HARTFORD, CT – After playing five of their first nine games at home, the Hartford Wolf Pack hit the road for their first extended road trip of the season last weekend. The Pack visited the Syracuse Crunch on Friday and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday.
Both contests ended up as one-goal games. However, the Wolf Pack came out on the losing side of both contests, and are still seeking their first road win.
Friday – Syracuse Crunch 3, Hartford Wolf Pack 2 (OT)
The Wolf Pack made their only visit to Syracuse on Friday night for a contest with the Crunch.
Ryder Korczak took a hooking call just 4:51 into the contest, and the Crunch immediately took advantage. Logan Brown blasted a shot, but Dylan Garand made the save. The rebound popped right to Dylan Duke, who buried it home to put Syracuse in front early.
Hartford got a pair of power play bids thanks to Conor Sheary and Jaydon Dureau taking separate hooking minors. However, Syracuse successfully killed both penalties. The Crunch aimed to double their lead with Casey Fitzgerald in the box for tripping just over thirteen minutes into the middle frame. Instead, it was Hartford who cashed in. Pesky play along the wall from Dylan Roobroeck forced a turnover, which Anton Blidh corralled. Blidh got around a defender, and the two forwards moved in on a shorthanded odd-man rush. Blidh sent a pass to Roobroeck, who slipped the puck back to Blidh. Finally, Blidh tapped the puck by Brandon Halverson to tie the game.
The Wolf Pack took the lead just under four minutes later. Fitzgerald forced a turnover, which Korczak chipped out of the Hartford zone. Blade Jenkins grabbed the puck and moved in with Adam Erne on another odd-man rush. Jenkins elected to shoot and beat Halverson to put Hartford on top.
However, Syracuse would tie the contest again early in the final frame. Declan Carlile attempted a centering pass, and the puck clipped the leg of Niko Huuhtanen before bouncing into the Hartford net. Huuhtanen’s goal came just 91 seconds into the frame, and eventually sent the game to overtime.
In the extra frame, Max Crozier blasted a shot by a diving Garand to deliver the extra point to the Crunch.
Saturday – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 2, Hartford Wolf Pack 1
The Wolf Pack aimed to bounce back on Saturday against their division rivals, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
The Wolf Pack peppered Tristan Jarry early, outshooting the Penguins 12-6 in the opening frame. However, Jarry kept the Wolf Pack off the board. Both teams got a power play bid in the opening frame, but Jarry and Louis Domingue kept the contest scoreless through the first twenty minutes.
The Penguins broke the ice just 33 seconds into the middle frame. Isaac Belliveau fired a shot from the point that snuck through traffic and by Domingue. Ville Koivunen doubled the lead just over the halfway mark, blasting a shot home from the right circle.
However, the Wolf Pack cut the lead in half at 16:30 of the frame. Nathan Sucese took the puck across the red line and shoveled it into the Penguins zone. Roobroeck beat the defenders to the puck and snapped a shot by Jarry’s glove to put the Wolf Pack on the board. The goal was Roobroeck’s third in his last four games.
Former Wolf Pack defenseman Mac Hollowell took a delay of game penalty just 32 seconds later, giving the Wolf Pack a chance to tie the contest. However, the power play unit’s struggles continued, and they could not convert on the man advantage.
The Penguins dominated play in the final frame, outshooting Hartford 15-5. The Wolf Pack lifted Domingue for the extra skater late in an attempt to tie the game. However, the equalizer would elude them on this night, and they fell to the Penguins by a score of 2-1.
Bumpy Road
The Wolf Pack are off to a solid start to the season, picking up ten points through their first nine games. However, their record on the road is an early cause for concern.
In four contests outside the XL Center, the Wolf Pack have posted a record of 0-2-1-1, collecting just two out of a possible eight points. The only teams with a worse road record are the Colorado Eagles, who have only played two road games, and the Utica Comets, who have yet to win a game this season.
Obviously, it’s still early in the season, and four games isn’t exactly a large sample size. Plus, it’s not like the Wolf Pack are getting blown out in these contests – three of their four road games have been one-score affairs, with one ending in overtime and another requiring a shootout to determine a winner. That said, it would be nice to see Hartford pick up their first road win sooner rather than later. Like all AHL teams, they’ll play 36 road games this season – they’ll need to win plenty of them if they want to return to the Calder Cup Playoffs for the third straight year.
Roobroeck’s On a Roll
Dylan Roobroeck is on an absolute heater right now.
The rookie forward has tallied points in four straight games. The streak started on October 27th, when Roobroeck tallied his first professional goal against the Springfield Thunderbirds. Since then, he’s recorded three goals an an assist in four contests. It’s the longest point streak by a Wolf Pack player so far this season.
Roobroeck signed his entry-level contract last May and played in one game with the Wolf Pack before they were eliminated from the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs. He opened this season as Hartford’s fourth-line center and has lined up there in all nine of their contests. He’s played well, but finally getting that first professional goal seems to have set something off in the rookie. He’s finding his scoring touch that was prevalent last season with OHL Oshawa, where he recorded 72 points in 68 games.
Sometimes, a player just needs that first one to take the weight off their shoulders. Right now, it seems like that’s happening with Roobroeck.
Up Next
The Wolf Pack will host a rematch with Syracuse on Wednesday at the XL Center. Puck drop is set for 7:00 pm.
The Wolf Pack will once again hit the road this weekend. They’ll make their only visit to Rochester on Friday for a matchup against the Americans. Puck drop is set for 7:05 pm. The Pack will end the weekend in Providence on Sunday, taking on the Bruins in a matinee matchup. It’s a 3:05 pm puck drop for that contest.
