HARTFORD, CT – After a heartbreaking goal against in the final minutes cost them a point in Grand Rapids on Wednesday, the Hartford Wolf Pack aimed for a bounce-back performance on Friday night. The Wolf Pack continued their Midwest tour with a stop in Rockford to take on the IceHogs.
However, the effort level was simply not up to the Wolf Pack’s standard. A slow start allowed Rockford to cruise to a 4-0 win and cause Hartford’s season to slip further away.
Sluggish Start
The Wolf Pack got off to an extremely slow start to the contest. Rockford outshot Hartford 17-2 in the opening frame. The IceHogs also found the icebreaker, with Kevin Korchinski burying the rebound off a Gerry Mayhew shot just 4:01 into the hockey game.
A pair of tripping minors against Chad Ruhwedel gave the IceHogs a chance at expanding the lead. However, Louis Domingue was phenomenal in net, preventing Rockford from adding to the margin.
The middle stanza saw six power play bids between the two teams. The Wolf Pack earned a 1:30 five-on-three bid after Mayhew and Korchinski went off for roughing and high-sticking, respectively. However, the man advantage unit failed to truly test Drew Commesso, keeping Rockford in front. Commesso denied 16 shots in the middle frame, while Domingue turned nine aside to send the game into the second intermission with the score still 1-0 IceHogs.
Harder to Breathe
Rockford finally built on the lead 8:23 into the final frame. With Brett Budgell in the box for hooking, Joey Anderson found open space in the slot and buried a feed to double the lead.
Andreas Athanasiou ripped home another shot from the slot at 15:49 to push the Rockford lead to three. Domingue violently slammed his stick after the goal, his frustration evident.
Athanasiou tacked on an empty-netter in the final minute to deliver a 4-0 decision to Rockford.
This loss, combined with a Lehigh Valley win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, now pushes the Wolf Pack to 11 points out of the final Calder Cup Playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. They trail their rivals, the Springfield Thunderbirds, for said spot. Springfield also has three games in hand over the Wolf Pack.
I’ve said it time and again – crazier things have happened before. But at this point in the season, the hole may simply be too deep to dig out of. Even if Hartford goes on a run and wins most of their final 12 games, they’ll need either Springfield or Lehigh Valley to have a complete collapse to sneak in.
There’s not an E next to their name yet, but with the current math, it feels inevitable.
Up Next
The Wolf Pack wrap up their Midwest tour today in Milwaukee, taking on the Admirals. Puck drop is set for 7:00 pm.
