TWO MINUTES FOR THOUGHTS: DECEMBER 12TH, 2024
Dec 12, 2024The Hartford Wolf Pack are winners of three of their last four games, with their first two shutouts of the 2024-25 season in that mix. The club is coming off their biggest win of the season on Wednesday night, blanking the back-to-back defending Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears 3-0.
Now, the club wraps up their homestand with a visit from the high-flying Laval Rocket before three straight games against the Providence Bruins.
Onto the blog!
1. Let’s start with Dylan Garand, who is playing some of the best hockey of his professional career. Garand shut out the Rockford IceHogs on Friday night, making 24 saves. He then made 31 saves on Wednesday, blanking the Bears. It’s the first time in his career he has collected back-to-back shutouts
Garand now has a shutout streak of 153:28, dating back to last Wednesday night against the Bridgeport Islanders.
2. Garand mentioned that he was not happy with his performance against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Nov. 27, a wild 5-4 overtime defeat. Since then, he is 3-0-0 with a .989 save percentage, making 86 saves on 87 shots.
Everyone is going to have a game or two during the course of the season that they just are not happy with. Garand’s response since a game he didn’t like has been nothing short of elite.
3. Garand now ranks in the top ten in goals against average (ninth, 2.22), save percentage (eighth, .924), wins (tied for fifth, eight), and shutouts (tied for third, two). It’s time to look at Garand as one of the top goaltenders not just in the Atlantic Division, but in the entire AHL.
4. Matthew Robertson has enjoyed a really strong start to his season. Now in his fourth season with the Wolf Pack, Robertson is on pace to enjoy a career year. He notched a career-high three assists on Wednesday night, giving him eleven on the season in 21 games. His career high is 18, which he recorded during the 2022-23 campaign.
Robertson has been a steady presence for the Wolf Pack in their top-four this season and is playing arguably the best hockey of his professional career.
5. Great to see Nathan Sucese get rewarded with his first goal as a member of the Wolf Pack on Wednesday night. Sucese was the driving force behind the Wolf Pack teaming up with CHR this holiday season and their ‘Adopt-a-Family’ initiative.
The Wolf Pack adopted a few Hartford-area families and donated Christmas gifts to them earlier this week. Fitting that in the first game following that deed, Sucese was rewarded with a goal.
6. Jake Leschyshyn has been one of the Wolf Pack’s most consistent two-way players this season. Now, he’s getting the offensive numbers to fall in his favor. The veteran forward scored twice on Wednesday night and has four goals over his current three-game goal-scoring streak.
Three of Leschyshyn’s goals have come on the power play, with the other being a five-on-five marker last Friday against the IceHogs. He’s now scored at five-on-five, shorthanded, on the power play, and on a five-on-three this season.
7. The points may not pop off the page, but Ben Harpur has been playing some really good hockey for the Wolf Pack. The veteran defenseman has brought steady play in his own zone and some physicality to the defensive group this season.
He’s one of those players who can set the tone for a game and make life miserable for opposing forwards. I thought he had a big impact in setting the tone against both the IceHogs and the Bears with his physical brand of hockey.
8. How about some love for the Wolf Pack’s power play? During this stretch, the club is 3-1-0-0, and the power play has gone six for 17. That’s a 35.29% success rate that would rank among the top teams in the league currently.
9. Head Coach Grant Potulny mentioned postgame on Wednesday that the team spent the entire practice on Monday working on the power play and the penalty kill. On Wednesday, the power play went two for three and the penalty kill was a perfect three for three.
Considering the club’s solid numbers at five-on-five, if the Wolf Pack can turn the tide on special teams, they’ll win a lot more games than they’ll lose the rest of the way. Wednesday night was arguably the best night of the season on special teams.
10. If you are coming to the game on Saturday night, please consider bringing a new, unwrapped toy to donate to our annual toy drive. The toys will be donated to Connecticut Children’s Hospital and Toys for Tots. This time of year can be especially hard for families, especially those with children dealing with illness.
You may not realize it, but your donation does make an impact in the Hartford community.
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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 are the top player-development affiliate of the NHL's New York Rangers and play 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.