PRE-GAME REPORT: WOLF PACK HOST ‘I-91 RIVALRY’ IN HOME OPENER
Oct 18, 2024HARTFORD, CT – The 50th anniversary of professional hockey in Hartford officially gets underway tonight at the XL Center. Tonight, the Wolf Pack host the 28th home opener in franchise history against the Springfield Thunderbirds in the first installment of the ‘I-91 Rivalry’ this season.
The puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m., and coverage is available on AHLTV on FloHockey and Mixlr.
Tale of The Tape:
This is the first of ten meetings between the Wolf Pack and the Thunderbirds during the 2024-25 season. The sides will meet once more in October, back at the XL Center on Sunday, Oct. 27. Each of the first three meetings will take place in the Connecticut capital, with the third meeting coming on Saturday, Nov. 23.
The ‘I-91 Rivalry’ shifts to Western Massachusetts for the first time on Saturday, Nov. 30.
During the 2023-24 campaign, the sides evenly split ten meetings with five regulation wins apiece. Each team claimed three victories on the road, giving the home team a cumulative 4-6-0-0 record.
The Wolf Pack claimed victories at the XL Center over the Thunderbirds on Nov. 15 by a score of 5-1 and on April 12 by a score of 5-3. Louis Domingue recorded the second goalie goal in franchise history on April 12, while the club clinched their second consecutive Calder Cup Playoff berth with the victory.
The Wolf Pack also claimed a 6-4 decision at the MassMutual Center on April 20, winning each of the final two meetings of the season.
Tonight marks the first time that the Wolf Pack host the Thunderbirds in the home opener. The last time the Wolf Pack hosted a Springfield-based team in the home opener was on Oct. 10, 2009, when they hosted the Springfield Falcons.
Wolf Pack Outlook:
The Wolf Pack dropped a 4-3 shootout decision in their season opener last Saturday night against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Brett Berard scored the first goal of the season 17:56 in, rifling a shot by Alexei Kolosov on the Wolf Pack’s second power play of the game. A pair of power play goals from the Phantoms, however, flipped the game in their favor through 40 minutes.
Jacob Gaucher tipped home a Louie Belpedio shot at 5:27 of the second period to tie the game at one before Samu Tuomaala ripped home a shot from between the hashmarks at 12:06. Anton Blidh picked up the game’s only five-on-five goal 5:05 into the third period, tapping home a pass from Adam Sýkora.
A parade to the penalty box put the Phantoms up two skaters just over two minutes later, a situation they took advantage of. Anthony Richard buried a rebound at 7:20 to make it a 3-2 game. In the final moments of regulation, Casey Fitzgerald would earn a point for the Wolf Pack. His blast from the point on a six-on-four power play at 18:55 evened the affair 3-3 and sent the sides to overtime.
After a fruitless overtime filled with chances, a shootout would decide the outcome. J.R. Avon and Berard traded goals in the first round, before both Domingue and Kolosov made saves in the second. Olle Lycksell’s third round goal proved to be the difference, as Alex Belzile was denied by Kolosov.
Fitzgerald (1 g, 1 a), Belzile (2 a), and Brennan Othmann (2 a) all scored two points in the loss.
Thunderbirds Outlook:
The Thunderbirds dropped a 4-1 decision at home to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Sunday afternoon, finishing their opening weekend with a 1-1-0-0 record.
The Penguins jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Nate Clurman 5:00 into the first period and Sam Poulin (3:21) and Avery Hayes (5:26) early in the middle stanza. MacKenzie MacEachern got the T-Birds on the board 12:00 into the second period, but that would be the only goal they managed on rookie goaltender Sergei Murashov.
Boris Katchouk’s power play goal 15:47 into the third period put the result out of doubt.
The Thunderbirds opened their season with a 3-1 victory over the Laval Rocket on Oct. 12.
Rookie Dalibor Dvorsky and MacEachern lead the Thunderbirds with two points (1 g, 1 a) through two games.
Game Information:
WATCH: AHLTV on FloHockey
LISTEN: Mixlr
Play-by-play voice of the Wolf Pack Alex Thomas will have ‘Wolf Pack Pregame’ starting live at 6:45 p.m. on both AHLTV on FloHockey and Mixlr.
Home opening weekend continues tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. when the Bridgeport Islanders sail into town for the first of ten installments in the ‘Battle of Connecticut’! The first 1,500 fans will receive a Wolf Pack Magnetic Schedule thanks to Pepsi. Tickets are available at www.hartfordwolfpack.com.
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ABOUT THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK: The Hartford Wolf Pack has been a premier franchise in the American Hockey League since the team’s inception in 1997. The Wolf Pack is the top player-development affiliate of the NHL's New York Rangers and plays at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack has been home to some of the Rangers newest faces including Igor Shesterkin, Filip Chytil, and Ryan Lindgren. Follow the Wolf Pack on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.