before speeding into the Phantoms zone shorthanded. Groulx got around a defenseman before ripping a shot home from the left circle to tie the game.
The goal snapped a six-game goal drought for Groulx and gave him the team lead with 15 on the season. Also, the goal was Hartford’s sixth shorthanded tally of the season and first since Dylan Roobroeck scored shorthanded against Utica on January 15th.
An-tons of Goals
Lehigh Valley would regain the lead just under three minutes after Groulx’s game-tying goal. A turnover in the Hartford zone put the puck right on Oscar Eklind‘s stick. Eklind then walked down the slot and roofed a shot over Domingue to reinstate the Lehigh Valley lead.
However, the lead would last just a minute and a half, as Anton Blidh drew the teams even at two. Mackey stopped a Phantoms clearing attempt and hammered a shot on net. Keith Petruzzelli denied the attempt, but the rebound trickled right to Blidh. The veteran forward blasted a shot into the Phantoms net to tie the score again.
The goal was Blidh’s 14th of the campaign, setting a new career high. Blidh set a previous career high of 13 goals during the 2022-23 season, which he split between the Wolf Pack and AHL Colorado.
#9 for #9
The Wolf Pack finally took their first lead of the game about ten minutes later. Domingue settled an errant pass from Lehigh Valley and steered to Chad Ruhwedel in the left corner. Ruhwedel found Roobroeck at the blue line, who sprang Berard on an odd-man rush with Adam Sýkora. Berard elected to shoot and picked the corner pocket, putting Hartford in front.
The goal gave Berard two points on the night after recording the secondary helper on Groulx’s goal.
The Phantoms would earn a prime chance to tie the game as Samu Tuomaala got sprung on a breakaway. However, a fantastic backcheck from Matthew Robertson prevented Tuomaala from getting the shot off.
Ultimately, the Wolf Pack took the 3-2 lead into the final period.
Mr. 100
Lehigh Valley made some late pushes for the equalizer. However, Blidh nailed the empty net late, potting his second goal of the game and earning a 4-2 win for the Wolf Pack. The win snapped Hartford’s seven-game losing skid – they went 0-5-2-0 over that span.
The win also gave Domingue his 100th career AHL win. Domingue, a veteran of 219 AHL contests, has a career record of 100-83-23.
“[Domingue]’s been playing really good hockey lately,” Wolf Pack head coach Grant Potulny told The Calder Times on Friday night. “As a group, we didn’t play well enough in front of him tonight.” The Wolf Pack made it up to Domingue on Saturday, putting together a strong overall performance in Allentown and securing win #100 for the netminder.
Up Next
The Wolf Pack return to action on Wednesday, hosting the Bridgeport Islanders in the latest installment of the Battle of Connecticut. Puck drop is set for 7:00 pm.
