HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack opened the post-All-Star portion of their schedule on Friday night. The Wolf Pack welcomed the Charlotte Checkers to town for the fifth of eight meetings between the teams. Hartford aimed to continue their success against Charlotte after winning the first four meetings between the teams this season.
However, the struggles continued for the Wolf Pack. The offense dried up as the team fell to Charlotte 3-0, dropping their seventh straight game.
Checkmate
Charlotte controlled play from the opening puck drop, but strong play from Louis Domingue in net kept the game scoreless through much of the opening frame. Charlotte finally found the icebreaker at 11:33. Justin Sourdif collected a loose puck in the offensive zone, danced through the Hartford defense, and lasered a shot by Domingue to give the Checkers a lead they’d never lose.
The Checkers doubled the lead just 54 seconds into the middle frame. Rasmus Asplund took a feed in the right circle and sniped a shot by Domingue on the short side.
Will Lockwood capped off the scoring for the Checkers 8:05 into the final frame. The former Wolf Pack forward elected to shoot off an odd-man rush, and his shot pinged the post before ricocheting into the net.
The Wolf Pack fired 20 shots on Cooper Black throughout the game. However, they were unable to solve the Charlotte netminder, who stopped all 20 for his third shutout of the campaign.
“The last three, maybe four games, I thought we deserved better. Tonight was not the case,” Wolf Pack head coach Grant Potulny told The Calder Times after the contest. “It was a flat, flat game. The game needs to be played with emotion, passion, energy…I hope we get back to that [tomorrow].”
Bränn New
Defenseman Erik Brännström made his Wolf Pack debut during the contest. The New York Rangers acquired Brännström in the trade that sent J. T. Miller from Vancouver to New York. Brännström skated on Hartford’s second pair with fellow veteran Chad Ruhwedel and even quarterbacked the top Wolf Pack power play unit.
“Tonight, he helped drive the offense, what little offense we did have,” Potulny told The Calder Times when speaking about Brännström after the game. “I hope that he can assimilate himself on the power play. That’s an area we need to improve, and he’s got the skill set to help us.”
Brännström brings a skillset that none of Hartford’s defensemen truly possessed – an ability to move the puck and put up points. In eight games with the Abbotsford Canucks earlier this season, Brännström recorded two goals and ten assists for twelve points. He’ll be a nice addition to a Hartford group that has struggled in their own end.
Brännström is also in line for big power play minutes, skating on the top power play with some of Hartford’s best offensive forwards. Look for Brännström to get back to his scoring ways as he becomes more familiar with the Wolf Pack system.
Up Next
The Wolf Pack head to Allentown for a matchup with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms tonight. Puck drop is set for 7:05 pm.
