HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford Wolf Pack continued their push for the Calder Cup Playoffs on Friday night. The Wolf Pack welcomed the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to town for another critical matchup.
Hartford played a strong first period, but it was all downhill from there. The Penguins rattled off seven straight goals to pummel the Wolf Pack 7-1.
Domi-Nate
The teams played a back-and-forth first half, with each side getting good looks at the icebreaker. The Wolf Pack eventually opened the scoring just over 16 minutes into the contest. A loose puck trickled to Louis Domingue, and the Hartford netminder fired it off the boards for a bank pass. The puck hit the stick of Mac Hollowell and tumbled into neutral ice before Anton Blidh collected it. Blidh pushed the puck forward for Nathan Sucese, who entered the Penguins’ zone. Sucese flung a shot on net from the high slot that fooled Filip Larsson, who couldn’t get his glove up in time to prevent the icebreaker.
The goal was Sucese’s fifth in his last six games. Since moving to the top line alongside Blidh and Alex Belzile on February 19th, Sucese has recorded five goals and four assists for nine points in eight contests.
Additionally, the assist by Domingue was his third of the season, setting a new career high. Domingue previously recorded two assists with the Portland Pirates in the 2013-14 season. Domimgue’s three helpers on the campaign are the most by a Wolf Pack goalie since Al Montoya notched five during the 2006-07 season.
Sucese’s goal was the only tally in the opening frame, and the Wolf Pack took the 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Penguin Power
The Penguins tied the game 6:54 into the middle stanza. Marc Johnstone attempted a long shot, but his bid clipped the leg of a defender. The puck popped all the way to Mathias Laferrière on the other end of the ice, who batted a quick shot by Domingue to tie the game.
The Penguins took the lead just 31 seconds later. Avery Hayes worked into the left circle and sniped a shot by Domingue on the short side to put Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on top for good.
Belzile went to the box for cross-checking about a minute later, continuing the nightmare sequence. However, the Wolf Pack earned a pair of shorthanded bids that nearly tied the contest. First, Blidh and Dylan Roobroeck nearly converted on an odd-man rush, but Blidh’s shot went over the net. Adam Sýkora followed up with a shorthanded breakaway, but Larsson made the sliding stop to preserve the lead.
Valtteri Puustinen scored the period’s third goal at 12:38. Puustinen worked down low and flipped a shot on Domingue. Somehow, the puck trickled by the Hartford netminder to double the Penguin lead. At that point, Dylan Garand replaced Domingue in net. Garand temporarily stopped the bleeding, sending the game into the second break with the Penguins up 3-1.
Wearing It
The Penguins scored two more quick goals in the final period, this time just 37 seconds apart. First, Vasily Ponomarev tapped a feed by Garand on the backdoor. Ville Koivunen followed up, poking a rebound home.
Atley Calvert slammed another backdoor feed into the net at 9:07, and Rutger McGroarty capped off the theatrics with a shot hammered through the five-hole. When the final horn sounded, Hartford took their worst loss of the season in terms of goal differential.
“The third [period] was unequivocally our poorest 20 minutes of the season. That part’s disappointing,” Wolf Pack head coach Grant Potulny told The Calder Times after the contest. “It was a byproduct of us not doing our jobs. I understand the other team has something to say about it, but this was a lot on us.”
Potulny also noted that the Wolf Pack needed to wear this loss. “There’s times of the year where you need to move past [a loss like this], and there’s times where you don’t,” the Hartford bench boss told The Calder Times. “I don’t think tomorrow is a day to move past it, I think tomorrow is a day to wear it, learn from it, and use the opportunity to fix it.”
Roster Updates
The NHL trade deadline has come and gone, and with that comes updates to the Wolf Pack roster.
Up front, the Wolf Pack have added forward Brendan Brisson. The parent New York Rangers acquired Brisson from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for forward Reilly Smith on Thursday afternoon. Brisson, the 29th overall pick by Vegas in 2020, made his Wolf Pack debut in Friday’s contest.
In 162 AHL contests with the Henderson Silver Knights, Brisson has recorded 102 points (45 G, 57 A).
On Friday’s deadline day, the Rangers swung a trade with the Buffalo Sabres, adding veteran forward Nicolas Aubé-Kubel. In return, the Blueshirts sent Wolf Pack defenseman Erik Brännström.
Across 252 AHL games with Lehigh Valley, Hershey, and Rochester, Aubé-Kubel has posted 116 points (55 G, 61 A). He will report to the Connecticut capital and will be an option for Potulny on Sunday.
Meanwhile, in six games with the Wolf Pack, Brännström tallied a goal and three assists.
The AHL’s trade deadline is next Friday, March 14th, so we could see more movement within the next week.
Up Next
The Wolf Pack welcome the Belleville Senators to town on Sunday afternoon. Puck drop is set for 5:00 pm.
