HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack returned to the Connecticut capital on Friday night fresh off a three-game tour of the Midwest. The Wolf Pack faced another tough challenge as the Hershey Bears came to town.
The Wolf Pack fell behind by two goals early in the second, but the club showed great resiliency. Hartford stormed back, potting three unanswered goals to claim a 4-3 win over the top team in the Atlantic Division.
First Game, First Goal
The Bears broke the ice just 4:39 into the opening frame. Luke Philp sprung Hendrix Lapierre on a breakaway bid. Lapierre promptly snapped a shot by Dylan Garand to give the Bears the game’s first lead.
A hooking call against Alex Belzile at 7:13 gave Hershey the opportunity to double the lead. However, the Wolf Pack would find a shorthanded marker to even the score. On the man advantage, Lapierre turned the puck over to Anton Blidh. The veteran forward sprung Noah Laba, making his AHL debut, on a shorthanded breakaway bid. Laba went to the forehand before stuffing a shot by Clay Stevenson to tie the contest at one.
It was the first AHL goal and point for Laba, who signed a two-year entry-level contract with the New York Rangers on Tuesday and an amateur tryout contract with the Wolf Pack the same day.
“Obviously, getting here a couple days ago, it’s kind of a whirlwind,” Laba told The Calder Times after the contest. “But the guys are great here, super welcoming, great group of guys. Super happy to be here.”
Hershey regained the lead just before the 13 minute mark of the opening frame when Brad Hunt pinged a puck off the post and into the net. The Bears took the 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
Bryce, Bryce, Baby
The Bears took their biggest lead of the night just 3:33 into the middle frame. Riley Sutter got to the back door before tipping a feed from Brennan Saulnier home to double the lead.
From there, the tides began to turn in favor of Hartford. They cut the lead back to one exactly halfway through the contest. Dylan Roobroeck held the puck at the Hartford blue line and found Bryce McConnell-Barker at neutral ice. McConnell-Barker carried the puck into the Hershey zone before working his way to the high slot. From there, the rookie forward lasered a shot on net that fooled Stevenson, drawing the Wolf Pack back within one.
The goal snapped a six-game scoring drought for McConnell-Barker. The rookie forward now has seven goals and 14 points on the campaign.
Roo-back to Scoring
The Wolf Pack tied the game at three in the final minutes of the middle frame. Matthew Robertson took a long shot that Stevenson denied. Roobroeck tried to bury the rebound, but Stevenson made the second save. The puck popped to Blade Jenkins in front, who tapped it back to Roobroeck. The rookie forward finished off the sequence with a top-shelf snipe over Stevenson to even the score again.
The goal gave Roobroeck goals in two straight games. The goal also gave Roobroeck two straight multi-point games – he potted a pair of goals in the Wolf Pack’s win over Milwaukee a week ago. The teams would take the 3-3 tie into the second intermission.
Heroics in Hartford
Roobroeck struck again at 14:34 of the final frame. Jake Leschyshyn chipped a puck off the glass and into the Hershey zone. Hunt collected the puck and played it away from a forechecking Jenkins. However, Jon McDonald fumbled the puck, allowing Jenkins to pounce on it. Jenkins found Roobroeck going to the goal and snapped a pass that the rookie deflected into the Hershey net to give the Wolf Pack their first lead of the night.
Roobroeck is now up to 15 goals on the campaign, tied with Bo Groulx for third on the team.
The Bears pressed for a late equalizer. However, Garand slammed the door shut, securing a 4-3 win and a massive two points for the Wolf Pack.
“Even though we were down 3-1 [in the second], I thought we were playing well,” Wolf Pack head coach Grant Potulny told The Calder Times after the game. “But, as a coach, in the back of your mind you know all the stats. [Hershey] only lost four road games [in regulation] all year, this was number four. You’re trying to block those out. But we just kinda kept coming, and got contributions from lots of lines and guys that maybe haven’t scored in a little bit.”
Up Next
The Wolf Pack host a rematch with the Milwaukee Admirals tonight. Puck drop is set for 7:00 pm.
