TWO MINUTES FOR THOUGHTS: DECEMBER 21ST, 2022
Dec 21, 2022Happy Wednesday, Wolf Pack fans! Yes, the blog comes a day early this week as we get set for the holiday weekend. Consider it my gift to you.
The Wolf Pack will play on Thursday and Friday night, as Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will keep Saturday and Sunday silent in the AHL.
It’s Hartford’s only Thursday night game this season, and the club’s first Thursday night tilt since April 7th, 2022, at Charlotte. The Pack did play a handful of Thursday games during the 2020-21 COVID shortened season but haven’t hosted fans for a Thursday contest since December 11th, 2014. That night, the Pack defeated the Albany Devils by a final score of 3-2.
Onto the blog!
Midwest Journey Concludes
What a great week for the Wolf Pack in the Midwest. The club returned to Hartford with a 2-1-0-0 record in their three games against Central Division opponents on the road. The club also played quite well in all three games, and very well could have come home with six points if not for a terrific showing from goaltender Dylan Wells in Rockford on Saturday night.
The club’s penalty kill was a strong eight-for-ten on the trip, while the Pack averaged 3.33 goals-per-game in the three tilts. Lauri Pajuniemi and Austin Rueschhoff both snapped goal scoring droughts, while Ryan Carpenter found the back of the net for the first time with the Pack. In fact, he scored twice and nabbed ‘First Star’ honors in Grand Rapids on Friday night.
We’ve talked about it repeatedly both here in the blog and on the broadcasts. It felt like Hartford’s season started to turn in the third period of the game on December 3rd. It hasn’t been perfect since that moment, but the process is there, and you can see good things in the club’s game every night.
The key now for the Wolf Pack will be to keep stringing together wins. Win two out of three the rest of the way? This club will be in good shape come the springtime.
Consider this trip a success. The Pack come home with a winning record, three solid performances, an offense finding its way, and a locker room that was able to bond and come together for a week straight on the road.
Mark this road trip down if the tide turns in the results column moving forward.
The Road Ahead
The Pack have five games remaining during the 2022 portion of their 2022-23 schedule. Tomorrow night, it’s the rare Thursday home game against the Springfield Thunderbirds. On Friday, it’s a rare 5:00 p.m. puck drop when the Bridgeport Islanders come to town.
Next week, the Pack will be in Bridgeport on Tuesday night and then be in Springfield on Wednesday evening. The week wraps up with a 5:30 p.m. puck drop on New Year’s Eve when the Thunderbirds again make the trek south.
Each of the next five games will be against Atlantic Division opponents, with three of those games coming against Springfield. Currently, the Wolf Pack sit just two points behind the Thunderbirds with two games in hand. I don’t need to explain how big these three meetings in the next nine days will be.
In terms of a playoff spot, the Wolf Pack are four points behind both the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Charlotte Checkers for the sixth and final spot in the Atlantic Division. A good stretch here could set Hartford up for a battle in 2023.
This N’ That
Stick taps to Turner Elson, who scored in his return to Grand Rapids on Friday night. The goal made it 4-3 at the time and gave the Wolf Pack a third period lead they would not lose. Prior to his return game, Elson told me that the goal he scored on December 10th at home against the Griffins was one he needed badly, and that he was now being called ‘Griffin Killer’ because of it. He lived up to that new nickname on Friday night.
Not only did Elson score in his return to Van Andel Arena, but he also scored on Saturday night in Rockford. That goal was the 100th of his AHL career. Congratulations to Turner on that milestone.
Speaking of milestones, Andy Welinski skated in the 300th game of his professional career on Saturday night. The veteran picked up an assist, his 96th AHL helper, in the process. Welinski has played in 254 AHL games and 46 NHL games during his career. In the AHL, he’s laced up the skates with the San Diego Gulls, Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Stockton Heat, and Wolf Pack. All 46 of his NHL games to this point have come with the Anaheim Ducks.
Don’t forget, we have $2 beers and $1 hot dogs on Friday at the XL Center! Be sure to be here when the Pack host the Bridgeport Islanders in round four of the ‘Battle of Connecticut’. 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 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.