TWO MINUTES FOR THOUGHTS: FEBRUARY 26TH, 2025
Feb 26, 2025The Hartford Wolf Pack split the first two games of their four-game homestand over the weekend, snapping a four-game losing streak in the process.
Now, the club gets set to embark on a three-in-three weekend that could determine whether or not they can truly work themselves into a playoff position in the Atlantic Division.
Onto the blog!
1. Let’s start with starts. If the Wolf Pack are going to pick up ground in the playoff chase, they are going to need some better starts to games. Since the All-Star Break, the Wolf Pack have played eight games. They have surrendered the first goal in seven of those games.
In each of their last three games, the Wolf Pack have found themselves down before the five-minute mark, including two games in which they trailed less than 90 seconds in.
That’s not a recipe for success, and the team is well aware of that. I’d expect an inspired start Friday night against the Springfield Thunderbirds.
2. Speaking of Friday night against the Thunderbirds, this will be the tenth and final meeting between the rivals this season. On the scoreboard, it is a series in which the Wolf Pack has been the second-best team, going 2-7-0-0.
A look under the hood, however, shows that we are looking at a series that has been far tighter than the record indicates.
Look at the last meeting, for example. The Wolf Pack outshot the Thunderbirds 40-22 and controlled the majority of that game at five-on-five. The Thunderbirds went three-for-three on the power play, however, with the game-winning goal going off the stick of a Wolf Pack defenseman.
Hartford has deserved better in this head-to-head matchup. Perhaps Friday night is where the club’s luck begins to turn.
3. One player who has been extremely productive against the Thunderbirds? Defenseman Connor Mackey. He picked up a power play goal in the last meeting and has six points (1 g, 5 a) in the head-to-head series.
4. Speaking of production, Nathan Sucese answered the door when opportunity was knocking last Wednesday night in Springfield. When Bo Groulx went down on the first shift of the game with an injury, Sucese was elevated to the team’s top line between Anton Blidh and Alex Belzile.
Sucese fired six shots on goal that night, hit a goal post, and picked up two assists. He tacked on four shots on Friday night against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, then fired a season-high seven shots on Saturday night against the Providence Bruins.
For those counting, that is 17 shots in three games for the veteran forward.
5. Sucese has two goals on those 17 shots, with both coming on Saturday night. He notched a shorthanded goal 8:40 into the hockey game, then buried the game-winning goal at 17:17 of the third period.
It marked his first multi-goal game with the Wolf Pack.
I’d imagine Sucese will remain in the team’s top-six moving forward. He’s certainly made an impact and stepped up at a crucial time.
6. Jaroslav Chmelař broke out in a big way on Saturday night, snapping a nine-game scoring drought. The rookie notched three points (1 g, 2 a), tying his career-high for offensive output. His second assist of the night was a terrific effort on the right-wing side to set Sucese up for the game-winning goal.
His size, speed, and skill are apparent. He’ll be hoping that Saturday's breakout performance is the turning point in terms of production. One could argue that Chmelař has been Hartford’s unluckiest player when it comes to bounces this season. He’s done a good job of generating but has not been rewarded for it.
7. Sticking with getting rewarded, Chad Ruhwedel has been a very strong presence on defense for the Wolf Pack this season. It was nice to see him get rewarded with a goal and an assist on Saturday night against the Bruins.
8. Okay, let’s catch up with the injury report, shall we? Groulx remains out with the upper-body injury he sustained in Springfield last week and is listed as week-to-week.
Forward Blade Jenkins was also injured in that game due to a high hit from Corey Andonovski. He is still out day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Defensively, there is no change in the status of Ben Harpur, who is out month-to-month with an upper-body injury. Erik Brännström (upper-body) and Brandon Scanlin (lower-body) also remain out day-to-day.
We will see if either Brännström or Scanlin are good to go this weekend.
9. Can Belzile lead the AHL in assists this season? Following action last weekend, he currently sits tied for fourth in the league with 31 helpers, two behind Syracuse’s Derrick Pouliot for the league lead. Assuming Belzile remains with Sucese, who has a history of scoring goals in this league, and Blidh, who is closing in on a 20-goal season, it’s very possible that Belzile will take first place in assists this season.
10. The AHL is a development league at its core. So, when you see the box score of last night’s New York Rangers victory over the New York Islanders, you can understand why it’s easy to look at the Wolf Pack as a success.
Former Wolf Pack captain Jonny Brodzinski scored twice and added an assist for a three-point night. Former Wolf Pack forward Matt Rempe picked up a goal, while Brennan Othmann, making his season debut for the Rangers, was a +3.
All three players played key roles for the Wolf Pack over the last two seasons and are now contributing to the efforts in New York.
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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.