HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack wrapped up their pre-All-Star schedule last weekend. The team traveled to Laval for a weekend set against the Rocket as they sought to salvage their four-game road trip.
The Wolf Pack played two solid road contests against one of the AHL’s top teams. However, Hartford came up short in both games, limping into the All-Star break as losers of their last six games.
Friday – Laval Rocket 3, Hartford Wolf Pack 1
The Wolf Pack made their first visit to Place Bell. Just 2:22 into the contest, the Wolf Pack found themselves trailing. Jared Davidson found Owen Beck in front of the Hartford net, and Beck tipped home a goal tp give the Rocket the game’s first lead.
Laval’s 1-0 lead would remain until the 8:02 mark of the third period. Laurent Dauphin fumbled the puck in his own zone, allowing Alex Belzile to swipe it. Belzile worked down low and waited out a pair of sliding Rocket before shoveling a backhander through Cayden Primeau to tie the game.
The goal was the former Rocket captain’s 14th of the campaign, tying him with Bo Groulx for the team lead.
However, the tie game wouldn’t last long. About two minutes later, in the waning seconds of a Rocket power play, Florian Xhekaj buried a rebound by Louis Domingue.
The Wolf Pack pushed for the equalizer in the final minutes of the frame. Hartford outshot Laval 13-7 in the final 20 minutes. However, Dauphin nailed the empty net with two seconds to play, cementing a 3-1 decision for Laval.
Saturday – Laval Rocket 5, Hartford Wolf Pack 4 (OT)
The teams met for a rematch on Saturday, the final meeting between the sides this season.
Edmonds Arrives
The Wolf Pack opened the scoring four and a half minutes into the contest. Brandon Scanlin took a shot from beyond the right circle that clipped Anton Blidh in front. The puck trickled through Primeau and sat in the crease. Lucas Edmonds pounced on the rebound and buried it into the net to put Hartford on top early.
The goal was Edmonds’ first as a member of the Wolf Pack as he was traded to the New York Rangers organization by the Tampa Bay Lightning for Ryder Korczak on January 25th.
Nobody Hotter than Otter
A pair of penalties against Laval set up a five-on-three sequence midway through the opening frame. First, Gustav Lindström went off for interference. A bench minor for too many men against Laval followed just 26 seconds later.
During the man advantage, Matthew Robertson took a shot from the high slot that hit a man in front. The puck popped right to Brennan Othmann at the side of the net, and the second-year forward buried it over a diving Primeau to double the Wolf Pack lead.
The goal was Othmann’s fifth in his last six contests. Additionally, Belzile earned the secondary assist on the play, keeping him above a point-per-game pace.
Luke Times Two
Casey Fitzgerald and Zack Hayes each went to the box for roughing at 11:45 of the frame, setting up two minutes of four-on-four hockey.
During the four-on-four, Edmonds and Dylan Roobroeck collaborated for a turnover in the neutral zone. Belzile collected the loose puck and carried it into the Laval zone before finding Chad Ruhwedel coming down the right side. Edmonds got around a defender, and Ruhwedel perfectly placed a pass on his stick. Edmonds tipped the pass top shelf over Primeau to put the Wolf Pack up by three.
The goal gave Edmonds his first multi-goal game since a two-goal performance for Syracuse against Utica on March 26, 2023.
Roughing penalties against Jaroslav Chmelař, Jake Leschyshyn, and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard gave the Rocket a power play near the end of the frame. Sean Farrell capitalized on the man advantage and got Laval on the board at 16:41 of the first period. However, the Wolf Pack took the 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
#4 Makes it 4
Fitzgerald restored the three-goal lead just over four minutes into the middle frame. Nathan Sucese won an offensive zone faceoff, and Blake McLaughlin batted the puck towards Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald won a battle for the puck along the left-wing wall and worked towards the goal. The Wolf Pack captain jammed the puck by Primeau make it a 4-1 game.
The goal was Fitzgerald’s first since November 16th against Providence.
Can’t Stop the Rocket
Eleven minutes into the middle frame, the Rocket were awarded a penalty shot after Roobroeck closed his hand on the puck in the crease. Davidson took the shot and converted, giving Laval a wave of momentum.
Farrell potted his second goal of the night just over three minutes later, ripping home a feed from the slot to make it a 4-3 affair.
Blidh took a controversial high-sticking call at 19:25, giving the Rocket a four-minute man advantage. They’d capitalize just eleven seconds in, however, as Alex Barré-Boulet buried his own rebound by Dylan Garand to tie the game at four heading into the second break.
Neither team pulled ahead in the final frame, securing a point for each and sending the game to overtime. In the extra session, Xhekaj beat Garand from the right circle for his second game-winning tally of the weekend, securing a sweep for Laval.
A Much-Needed Break
The weekend set in Laval wrapped up the Wolf Pack’s pre-All-Star portion of the calendar. For the Wolf Pack, the All-Star break couldn’t be coming at a better time.
The Wolf Pack lost their last six games before the break – they went 0-4-2-0 in that span, collecting just two points. One could argue they left at least three points on the board during the stretch, if not more. It’s been a brutal stretch of hockey, so getting some time to rest, clear their heads, and gear up for a tough second half is great for the team.
As I said after the loss to Belleville on Wednesday, I’m not ready to give up on the team, and you shouldn’t be, either. Will the path back to the Calder Cup Playoffs be easy? Absolutely not. But this team has weathered harsher storms in each of the past two seasons. I have confidence they can do so again when they return from a much-needed break.
Mancini Traded, Wolf Pack Add Brännström
Defenseman Victor Mancini took warmups on Friday night in Laval and was expected to be in the lineup. However, Mancini was a shocking late scratch for the Wolf Pack. News broke shortly thereafter that Mancini, along with Rangers forward Filip Chytil and a 2025 conditional first-round pick had been traded to the Vancouver Canucks for former Wolf Pack and Ranger forward J. T. Miller, defenseman Erik Brännström, and the rights to defenseman Jackson Dorrington.
Across 30 regular season games with the Wolf Pack, Mancini recorded 13 points (3 G, 10 A) and added three assists in ten Calder Cup Playoff games last year.
Mancini is a big loss for the Wolf Pack. He broke into pro hockey in a big way last spring on an ATO, cementing himself as a top-pair defenseman. He retained top-pair status when assigned to the Wolf Pack this season.
However, the Wolf Pack are getting a big add in Brännström. The 15th overall pick by Vegas in 2017 has recorded 12 points (2 G, 10 A) in eight games with the Abbotsford Canucks so far this season. Brännström was an AHL All-Star while playing for the Chicago Wolves in 2018-19. Brännström also spent time with the Belleville Senators after Vegas dealt him to the Ottawa organization in the Mark Stone trade.
In Brännström, the Wolf Pack are getting a puck-moving offensive defenseman, something they’ve lacked all season. Brännström can help rejuvenate the Wolf Pack power play, which sits in last in the Atlantic Division at a 16.2% success rate. Brännström will join the team after the All-Star break.
Up Next
The Wolf Pack return from the All-Star break on Friday, hosting the Charlotte Checkers. Puck drop is set for 7:00 pm.
