SPRINGFIELD, MA – The Hartford Wolf Pack wrapped up the 2024 portion of their schedule on Tuesday afternoon. The Wolf Pack visited the Springfield Thunderbirds, aiming for revenge from Friday’s contest.
Goaltender Talyn Boyko would lead the Wolf Pack to their sweet revenge. Boyko pitched a shutout in his first AHL start, denying all 32 shots he faced as the Wolf Pack routed Springfield 7-0.
Sýky Starts the Party
Unlike Friday’s game, the Wolf Pack earned the icebreaker in this contest. Marcus Sylvegard took a tripping minor roughly halfway through the opening frame, giving the Wolf Pack their only power play of the night.
On the ensuing man advantage, Dylan Roobroeck and Drew Callin got tied up in the faceoff circle. Jaroslav Chmelař freed the puck from the tie-up and slid it to Matthew Robertson at the blue line. Robertson snapped a point shot that Adam Sýkora deflected by Vadim Zherenko to break the ice.
The goal was Sýkora’s first power play marker of the season, and stood as the eventual game winner. However, the Wolf Pack were far from done.
Blade Runner
Blade Jenkins doubled the Hartford lead just over a minute later. Jenkins made a hustle play, getting the puck away from Reece Newkirk at neutral ice and speeding into the Springfield zone. Jenkins cut towards the goal before slipping the puck through the five-hole and into the net, putting the Wolf Pack up by two.
The goal was Jenkins’ first since November first, where he scored his first goal of the season against the Syracuse Crunch. Boyko picked up the secondary assist on the tally, earning his first AHL point in his first AHL start.
Can’t Stop the Blidh-ing
The Wolf Pack capped off a three-goal first period two minutes later. Chmelař poked the puck by Leo Loof at center ice and collected it in the offensive zone. Chmelař found Anton Blidh going to the goal and snapped a centering feed to the veteran forward. The pass banked off Blidh’s skate and into the net, giving the Wolf Pack a three-goal lead.
The goal was Blidh’s eighth tally of the season, surpassing his total from the 2023-24 campaign in just 30 games. Meanwhile, the assist was Chmelař’s second of the period, giving him his fourth multi-point game of the season. The Wolf Pack took the 3-0 lead into the first intermission.
No Climbing This Hill(man)
The Wolf Pack continued to pour it on in the second period. An extended sequence in the Springfield zone ended with Connor Mackey holding the puck along the back wall. Mackey walked up the right wall and slid a centering feed to Jenkins in the slot. Jenkins blasted a shot, but Zherenko denied the initial bid. However, the Springfield netminder couldn’t corral the rebound, and it dribbled loose in the crease. Blake Hillman, lining up at right wing for the second time this season, crashed the goal and pushed it into the net for the Wolf Pack’s fourth goal of the night.
Officials conducted a long review of the goal as Springfield argued Zherenko had control. However, the call stood, and Hillman was ultimately awarded his second goal of the campaign.
Othmann’s on the Board
Brennan Othmann scored his first goal since returning from injury just two minutes later. Scott Harrington deflected a Michael Buchinger shot, but Boyko made the save. Victor Mancini cleared the puck away from his netminder, and Alex Belzile corralled it. Belzile took the puck through neutral ice before springing Othmann on a rush towards the net. Othmann took the feed, sped towards the net, and snapped a shot through Zherenko’s five-hole to make it 5-0 Hartford.
A scary moment ensued after the goal as Othmann was tripped into the boards. The second-year forward took a hard fall and was tended to by trainers on the ice. He left for the locker room shortly after and did not return for the remainder of the period as the Wolf Pack took their five-goal lead into the second break. However, Othmann eventually returned to the ice to start the final frame and played the remainder of the contest.
Touchdown Hartford, and the Extra Point is Good
The Wolf Pack potted two more goals in the final frame. First, Sýkora notched his second of the night just under five minutes into the period. Sýkora shielded the puck from Matthew Peca and found Nathan Sucese at neutral ice. Sucese then sprung Sýkora on a partial breakaway, and the second-year forward snapped a shot by the glove of Zherenko to put the Wolf Pack up six.
The goal gave Sýkora his first multi-goal game in the AHL. After the tally, Springfield opted to swap Zherenko for Will Cranley in net.
Roobroeck capped off the scoring, kicking the extra point about nine minutes later. Chmelař poked the puck away from a T-Bird behind the net, and Roobroeck collected it in the right circle. Roobroeck flung a shot on net that trickled through Cranley and in for the final tally of the night.
“It was nice to see some guys get rewarded,” Wolf Pack head coach Grant Potulny told The Calder Times after the contest. “The last couple games, we had some looks that just didn’t go in for us. I thought Boyko played very well in the first period, made saves that allowed us to extend that lead. As we got going, I thought we really fell into two periods of the most creative offensive play we’ve had all year.”
“When we play well, we’re not giving people looks. Tonight you saw almost the reverse of that, where our structure was so good that we were getting extra looks that maybe you don’t get,” the Hartford bench boss followed up with.
Potulny’s assessment is correct. Almost everything the Wolf Pack did worked out in their favor. The end result is their first seven-goal game since a 7-4 win over Providence on March 8th, 2024.
Oh Boy-ko
With Dylan Garand battling a day-to-day injury and Louis Domingue recalled by the New York Rangers, Talyn Boyko made his first AHL start on Tuesday night.
The result? A 32-save shutout to lead the Wolf Pack to a win in their final game of 2024.
“It’s his fourth game in five days,” Potulny revealed to The Calder Times after Tuesday’s game. “Flew all the way across the country from California to get in here. I thought he looked calm, I thought he had confidence. He made some saves early in the game on breakaways or point-blankers…those were important saves.”
In 14 games with ECHL Tulsa this season, Boyko is 9-3-2 with a 2.60 GAA and a .917 SV%. Those impressive numbers led to him earning a promotion to Hartford with Garand out and Dominuge in New York.
“It was super exciting,” Boyko told The Calder Times after the contest. “Been waiting to get an opportunity here for a while. The guys played awesome, can’t say enough good things about them.”
However, Boyko had specific praise for the team in front of him.
“Honestly can’t say enough about them tonight,” Boyko told The Calder Times. “Whether it’s scoring the seven goals, getting pucks out, blocking shots…the guys did an outstanding job. A shutout goes on my record, but it’s a team stat as well.”
With Domingue in New York for the forseeable future, Boyko will get additional opportunities to prove himself at the AHL level.
Garand Named Top Goalie for December
On Thursday, the American Hockey League named Wolf Pack goaltender Dylan Garand has the AHL’s Goaltender of the Month for December.
Over six games in December, Garand posted a 1.35 GAA, a .958 SV%, and two shutouts, while having just one game where he allowed more than two goals against. Garand even had a shutout streak of 197:02 over a four-game stretch from December 4th to December 14th, the third-longest Wolf Pack shutout streak since 2004-05.
Garand becomes the first Wolf Pack netminder to win Goaltender of the Month honors since Igor Shesterkin earned them in October 2019. Other notable Wolf Pack goalies to win Goaltender of the Month awards include 2004 Les Cunningham Award winner Jason LaBarbera (October 2004) and 2000 Calder Cup Champion Milan Hnilička (March 2000).
Up Next
The Wolf Pack kick off the 2025 portion of their schedule on Saturday, heading to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania for a matchup against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Puck drop is set for 6:05 pm.
