HARTFORD, CT—The Hartford Wolf Pack opened the 2025 portion of their schedule this past weekend. They played a pair of road contests, traveling to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday and Bridgeport on Sunday.
Ultimately, it was a tale of two games for Hartford. The Wolf Pack fell to the Penguins 5-0 on Saturday night before bouncing back to beat the Islanders 5-1 on Sunday.
Problems with the Penguins
Hartford kicked off 2025 against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, searching for their first win over the Penguins this season.
Unfortunately for the Wolf Pack, Filip Larsson had other plans. The Penguin netminder denied all 33 shots he faced, pitching his AHL-leading fourth shutout of the campaign. On offense, Rutger McGroarty and Emil Bemström each beat Talyn Boyko twice. Vasily Ponomarev also notched a goal, his fourth in three games against Hartford this season.
The Wolf Pack’s tensions came to a boiling point in the final frame. After Bemström potted his second goal of the night to make it a 5-0 game, he exchanged words with Connor Mackey. The Wolf Pack defenseman retaliated with a slash to the back of Bemström’s knee, and as a result, a wild scrum broke out.
Mackey earned two minutes for slashing, two minutes for roughing, and a ten-minute misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct on the play.
The scrum ultimately didn’t impact the final score. The Penguins took a 5-0 decision, their third win in three games against the Wolf Pack this season.
Groulx Times Two
The Wolf Pack aimed for a bounce-back performance in Bridgeport on Sunday afternoon. Hartford took on the Islanders for the fifth installment in the Battle of Connecticut this season.
The sides swapped chances at the icebreaker throughout the opening frame. Late in the period, Adam Sýkora and Tyce Thompson took matching roughing minors, and the teams began a four-on-four sequence. As the final seconds of the frame ticked away, Chad Ruhwedel took a shot that Jakub Škarek denied. The rebound went into the corner, where Alex Belzile forced a turnover. Belzile then snapped a pass to Bo Groulx in the left wing circle, who blasted a shot by Škarek for the icebreaker. The Wolf Pack took the 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Bridgeport took a pair of penalties early in the middle stanza, giving the Wolf Pack a prime chance to extend the lead. The Wolf Pack finally cashed in during a slashing minor to Cole Bardreau just over three minutes into the period. Belzile won a battle along the boards and sent the puck to Brennan Othmann at the point. Othmann, with room, walked towards the slot and wound up for a slap shot. However, Othmann faked the shot and dished a feed to Groulx in the left circle. Groulx fired a shot that Škarek couldn’t stop to double the Hartford lead.
The goals gave Groulx five goals and eleven points in five contests against Bridgeport on the season.
Sýkora Strikes
The Wolf Pack continued to pour it on in the second period. Just over a minute after Groulx’s second goal, Sýkora found the back of the net to stretch the lead to three. Dylan Roobroeck chipped the puck to neutral ice, where Sýkora collected it. Sýkora poked the loose puck to Ben Harpur, who carried it into the Bridgeport zone. Meanwhile, Sýkora managed to sneak around the Bridgeport defense, and Harpur fed him for a partial breakaway. Sýkora then snapped a shot by the glove of Škarek to make it a three-goal game.
The goal was Sýkora’s third in as many games – he potted two on New Year’s Eve in a 7-0 rout of Springfield.
Sinking the Island
Anton Blidh gave the Wolf Pack their biggest lead of the night just before the midway point of the contest. The Wolf Pack killed a hooking minor against Belzile, and the veteran forward collected the puck as soon as he exited the box. Belzile and Blidh sped in on an odd-man rush, but Škarek denied their bid.
Bridgeport attempted to clear, but Roobroeck kept the puck in the zone. Roobroeck worked down low and sent a centering pass to Blidh in front of the net. The veteran Swede chipped the puck over the Bridgeport netminder for Hartford’s fourth goal of the contest.
Blidh now has nine goals on the season, just four off his career high of 13, which he posted between Hartford and AHL Colorado in the 2022-23 season.
Bridgeport got on the board just over the halfway point in the game. With Groulx in the box for roughing, Brian Pinho jammed his 16th goal of the season by Dylan Garand to snap the shutout bid. However, Pinho’s goal would be the only blemish on Garand’s record.
Nathan Sucese reinstated the four-goal lead, this time for good in the final minutes of the third. Roobroeck cleared the puck from the Hartford zone, and it tumbled into Bridgeport ice. Škarek came out of net to play it but put the puck right on the blade of Sucese, who then ripped a shot into the open net to make it a 5-1 game.
Neither team found twine in the final frame, giving the Wolf Pack a 5-1 win for their first victory of 2025.
Re-paving the Road
The Wolf Pack’s road struggles this season have been documented ad nauseam. Wolf Pack head coach Grant Potulny has openly spoken about the need for the Wolf Pack to get going away from the XL Center.
However, things may be slowly turning around for the Wolf Pack on the road. Since earning their first road win of the season, a 6-1 win over Bridgeport on December 4th, the Wolf Pack have a positive road record. In their last seven road contests, the Wolf Pack have posted a 4-3-0-0 record. They’ve outscored opponents 26-19 over that span.
“If you’re .750 at home and .500 on the road, you’re a pretty good hockey team,” Potulny told The Calder Times on December 28th.
The Wolf Pack have some work to do to get to .500 on the road, but their recent performances have been promising. If the road issues are straightened out by the end of the season, this will once again be a dangerous playoff team.
Steady Rudy
I want to take this section to shout out a Wolf Pack player who hasn’t gotten his flowers so far this season. Defenseman Chad Ruhwedel has been great for the Wolf Pack in the campaign. Through 15 games with Hartford, Ruhwedel has notched four assists and is +4, good for fourth on the team and second among defensemen. Ruhwedel had another great game on Sunday against Bridgeport, notching an assist, three shots on goal, and a +2.
Ruhwedel has provided simple, clean, steady play to a fairly young Wolf Pack blue line. He’s also been a huge help to Wolf Pack goalies, clearing rebounds and keeping play away from Hartford’s netminders. It’s the type of play that doesn’t show up on a scoresheet but is invaluable to a team. Ruhwedel and his 500+ games of pro experience will be key for a young Wolf Pack team throughout the rest of the season.
Up Next
The Wolf Pack wrap up a four-game road trip on Friday in Allentown, taking on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Puck drop is set for 7:05 pm.
