TWO MINUTES FOR THOUGHTS: DECEMBER 18TH, 2024
Dec 18, 2024The Hartford Wolf Pack will close out their pre-holiday schedule with a home-and-home set against the Providence Bruins on Friday and Saturday night.
The club has been playing strong hockey as of late, winning five of their last seven outings. There are some impressive wins in that mix too, including back-to-back victories over the Hershey Bears and Laval Rocket, two of the best teams in the league.
Onto the pre-holiday edition of the blog!
1. Hockey is such an amazing sport because you truly have no idea what is going to happen next. Nothing is guaranteed or promised in this sport.
The Wolf Pack have 47 games left on their schedule as of this writing. Which direction those 47 games will go is anyone’s guess. That’s the beauty and excitement of this sport.
With that said one thing I can promise is that the Atlantic Division is going to be extremely competitive, and the playoff race will be tight down the stretch.
As of this writing, the second-seeded Charlotte Checkers and the seventh-seeded Lehigh Valley Phantoms are separated by a total of six points. The race for playoff spots and seeding is going to be one fun ride.
2. The Wolf Pack currently sits in sixth place in the Atlantic Division with 27 points. They are just four points back of the Checkers for the second spot and two points up on the Phantoms for the final playoff position.
It’s way too early to be watching the standings on a daily basis, but the Wolf Pack are right in the middle of the Atlantic’s tight race.
3. Since we last spoke, Dylan Garand picked up his ninth victory of the season. He made 34 saves on 36 shots on Saturday night as the Wolf Pack doubled up the Rocket 4-2.
Garand is now 9-2-2 on the season with a .926 save percentage, a 2.20 goals-against average, and two shutouts.
4. We are roughly a month away from finding out who will be going to the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic. I’d be hard-pressed to find multiple goaltenders in the Atlantic Division who are more deserving of the honor than Garand.
Forwards Alex Belzile and Bo Groulx, in my opinion, are making a great case to be named to the roster as well.
5. No one, however, is hotter than Jake Leschyshyn is for the Wolf Pack right now. The veteran forward tipped in a goal against the Rocket on Saturday night, then tapped home a backdoor feed from Belzile on Sunday during a five-on-three power play.
Leschyshyn has now scored in five straight games and recorded six goals during that span. He has arguably the hottest stick in the Atlantic Division entering play this weekend.
6. Five of Leschyshyn’s six goals during this stretch have come on the power play. That’s great news for the Wolf Pack, who struggled for a lengthy stretch on the skater advantage.
During the month of December, the Wolf Pack are 8-for-25 on the power play. That’s a 32% success rate.
7. The power play nearly had a ninth goal during December, as Ryder Korczak’s tally on Sunday missed by just one second. Still, it was effectively a power play strike for the second unit, which generated a number of good looks in the 5-2 loss to the Bruins.
Korczak’s goal was a really pretty shot from the right-wing circle, set up via a beautiful cross-ice feed from Bryce McConnell-Barker.
8. The end of 2024 will be key for the Wolf Pack. They have five games remaining in December, with all five coming against opponents within the Atlantic Division.
After this weekend’s home-and-home with the Bruins, the Pack will visit the Springfield Thunderbirds on Dec. 27, before returning home the next night to host the Bruins.
The calendar year ends on New Year’s Eve, with the Wolf Pack and Thunderbirds meeting again in Western Massachusetts.
9. Only two of those final five games to end the month will come at home for the Wolf Pack. The club has had a favorable schedule in terms of home games so far this season.
That’s important to note because the Wolf Pack have struggled on the road this season. The club is just 1-6-1-1 on the road this season. Their one victory is the fewest in the AHL.
The key thing on the road for the Wolf Pack? Getting the offense going. They have scored just 20 goals in nine games away from home, the fewest goals for on the road in the league. That has to change if the club is going to rack up some wins away from home.
10. We know the Wolf Pack have goals in them, however. Despite ranking last in the league in goals on the road, the Wolf Pack rank tied for second in the league in goals at home. They have the most potent offense in the Eastern Conference, having scored 55 goals at the XL Center this season.
Getting the offense to travel is the single most important task for the Pack heading into 2025.
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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.