HARTFORD, CT – The Battle of Connecticut returned to the capital city as the Hartford Wolf Pack welcomed the Bridgeport Islanders to town on Wednesday night. After snapping a season-long seven-game losing skid on Saturday, Hartford aimed for their first home win since December 14th.
The Wolf Pack trailed 3-1 after 40 minutes of play. However, a dominant third period allowed them to tie the game and eventually force overtime. Brennan Othmann played the role of hero in the extra frame, potting his second goal of the game as Hartford stole a 4-3 win.
Rough Seas
The Islanders quickly took control of the action in the opening frame. They outshot the Wolf Pack 14-5 in the game’s first 20 minutes and found the back of the net twice.
Matthew Maggio opened the scoring just over eleven minutes into the contest. Liam Foudy won a footrace for the loose puck and broke towards the Hartford net. Dylan Garand denied Foudy’s initial bid, but the puck trickled through the Wolf Pack netminder. Chad Ruhwedel attempted to clear it, but Matthew Maggio got his stick in the way and the puck ricocheted into the net to give Bridgeport the game’s first lead.
Bridgeport doubled the lead in the final minutes of the frame. Travis Mitchell took a shot from the point, and the puck took a wild carom off the stick of Riley Piercey. Garand had no chance of stopping the bouncing puck, which found the back of the Hartford net. Bridgeport took the 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
Ström’s Coming
The Wolf Pack got on the board just over two minutes into the second period. Brett Berard lifted the stick of a defender behind the Bridgeport net before leaving the puck for Othmann. Othmann found Erik Brännström at the top of the offensive zone, setting up the chance. Brännström toe-dragged around a defender, spun into the slot, and flung a backhand shot on net that snuck by Henrik Tikkanen to cut the lead in half.
The goal was Brännström’s first as a member of the Wolf Pack.
However, Bridgeport restored the two-goal lead late in the frame. Chris Terry snuck by the Wolf Pack defense before rifling a shot by Garand’s glove to put Bridgeport back up by two. The Islanders took the multi-goal lead into the second intermission.
Mack Daddy
A hooking call against Maggio in the final seconds of the middle frame allowed the Wolf Pack to start the third period on the power play. However, the Bridgeport penalty kill prevented them from capitalizing on the man advantage.
Despite failing to capitalize, the Wolf Pack heavily tilted the ice in their favor in the third period. Hartford outshot Bridgeport 25-7 over the final 20 minutes to climb out of the hole and back into the game.
After some impressive saves, the Wolf Pack finally solved Tikkanen 12:34 into the third stanza. Anton Blidh collected a loose puck in the offensive zone, but couldn’t get a shot away as his shooting lane was clogged by a defender. Blidh found Connor Mackey skating towards the left circle and sent him a pass. Mackey fired a shot that clipped the glove of Tikkanen before trickling into the net.
The goal was Mackey’s third of the season and first since November 16th.
Backdoor Brennan
The Wolf Pack continued to pepper Tikkanen with shots throughout the period. Eventually, Hartford lifted Garand for the extra attacker as they sought the equalizer.
Hartford got some of their best looks of the game in the final minutes. Bo Groulx took a shot that Tikkanen denied, and Berard pushed the rebound just wide. Alex Belzile collected the rebound and sent it back to Berard, who quickly found Brännström at the point. Brännström took a shot that Tikkanen made the initial save on, but the rebound popped right to Othmann. Tikkanen couldn’t get back into position in time, and Othmann buried the puck into the net to tie the game at three with just 89 seconds to play.
The goal was Othmann’s second six-on-five goal of the season – he also scored with the net empty on January 24th against Laval.
However, unlike the Laval game, this goal forced overtime.
Overtime Otter
Both teams found great looks in the bonus period, but Garand and Tikkanen stood tall for much of the frame. Bridgeport found another good chance in the final minute, but Berard got enough of the shot to deflect it off the outside of the goal.
The puck tumbled around the Hartford net and onto the stick of Othmann. Othmann and Berard sped into the Bridgeport zone on an odd-man rush. With the game on his stick, Othmann elected to shoot and ripped a shot by the blocker of Tikkanen to secure the extra point for the Wolf Pack.
“[Berard] with a blocked shot, I think that’s his first blocked shot in his career,” Othmann told The Calder Times after the game. “It had a nice bounce to me, and I just saw an opportunity to shoot the puck.”
Meanwhile, Wolf Pack head coach Grant Potulny offered high praise for the second-year forward. “I think we’re starting to see him find his form,” the Hartford bench boss told The Calder Times on Wednesday night. “Two huge goals. Your best players have to be your best players. Tonight, he stepped up.”
Up Next
The Wolf Pack are on the road this weekend with a pair of games in Charlotte against the Checkers. Puck drop on Saturday and Sunday is set for 4:00 pm.
