Pack can't Sustain Good Start in Loss at Albany
Apr 12, 2017(Photo courtesy of Albany Devils)
The Wolf Pack took leads of 1-0 and 2-1 Wednesday night at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY, but the Albany Devils would score five straight after that, on their way to a 6-3 victory.
Jacob MacDonald had a goal and two assists for Albany, and Miles Wood added a goal and an assist. John Gilmour and Marek Hrivik scored for the Wolf Pack, and Nicklas Jensen netted his 30th goal of the season with 0.5 seconds left in the third period. Ty Ronning and Tommy Hughes also had two assists apiece.
“It’s the small details, again,” Jensen said, “turning pucks over, myself included. It’s just those little things that kind of bite us, where we’ve got to make the right play. And they scored on their chances, especially when we gave it to them, and special teams weren’t the best. That’s kind of what caught up to us, and we didn’t really find a way back.”
The Wolf Pack got off to a fast start, grabbing the game’s first lead just 1:46 in, on Gilmour’s sixth goal of the season. After Ronning had a close-in shot stopped by Devil goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (23 saves), Gilmour came down from the left point and ripped a loose puck past Blackwood’s stick side.
That lead lasted until the 13:52 mark, when the Devils tied the score on a power play, with Chris Brown off for hooking. Karl Stollery stopped a clearing attempt by Wolf Pack goaltender Magnus Hellberg (25 saves), and former Wolf Pack Brian Gibbons tipped the puck to Vojtech Mozik on the left side. Mozik’s snap shot from just inside the faceoff dot got by Hellberg on the glove side, with Wood pressuring the front of the net.
The Wolf Pack went back ahead, 2-1, at 3:20 of the second period. Ronning worked the puck to Hrivik, who moved down the left side in the Albany zone and pounded a slap shot past Blackwood’s catching glove for his 16th of the season.
Just 3:38 later, though, at 6:58, the Devils would equalize again, this time on a shorthanded goal by Kevin Rooney. Rooney, who had put a shot off the post earlier in the same penalty kill, worked the puck away from Vince Pedrie at the Albany blue line and broke in alone on Hellberg. Hellberg stopped Rooney’s initial try, but Rooney followed his shot and banged the rebound in.
Albany then took the lead on another special-teams goal at 17:08, a power-play tally by John Quenneville. With Malte Stromwall in the penalty box for roughing, MacDonald fed the puck from the right point to Quenneville on the left side, and he moved into the circle before snapping a shot through Hellberg for a 3-2 Albany advantage.
The Devils then broke the game open with a pair of goals in the first six minutes of the third period.
Albany made it a 4-2 lead at the 3:06 mark, just after finishing a penalty kill. MacDonald intercepted a Ryan Graves pass high in the Albany zone and sent Wood and Blake Coleman away on a 2-on-0. Coleman held the puck and then set Wood up for an easy tap-in.
The Devils would widen the gap to three goals at 6:00, with MacDonald scoring his eighth of the season. Wood fed a drop pass in the Wolf Pack zone to MacDonald, who drove a hard shot past a Hartford defender and beat Hellberg’s catching glove.
Ben Thomson increased Albany’s lead to 6-2 at 13:55, after Stromwall tried to carry the puck across his own goal mouth. Stromwall lost control, and the puck went off of Hellberg to Shane Harper, and his pass set Thomson up with an open net.
The Wolf Pack finally ended the run of five straight Devil scores on a 5-on-3, after Albany took consecutive penalties in the final minute. A Michael Paliotta pass set up a 2-on-1 for Jensen and Taylor Beck, and Beck’s pass found Jensen at the right side of the slot for Jensen’s 30th, with only a half-second showing on the clock.
The Wolf Pack continue a stretch of four straight road games to end the season this Friday night, April 14, when they travel to Utica to take on the Comets. Faceoff is 7:00 PM, and all the action can be heard live on-line at www.979espn.com and on iHeartRadio. Video streaming is available at www.ahllive.com.
To speak with a Wolf Pack representative about season or group tickets, or any of the Wolf Pack’s many ticketing options, call (855) 762-6451, or click here to request more info.
Hartford Wolf Pack 3 at Albany Devils 6
Wednesday, April 12, 2017 - Times Union Center
Hartford 1 1 1 - 3
Albany 1 2 3 - 6
1st Period-1, Hartford, Gilmour 6 (Ronning, Hughes), 1:46. 2, Albany, Mozik 10 (Gibbons, Stollery), 13:52 (PP). Penalties-Hughes Hfd (interference), 4:21; Wood Alb (tripping), 6:59; Brown Hfd (hooking), 12:29.
2nd Period-3, Hartford, Hrivik 16 (Ronning, Hughes), 3:20. 4, Albany, Rooney 13 6:58 (SH). 5, Albany, Quenneville 14 (MacDonald, Camper), 17:08 (PP). Penalties-served by Mandat Alb (bench minor - too many men), 6:01; Stromwall Hfd (roughing), 15:38.
3rd Period-6, Albany, Wood 4 (Coleman, MacDonald), 3:06. 7, Albany, MacDonald 8 (Wood, Coleman), 6:00. 8, Albany, Thomson 6 (Harper), 13:55. 9, Hartford, Jensen 30 (Beck, Paliotta), 19:59 (PP). Penalties-Coleman Alb (hooking), 0:50; Coleman Alb (roughing), 3:27; Catenacci Hfd (roughing), 7:44; Thomson Alb (roughing), 7:44; served by Quenneville Alb (bench minor - too many men), 9:50; Catenacci Hfd (high-sticking), 10:15; Graves Hfd (roughing), 10:15; Lettieri Hfd (roughing), 10:15; Helgeson Alb (roughing), 10:15; Santini Alb (roughing), 10:15; Ronning Hfd (slashing), 16:48; Helgeson Alb (cross-checking), 16:48; Catenacci Hfd (high-sticking), 17:10; Blandisi Alb (goaltender interference), 19:04; Santini Alb (delay of game), 19:20.
Shots on Goal-Hartford 8-10-8-26. Albany 9-12-10-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 1 / 7; Albany 2 / 5.
Goalies-Hartford, Hellberg 12-15-5 (31 shots-25 saves). Albany, Blackwood 16-14-4 (26 shots-23 saves).
A-2,002
Referees-Olivier Gouin (54), Michael Mullen (7).
Linesmen-Steeve Lemay (64), Matt Brady (86).