HARTFORD, CT – After suffering their worst loss of the season on Friday, the Hartford Wolf Pack returned to the ice on Sunday evening with a clean slate. The Wolf Pack welcomed the Belleville Senators to town for the only time this season.
The two sides played a chippy, close game. Eventually, Jake Leschyshyn put the game out of reach, scoring a pair of goals and adding an assist as the Wolf Pack earned a 4-1 win.
Look for Leschyshyn
The teams swapped chances early in the contest. Each side earned a power play in the opening frame. First, Jan Jenik took two for tripping at 12:51, but Belleville killed off the penalty. Casey Fitzgerald also earned a tripping call at 15:47, but the Wolf Pack penalty kill was equally up to task.
Eventually, the Senators broke the ice late in the period. Hayden Hodgson found a loose puck and sprinted to the right circle. Hodgson then blasted a shot that beat Dylan Garand to open the scoring.
However, Belleville wouldn’t have the lead for long. Just over a minute later, the Wolf Pack tied the game. Leschyshyn won a faceoff for Jaroslav ChmelaÅ™, who got the puck to Matthew Robertson at the blue line. Robertson steered it for his defensive partner Chad Ruhwedel. The veteran defenseman flung a shot towards the net that clipped Leschyshyn in front and beat Leevi Meriläinen to tie the game.
The goal represented Leschyshyn’s 100th AHL point.
Leschyshyn’s tally sent the game into the first intermission tied at one, but not before some theatrics. Anton Blidh laid a hard hit just before the horn. Jenik and Zac MacEwen took exception to this, charging at Blidh after the buzzer.
Officials broke it up before a brawl happened, but the game got more chippy from there.
Ruthless Aggression
Both teams began playing with an edge in the middle frame. Eventually, things came to a head when Hodgson laid a dangerous hit on Brandon Scanlin in the Hartford zone. Blake Hillman and Maxim Barbashev immediately came to the defense of their teammate, resulting in a scrum.
Hillman earned two for roughing while Barbashev picked up four minutes for roughing. For Belleville, Hodgson took two for tripping and two for roughing while Keean Washkurak got two for roughing.
MacEwen hammered Blidh down to the ice just over three minutes later, earning the ire of the Hartford faithful and giving the Wolf Pack a power play. However, they were unable to convert on the man advantage.
Later in the frame, Blidh took a ten-minute misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Ultimately, no goals were scored in the middle frame, but the heightened tension set up a massive final 20 minutes for both sides.
Jake’s Helpful Tip
Late in the final frame, Belleville’s Tyler Boucher took a two-minute minor for slashing, sending the Wolf Pack to their fourth power play of the game.
Robertson earned a prime look on the man advantage, but his shot rocketed off the goalpost. The Wolf Pack retained control, with Alex Belzile finding Nathan Sucese in the slot. Sucese slid the puck back to Robertson, who toed the blue line and found a shooting lane. Robertson walked in and ripped a shot that Leschyshyn got a piece of, and the puck ricocheted past Meriläinen and into the net to give the Wolf Pack a late lead.
The goal gave Leschyshyn his first multi-goal game since December 11th, where he potted a pair of goals against Hershey in a 3-0 Wolf Pack win.
Record Breaking Tallies
The Wolf Pack capped off the victory with a pair of historic goals.
The Senators lifted Meriläinen late in the game as they desperately sought the equalizer. Belleville attempted to set up a play, but a key stick lift by Ruhwedel broke up the bid. The puck slid right to Sucese, who fired a long-range shot that nailed the empty net and put Hartford up 3-1.
Belleville opted to use their time out before the next faceoff and once again sent out six skaters. On the ensuing draw, Leschyshyn won it for Connor Mackey, who also nailed the empty net just 2.8 seconds after Sucese’s tally. The two goals in a span of 2.8 seconds sets a new AHL record for the fastest time between two goals.
The Wolf Pack hung onto the 4-1 lead for the final 58 seconds before earning the victory.
“It was a really important win for us,” Wolf Pack head coach Grant Potulny told The Calder Times after the game. “You have a game [like] we had on Friday, then come to the rink Saturday and wear it a bit. Do some video work, on-ice work, then when it was done, we said ‘okay, gotta flush it.’ I don’t know that early in the game that we had our best stuff, but we had enough. We didn’t generate as much as I hoped, but as the game went we got better.”
Up Next
The Wolf Pack will head on a three-game road trip across the Midwest this week. The trip will start on Wednesday, when they visit Grand Rapids for a midweek matchup against the Griffins. Puck drop is set for 7:00 pm.
